Making a difference: nursing assistants' perspectives of restorative care nursing.

This article explores the experiences of nursing assistants who participated in the Res-Care Pilot Intervention. A qualitative study used a focus group methodology. An interview guide was used and data from focus groups were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. A purposive sample of 13 nursing assistants participated in the focus groups. A total of 35 different codes were identified, and these were reduced to the following four themes: resident barriers to restorative care, facility or system barriers to restorative care, nursing assistant strategies, and system facilitators of restorative care. The study supports and adds to previous work that suggests that in order to successfully implement changes in care in nursing home settings the following issues should be addressed: real or perceived workload issues, poor communication with nursing, insufficient knowledge or education, lack of appropriate supplies, and insufficient administrative support. The findings may be used to revise the Res-Care Pilot Intervention and direct future implementation of programs in nursing home settings.     

A client-centered approach in home care for older persons – an integrative review

Objective To describe and synthesize client-centered care and service in home care for older persons.Methods The study was an integrative review using the guidelines for literature reviews by the Joanna Briggs Institute. The research process followed the Whittemore and Knafl framework and PRISMA toolkit in the selection of eligible articles. The CINAHL, Medline, Scopus, Web of Science and Social Sciences abstracts were searched for articles published between January 2007 and May 2020 according to previously designed search strategies. In total, 24 articles were deemed relevant for an analysis using a thematic analysis.Results The analysis resulted in four themes with sub-themes which revealed that client-centered care and service in home care consist of: 1) Clients’ involvement in their own care; self-care, decision-making, satisfactory daily life, 2) Family members’ and care partners’ participation in care; family members’ and care partners’ commitment to care, family members’ and care partners’ competence in care, 3) Communication and co-operation; communication models, empowerment, partnership, and 4) Evidence-based service competence; delivery and organization of services, implementation of services, versatile clinical skills, quality outcomes and personnel wellbeing.Conclusions According to the results, achieving client-centered care and service in home care requires the realization of all of the above aspects. The practice of nursing must better identify all dimensions of client-centered care and take these into account in the delivery of home care services.

KEY POINTS

• Client-centeredness is a fundamental value and the basis of nursing and care in home care provided for older persons
• This paper:
• deepens and structures the concept of client-centered care in the context of home care.
• assists professionals to understand the factors behind client-centered care within the home care environment.
• provides deeper understanding of the roles of the older person, family members, and the service system in developing client-centered services in home care for older persons.

     

Nursing home care for older people in Taiwan: a process of forced choice

Aim. To generate a substantive theory for understanding the phenomenon of nursing home care for older people in Taiwan. Background. Taiwanese culture shows great respect for older people and older people are traditionally cared for at home by their families. However, the older population in Taiwan is rapidly increasing and this demographic shift, together with various socio‐economic changes, has resulted in nursing homes becoming a new and significant care option. Design. A grounded theory approach was used to study the residents and relatives from three nursing homes in Taiwan. Methods. Formal and informal interviews and participant observation data were collected over two months in each nursing home. Forty nursing home residents and 20 of their relatives were recruited. The data were analysed using the constant comparative method and involved the use of theoretical memos and theoretical sampling procedures. Results. The study found that nursing home care for older people in Taiwan is understood to be a process of forced choice, involving three stages; namely, ‘becoming a problem’, ‘making a forced choice’ and ‘coping with the forced choice’. Conclusion. Taiwan is in a state of conflict with regard to providing care for older people, a situation in which the influence of traditional cultural and that of industrialisation exist side by side. The consequence of having to relocate older people into nursing homes means that both parties are the victims of this choice. Relevance to clinical practice. This conceptual explanation helps us to understand how the Taiwanese respond to the issue of care for older people and how they resolve their main concerns related to it. Subsequently, it is hoped that this will help health care practitioners to provide care more effectively to meet the needs of the Taiwanese with the aim of enhancing the standards of care for older people.     

Ethical and legal issues in pain research in cognitively impaired older adults

Research involving those with dementia is critical to informing best practices and improving the quality of their lives. Pain research in people with dementia is of particular interest because the prevalence of both dementia and painful conditions increases with age. Considerable evidence exists documenting inadequate assessment and treatment of pain in this vulnerable population. Unfortunately, research that supports best practices for assessing and treating pain in the cognitively impaired is limited with obstacles to conducting research. Obstacles to research in older adults, including those with cognitive impairment, have been highlighted along with an urgent call for increased research to promote quality pain care for all older adults. The aims of this paper are to provide an overview of major ethical challenges that can occur in pain research in cognitively impaired populations and to present potential solutions when preparing study protocols.     

Forgotten resources of older home care clients: Focus group study in Finland

In this qualitative focus group study, the resources available to older home‐dwelling people, particularly incoming and existing home care clients, are described from the viewpoint of home care professionals (n = 32). The data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. There were three categories of older people requiring resources from the viewpoint of interviewers: home‐dwelling people, incoming home care clients, and existing home care clients. Based on the analysis, the resources of older home‐dwelling people were categorized in terms of support, meaningful life, everyday activities, and environment. Incoming home care client resources were support, out‐of‐home activities, in‐home activities, and environment. Existing client resources were described in terms of support, everyday activities, and environment. Home care professionals described the resources of the older home‐dwelling people in diverse ways, but those of the perspective of existing clients were reduced. The biggest difference was in everyday activities. Psychological and social resources, including meaningful life and social relationships, seemed to be forgotten. All available resources must be taken into account, especially in the everyday home care services for existing home care clients.     

A concept analysis of home and its meaning in the lives of three older adults

gillsjö c. & schwartz‐barcott d. (2010) A concept analysis of home and its meaning in the lives of three older adults. International Journal of Older People Nursing 6 , 4–12
doi: 10.1111/j.1748‐3743.2010.00207.x Aim. To identify and define the concept of home and its meaning in the lives of three older women. Background. For many older adults home is the centre of daily life and increasingly important as a place where health care is delivered. Yet, as a concept, home remains theoretically and empirically underdeveloped. Methods. The Hybrid Model of Concept Development was used to interface theoretical analysis and empirical observation with a focus on definition. A comprehensive, interdisciplinary literature review, semi‐structured interviews with three older women and case and cross‐case analysis were completed. Results. Interviewees spoke of childhood, community, residential, church and heavenly homes. Feelings of comfort and security were associated with residential homes, peace and quiet with church homes, safety and pleasure with heavenly homes. The experience of home as being taken for granted, unselfconscious and unrecognized, became obvious when one woman tried to consciously establish a sense of being at home in her new residence. Conclusion. No single comprehensive and measurable definition was found. However, three major components were identified (place, relationship and experience) and used to define home as a place to which one is attached, feels comfortable and secure and has the experience of dwelling. Relevance to clinical practice. Every day assumptions about the meaning of home and home as just another place where health care is provided are called into question. Increased awareness and dialogue is needed among health‐care providers working with older adults in their homes. Future research needs to explore the impact of home care on the older adult’s meaning of home and its potential impact on recovery.     

Caregivers' strong commitment to their relationship with older people

Häggström E, Mamhidir, A‐G, Kihlgren A. International Journal of Nursing Practice 2010; 16 : 99–105
Caregivers' strong commitment to their relationship with older people The aim of the present study was to describe caregivers' good as well as bad experiences of working with older people. The study was based on five focus group interviews. One theme emerged from a latent content analysis: strong commitment to the relationship. This theme functioned as a thread of underlying meaning throughout the entire interpretative process of 48 caregivers' experiences of work. A delicate relationship existed that could be vulnerable and could reveal itself in feelings of lack of knowledge, guilt and fear. The caregivers' committed relationship to the older adults created independency in the ways in which they protected the older people's needs. Further studies are needed that focus on caregivers' transition from dependency to independency. The findings highlight the importance of clinical supervision to personal development and identity, and to promoting caregivers' self‐esteem and maintaining a committed relationship. Commitment is a deep human feeling, and it should be promoted in order to maintain and further develop quality care for older adults.