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Subjective Assessments of the Disease Seriousness in the Population Aged 60+
19-20Views:292The population aged 60+ constitute a considerable part of patients needing nursing care. A subjective assessment represents an important aspect that needs to be respected in nursing care and included in the care provided.
The goal of the paper is to draw attention to the importance of a subjective assessment in the population aged 60+.Method:
The study was performed in the South Bohemian Region. The study was quantitative and this part was carried out using a non-standardized questionnaire. The questions were particularly focused on the assessment of the social situation, health and everyday activities. The study was focused on the population aged 60+; it included the total number of 498 respondents.Results:
Motor diseases, followed by cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, were perceived as the most serious. Motor and malignant diseases had the highest influence on performing everyday activities. On the other hand, these activities were least influenced by cardiovascular diseases. The worst assessment for the physical and psychological state was awarded by respondents with cancer, which was also reflected in low satisfaction. Respondents with cardiovascular or metabolic diseases perceived their physical and psychological health best. However, from the point of view of the assessment, it needs to be mentioned in which environment the respondents lived. E.g., respondents with cardiovascular diseases mostly stayed at the home setting, which could influence their assessment and their satisfaction with the state of health. Respondents with malignant diseases spent more time at hospitals or nursing homes, which can influence the assessment of their state of health.
The results show that the patient subjective views of their own disease and associated issues need to be included both in the nursing care and in the comprehensive multidisciplinary care. This sensitive information cannot be obtained from any objective assessments performed in nursing care. -
Dementia and family. The role of Alzheimer cafe in reducing the burden of caregiving families
34-46.Views:421In the last years, the international researches have turned towards families caring for elderly people with dementia /see the works of Zarit et al. 1985, 2005; Aneshensel et al. 1995; and Kaplan 1996/. The majority of these researchers analysed the stress burden of the caring family member and its consequences, role conflicts, and the tensions in the caregiving family (Zarit et al. 1985; Aneshensel et al. 1995; Kaplan 1996; Zarit et al. 2005). The revelation that in terms of Romania, we know nothing or almost nothing about the burden of families caring for elderly people with dementia and its effect on the primary carer, played was an important factor in the choice of topic. This is why, in a vast empirical analysis, in Transylvania, 50 interviews and questionnaire surveys were made with people caring for elderly with dementia in their own homes and 50 families whose relatives with dementia have been moved to a long-term residential home in the past 12 months from the time of the survey. Gathering data took three years (2015–2017). The research included the inquiry interview with the primary caregiver family member, in which we assessed the functional barriers and the psychosocial difficulties (Szabó 2000). The analysis of the levels of social skills was built upon this, and it unfolded the main characteristics of self-sufficiency, existing social skills, and social adaptation. This survey pointed out the everyday tasks in which the client requires help. With regard to family care, we have also analysed the independent living ability of people with dementia. These three angles offered the guidelines for the assessment of “objective burden” of the caring family member. Reviewing the distribution of caring tasks within the family is based on this, which helps us finding out who the key persons are, the ones undertaking the primary caregiving duties. For analysing the formation of roles within the family, we have devised our own criteria (Szabó–Kiss 2015). Starting from the objective burden, in regard to the “subjective burden”, we have obtained valuable indications about the emotional effect of caregiving family member. The detailed assessment of self-sufficiency through which we have analysed the measure of functional degradation of people living with dementia, was added to the devices of the analysis (Szabó 2000). The internationally approved scale of memory and behavioural problems (Zarit 1985) is connected to this, which measures the distractive attitude of the person living with dementia and its effect on the primary caregiver. The survey of the primary caregiver’s burdening is also connected (Zarit 1985), and so is the assessment of the negative and positive attitude towards the caregiving tasks (Farran et al. 1999). A six-step focus group is added to the devices of the research, in which the primary caregivers, by hearing each other’s cases and following thematic questions, open up more easily about the critical periods of caregiving and the pivotal factors of institutional placement.