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Voie KS, Wiles J, Mæhre KS, Kristiansen M, Helgesen AK, Blix BH. The timescapes of older adults living alone and receiving home care: An interview study. J Aging Stud 2024; 68:101212. [PMID: 38458730 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2024.101212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2023] [Revised: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 03/10/2024]
Abstract
In this study, we drew on Barbara Adam's (1998) timescape perspective and applied a timescape lens to our analysis of how nine older adults who live alone, receive home care and are considered by home care professionals to be frail, experience living (in) time. Over a period of eight months, we conducted three interviews with each of the nine participants. We analysed the data using reflexive thematic analysis and drew on timescapes to further interpret our preliminary analysis. Our results show that situated everyday time, place across time, and large-scale time interact in the framing and shaping of older adults' everyday lives. Older adults' embodied experiences of being of advanced age, living alone and receiving home care influenced their timescapes. We propose that paying attention to older adults' timescapes can enable home care professionals and other supporters to consider older adults' health, well-being, vulnerabilities and strengths from a broader perspective than the 'here and now' and thereby enhance the provision of person-centred care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristin S Voie
- Department of Health and Care Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø 9037, Norway.
| | - Janine Wiles
- School of Population Health, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.
| | - Kjersti Sunde Mæhre
- Department of Health and Care Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø 9037, Norway.
| | - Margrethe Kristiansen
- Department of Health and Care Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø 9037, Norway.
| | - Ann Karin Helgesen
- Department of Health and Care Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø 9037, Norway; Faculty of Health, Welfare and Organisation, Østfold University College, Halden 1757, Norway.
| | - Bodil H Blix
- Department of Health and Care Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø 9037, Norway; Faculty of Education, Arts and Sports, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen 5063, Norway.
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Thandi M, Wong ST, Price M, Baumbusch J. Perspectives on the representation of frailty in the electronic frailty index. BMC PRIMARY CARE 2024; 25:4. [PMID: 38166753 PMCID: PMC10759446 DOI: 10.1186/s12875-023-02225-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Frailty is a state of increased vulnerability from physical, social, and cognitive factors resulting in greater risk of negative health-related outcomes and increased healthcare expenditure. A 36-factor electronic frailty index (eFI) developed in the United Kingdom calculates frailty scores using electronic medical record data. There is currently no standardization of frailty screening in Canadian primary care. In order to implement the eFI in a Canadian context, adaptation of the tool is necessary because frailty is represented by different clinical terminologies in the UK and Canada. In considering the promise of implementing an eFI in British Columbia, Canada, we first looked at the content validation of the 36-factor eFI. Our research question was: Does the eFI represent frailty from the perspectives of primary care clinicians and older adults in British Columbia? METHODS A modified Delphi using three rounds of questionnaires with a panel of 23 experts (five family physicians, five nurse practitioners, five nurses, four allied health professionals, four older adults) reviewed and provided feedback on the 36-factor eFI. These professional groups were chosen because they closely work as interprofessional teams within primary care settings with older adults. Older adults provide real life context and experiences. Questionnaires involved rating the importance of each frailty factor on a 0-10 scale and providing rationale for ratings. Panelists were also given the opportunity to suggest additional factors that ought to be included in the screening tool. Suggested factors were similarly rated in two Delphi rounds. RESULTS Thirty-three of the 36 eFI factors achieved consensus (> 80% of panelists provided a rating of ≥ 8). Factors that did not achieve consensus were hypertension, thyroid disorder and peptic ulcer. These factors were perceived as easily treatable or manageable and/or not considered reflective of frailty on their own. Additional factors suggested by panelists that achieved consensus included: cancer, challenges to healthcare access, chronic pain, communication challenges, fecal incontinence, food insecurity, liver failure/cirrhosis, mental health challenges, medication noncompliance, poverty/financial difficulties, race/ethnic disparity, sedentary/low activity levels, and substance use/misuse. There was a 100% retention rate in each of the three Delphi rounds. CONCLUSIONS AND NEXT STEPS Three key findings emerged from this study: the conceptualization of frailty varied across participants, identification of frailty in community/primary care remains challenging, and social determinants of health affect clinicians' assessments and perceptions of frailty status. This study will inform the next phase of a broader mixed-method sequential study to build a frailty screening tool that could ultimately become a standard of practice for frailty screening in Canadian primary care. Early detection of frailty can help tailor decision making, frame discussions about goals of care, prevent advancement on the frailty trajectory, and ultimately decrease health expenditures, leading to improved patient and system level outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manpreet Thandi
- School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, T201 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada.
| | - Sabrina T Wong
- School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, T201 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada
- Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, University of British Columbia, 201-2206 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Morgan Price
- Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, David Strangway Building, Suite 300, 5950 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Jennifer Baumbusch
- School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, T201 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada
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King A, Hall M. Queer(y)ing aging-potentialities and problems in applying Queer Theory to studies of aging and later life. FRONTIERS IN SOCIOLOGY 2023; 8:1228993. [PMID: 37841802 PMCID: PMC10570605 DOI: 10.3389/fsoc.2023.1228993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023]
Abstract
Queer Theory is a radically deconstructionist perspective within the humanities and social sciences. Since its initial emergence in the late 1980s and early 1990s in the field of sexualities studies, Queer Theory has increasingly been used to challenges normative notions of self, identity, temporality and the nature of being, more broadly. Whilst Queer Theory has been utilized, to some extent, in gerontology and aging studies, this article makes an original contribution to this endeavor, assessing the potentiality and problems with queer(y)ing three aspects of aging: chronology; cognition; and frailty and vulnerability. To achieve this, the article draws on ideas from some key Queer theorical writers, existing studies of queer aging and illustrates theoretical points with qualitative data collected from two LGBTQ+ projects to illustrate. The article also considers problems with Queer Theory in challenging normativities associated with aging. It is concluded that despite problems, Queer Theory remains an important and valuable theoretical approach for disturbing and challenging many of the norms and understandings that shape and constrain older LGBTQ+ people's lives, in particular, and therefore have importance for how we think and understand aging and later life sociologically.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew King
- Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
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Voie KS, Blix BH, Helgesen AK, Larsen TA, Maehre KS. Professional home care providers' conceptualisations of frailty in the context of home care: A focus group study. Int J Older People Nurs 2023; 18:e12511. [PMID: 36357358 PMCID: PMC10078232 DOI: 10.1111/opn.12511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Revised: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In Norway, as in many other countries, more people receive health and care services in their homes than before. Home care professionals provide care and support to people with a range of health and care needs. Older home care service users are sometimes referred to as 'frail', but the terms 'frail' and 'frailty' have different meanings in different contexts, and little is known about the meaning ascribed to the terms in the context of home care services. Home care services are crucial for many older persons who have health challenges, and how home care professionals conceptualise frailty might shape clinical encounters. OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study is to explore how home care professionals conceptualised frailty in the context of home care. METHODS We conducted four focus group discussions with 14 home care professionals who worked in municipal home care in northern Norway and analysed the data using thematic analysis. RESULTS Our analysis resulted in five themes: '"Frail" - a term which is too imprecise to be useful', 'Frailty as a consequence of ageing', 'Frailty as lack of engagement and possibilities for engagement', 'Frailty as a contextual phenomenon' and 'Frailty as potentially affected by care'. The home care professionals conceptualised frailty as an individual trait but also as resulting from the interplay between individual and environmental factors. Moreover, their conceptualisations of frailty represented a continuum between frailty as related to prevention and management ('cure') and frailty as related to ageing as natural decline ('care'). CONCLUSION The home care professionals conceptualised frailty diversely, as moving along a continuum between cure and care. Diverse conceptualisations of frailty might be necessary if nurses are to meet the changing and varying care needs of older persons who live in their own homes and need health and care services.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristin S Voie
- Department of Health and Care Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Bodil H Blix
- Department of Health and Care Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Ann Karin Helgesen
- Department of Health and Care Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.,Faculty of Health, Welfare and Organisation, Østfold University College, Halden, Norway
| | - Toril Agnete Larsen
- Department of Health and Care Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Kjersti Sunde Maehre
- Department of Health and Care Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
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Alharbi K, Blakeman T, van Marwijk H, Reeves D, Tsang JY. Understanding the implementation of interventions to improve the management of frailty in primary care: a rapid realist review. BMJ Open 2022; 12:e054780. [PMID: 35649605 PMCID: PMC9161080 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-054780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Identifying and managing the needs of frail people in the community is an increasing priority for policy makers. We sought to identify factors that enable or constrain the implementation of interventions for frail older persons in primary care. DESIGN A rapid realist review. DATA SOURCES Cochrane Library, SCOPUS and EMBASE, and grey literature. The search was conducted in September 2019 and rerun on 8 January 2022. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STUDIES We considered all types of empirical studies describing interventions targeting frailty in primary care. ANALYSIS We followed the Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Syntheses: Evolving Standards quality and publication criteria for our synthesis to systematically analyse and synthesise the existing literature and to identify (intervention-context-mechanism-outcome) configurations. We used normalisation processes theory to illuminate mechanisms surrounding implementation. RESULTS Our primary research returned 1755 articles, narrowed down to 29 relevant frailty intervention studies conducted in primary care. Our review identified two families of interventions. They comprised: (1) interventions aimed at the comprehensive assessment and management of frailty needs; and (2) interventions targeting specific frailty needs. Key factors that facilitate or inhibit the translation of frailty interventions into practice related to the distribution of resources; patient engagement and professional skill sets to address identified need. CONCLUSION There remain challenges to achieving successful implementation of frailty interventions in primary care. There were a key learning points under each family. First, targeted allocation of resources to address specific needs allows a greater alignment of skill sets and reduces overassessment of frail individuals. Second, earlier patient involvement may also improve intervention implementation and adherence. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER The published protocol for the review is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42019161193).
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Affiliation(s)
- Khulud Alharbi
- Division of Population Health, Health Services Research & Primary Care, School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Thomas Blakeman
- Division of Population Health, Health Services Research & Primary Care, School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Harm van Marwijk
- Division of Primary Care and Public Health, University of Brighton, Falmer, UK
- Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, UK
| | - David Reeves
- Division of Population Health, Health Services Research & Primary Care, School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Jung Yin Tsang
- Division of Population Health, Health Services Research & Primary Care, School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
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Abstract
Abstract
This article contributes to ongoing discussions about frailty and vulnerability in critical gerontology by asserting that possibilities to engage and enact influence in everyday life situations is a crucial dimension of democracy in later life. We discuss how democracy in this sense can be threatened for older persons for whom health and social care services are needed, following from the labelling practices of frailty and the non-recognition of the social processes that set capabilities in motion. We utilise three examples grounded in research with older persons in their home environment in a Swedish context. The examples show how older people use creative, emotional, practical and social resources to integrate activities in a manner that address their needs and capabilities, and influence the situations in direction towards how and when to be engaged in everyday activities. Based on a discussion of the examples, we argue that health and social care services that provide and build social infrastructures need to recognise the potential concurrency of interdependency, vulnerability and agency within older persons’ local everyday practices. This to address capabilities and enable concrete expression of democracy in everyday situations. Overall, we suggest that conceptual and methodological shifts in research, as well as policy and practice, are needed to bring democratic processes forward through the relational and situated aspects of resources, agency and influence.
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Abstract
There is growing interest in conceptualizing and diagnosing frailty. Less is understood, however, about older adults' perceptions of the term "frail", and the implications of being classified as "frail". The purpose of this scoping review was to map the breadth of primary studies; and describe the meaning, perceptions, and perceived implications of frailty language amongst community-dwelling older adults. Eight studies were included in the review and three core themes were identified: (1) understanding frailty as inevitable age-related decline in multiple domains, (2) perceiving frailty as a generalizing label, and (3) perceiving impacts of language on health and health care utilization. Clinical practice recommendations for health care professionals working with individuals with frailty include: (1) maintaining a holistic view of frailty that extends beyond physical function to include psychosocial and environmental constructs, (2) using person-first language, and (3) using a strengths-based approach to discuss aspects of frailty.
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Grenier A, Griffin M, Andrews G, Wilton R, Burke E, Ojembe B, Feldman B, Papaioannou A. Meanings and feelings of (Im)mobility in later life: Case study insights from a ‘New Mobilities’ perspective. J Aging Stud 2019; 51:100819. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2019.100819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2019] [Revised: 09/30/2019] [Accepted: 10/05/2019] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
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