Dealing with daily emotions-supportive activities for the elderly in a municipal care setting

The use of home care as relational work: outlines for a research programme

PURPOSE

Care has been theorized as a relational practice, but the research has focused on providers rather than users. Older care users have been cast in a passive role, and their relational activities to help with the provision of their care or to support those who provide it are underexplored. The purpose of this study is to develop knowledge about home care use as a form of relational 'work'.

METHODS

The data for the study consists of 34 qualitative interviews with home care users in Sweden and 15 observations of care provision. The data has been coded using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The analysis identifies two overlapping forms of relational work done by care users in the home care context: care-centred work, where care users work to facilitate care situations that were positive for staff and for the provision of care; and person-centred work, where care users work to foster personal relations by focusing on care staff as unique individuals.

CONCLUSIONS

The article proposes a research programme on relational work by care users, prompted by the finding that such efforts seem central for the understanding of eldercare in a variety of contexts.

Couples in Need of Home Care Services: Experiences With Support From Care Professionals

Many older people desire to remain in their homes and be cared for by a family member, but this arrangement requires support from care professionals. The aim was to describe how couples in need of home care services experienced the received support from care professionals. A qualitative design with content analysis was used. Data were collected through diaries and focus groups consisting of eight couples between 65 and 80 years, and two registered nurses. The main findings are described by the following categories: Organizational adapted, Withholding, Being in a gap, resulting in the theme Lack of professional support. Couples experienced shortcomings that were related to the organization, the care professionals, and the couples themselves. The theme Lack of professional support requires more knowledge.

Older patients in Sweden and their experience of the emotional support received from the registered nurse--a grounded theory study

OBJECTIVES

This study intends to explore older patients' experiences of the emotional support received from registered nurses (RNs). We also aimed to gain deeper knowledge about the process of how getting the support they need is managed by the patient.

METHODS

The study was conducted using the grounded theory method. Data were collected by interviewing 18 patients between 80 and 96 years old.

RESULTS

Reasons why older patients experienced the emotional support received from the RN are reflected in the categories 'Meets my needs when I am irresolute', 'Meets my needs when I am vulnerable' and 'Meets my needs when I am in need of sympathy'. Reasons to the emotional support resulted in that patients experienced 'A sense of being able to hand over', which is therefore the core category of this study.

CONCLUSION

Older patients' experiences of emotional support are about obtaining relief. Patients were active participants and had strategies for which they wanted to share their emotions with the RN. In order to develop participatory care for older patients, we need more knowledge about how emotional support can be used as a nursing intervention.

Trying to cope with everyday life--emotional support in municipal elderly care setting

Emotional support is considered to be important to older patients because it is a contributing factor to experiencing good health and it has been shown that it can prevent depression after a hip fracture. Opinions differ on whether emotional support falls within the field of nursing, and studies also show that nurses in an elderly home care setting fail when it comes to giving emotional support. The aim of this study was to explore reasons for registered nurses to give emotional support to older patients in a municipal home care setting. The study was conducted using Grounded Theory. Data collection was carried out through interviews with 16 registered nurses. The inclusion criteria were emotional support given to patients aged 80 years and above living in ordinary or sheltered housing and who were in need of help from both the home help service and registered nurses. The results show that the main concern of emotional support was “Trying to relieve the patient from their emotions so they are able to cope with everyday life.” This core category illustrates how registered nurses tried to support the patients’ own strength, so that they were able to move forward. Registered nurses consider that they could support the patients because they give them access to, or could create access to, their emotions, but there were also times when they felt helplessness and as a result, consciously opted out. The results also indicate that registered nurses were keen to give emotional support. To develop patient-centered elderly care, more knowledge of emotional support and the elderly's need for this support is required.