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Article
Publication date: 1 June 2005

Sergio Ariño‐Blasco, Win Tadd and Josep Boix‐Ferrer

Professionals' views concerning the importance of dignity and how this can best be maintained is important for the planning and provision of appropriate services, especially for…

Abstract

Professionals' views concerning the importance of dignity and how this can best be maintained is important for the planning and provision of appropriate services, especially for older people.Dignity was described as an integral part of being human and closely related to respect. Overall, participants painted a negative image of the lives of older people, although clear distinctions were drawn between fit and frail older people. Indignities associated with old age arose from ill health, dependency, vulnerability, frailty and loss of competence. It was considered that technological advances and information technology had left many older people behind. However, many described working with older people as an enjoyable experience offering variety, intellectual challenge and satisfaction, while recognising that working with older people was often given low status.Professionals identified the following factors as essential to dignified care: promotion of autonomy and independence; a person‐centred and holistic approach; maintenance of identity and encouragement of involvement, participation and empowerment; effective communication and respect. Undignified care was associated with: invisibility; de‐personalisation and treatment of the individual as an object; humiliation and abuse; narrow and mechanistic approaches to care.Policy development and professional education should give greater prominence to dignity and a greater emphasis ought to be placed on living with dignity in old age rather than solely dying with it.

Details

Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-7794

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 2 May 2024

Patricia Yocie Hierofani and Micheline van Riemsdijk

As populations are ageing and the global average life expectancy is rising, the provision of care for older people is an increasingly salient issue. This paper aims to focus on…

Abstract

Purpose

As populations are ageing and the global average life expectancy is rising, the provision of care for older people is an increasingly salient issue. This paper aims to focus on family-provided care for older immigrants, examining how older immigrants and care providers experience and construct family caregiving.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on interviews with care recipients, family care providers, municipal staff and representatives for migrant organisations in Sweden, this study presents a typology of family caregiving for older immigrants.

Findings

The authors found three caregiving types, namely, solely family-provided care and a combination of family care and public care (predominantly one or the other). The decision to select family-provided or publicly-funded care depends on personal and institutional factors.

Originality/value

The paper makes three empirical contributions to the literature on care provision for older immigrants. Firstly, this study provides insights into the structural and personal factors that shape care-giving arrangements for older immigrants. Secondly, this study examines the perspectives of care recipients and care providers on family-provided care. Care expectations differ between both groups and sometimes result in intergenerational disagreement. Thirdly, in terms of institutional support, this study finds that the Swedish state’s notion of individual needs does not match the needs of immigrant elderly and their caregivers. The paper places the care types in a broader discussion about eldercare provision in the Swedish welfare state, which has experienced a decline in publicly funded care services and an increase in family caregiving in the past 30 years. In addition, it addresses questions of dignified ageing from a minority perspective.

Details

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 20 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9894

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 March 2020

Sertan Kabadayi, Kejia Hu, Yuna Lee, Lydia Hanks, Matthew Walsman and David Dobrzykowski

Caring for older adults is an increasingly complex and multi-dimensional global concern. This article provides a comprehensive definition of the older adult care experience and…

1289

Abstract

Purpose

Caring for older adults is an increasingly complex and multi-dimensional global concern. This article provides a comprehensive definition of the older adult care experience and discusses its key components to help practitioners deliver older adult-centered care to maximize well-being outcomes for older adults.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on prior research on service operations, service experience, person-centered care and the unique, evolving needs of older adults regarding their care, this paper develops a conceptual framework in which the older adult care experience is the central construct, and key dimensions of well-being are the outcomes.

Findings

The older adult care experience is shaped by older adults' perceptions and evaluations of the care that they receive. Older adult-centered care has autonomy, dignity, unique needs and social environment as its core dimensions and results in those older adults feel empowered, respected, engaged and connected as part of their experience. The article also discusses how such experience can be evaluated by using quality dimensions from service operations, hospitality and healthcare contexts, and challenges that service firms may face in creating older adult care experience.

Research limitations/implications

Given the changing demographics and unique needs of older adults, it is an imperative for academics and practitioners to have an understanding of what determines older adult care experience to better serve them. Such understanding is important as by creating and fostering older adult care experience, service organizations can contribute to individual and societal well-being.

Originality/value

To the authors' best knowledge, this is the first paper to provide a comprehensive conceptualization of the older adult care experience.

Details

Journal of Service Management, vol. 31 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-5818

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 February 2013

Boontarika Narknisorn and Kyoko Kusakabe

This article aims to present the issues that challenge women and family to provide elder care. It also shows weaknesses of policy that strongly attaches to traditional expectation…

795

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to present the issues that challenge women and family to provide elder care. It also shows weaknesses of policy that strongly attaches to traditional expectation and does not adapt to actual changes by presenting an example of Thailand.

Design/methodology/approach

The review of secondary data.

Findings

Rapid growth of old age population, fewer number of children, changes in women's roles and women's employment, migration, family and societal changes challenge Thai traditional role of women and family as the main elder care providers. Academicians and policy makers are aware of these challenges, but Thai National Policy on Aging still puts responsibilities back to family.

Research limitations/implications

A limitation is that information is based on available literature. Implication is to stimulate an ongoing research to give feedback to policy.

Practical implications

A top‐down approach can create the gap between policy ideology and reality. This article provides argument information to close the gap and improve policy that better corresponds with actual social changes and life condition of older people, women and family.

Social implications

This article urges an understanding that family, women and older people are not homogeneous.

Originality/value

This article gives reasons why policy on aging needs to detach from traditional expectation, seriously prepare elder care that corresponds with social changes and provide elder care by family and non‐family.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 33 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 March 2024

Lorna de Witt, Kathryn A. Pfaff, Roger Reka and Noeman Ahmad Mirza

Current and predicted continued dramatic increases in international migration and ethnocultural diversity of older adult cohorts pose challenges for health care services. Review…

Abstract

Purpose

Current and predicted continued dramatic increases in international migration and ethnocultural diversity of older adult cohorts pose challenges for health care services. Review studies on ethnoculturally diverse older adults and health care show a lack of focus on their service use experiences. This study aims to report a meta-ethnography that addresses this knowledge gap through answering the review question: How do ethnoculturally diverse older adults who are immigrants experience health careservices?

Design/methodology/approach

The authors applied a seven-phase method of meta-ethnography to guide the review. The authors conducted two literature searches (April 2018 and June 2020) in MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, Sociological Abstracts and Abstracts in Social Gerontology that yielded 17 papers eligible for review.

Findings

“There’s always something positive and something negative” is the overarching metaphor for answering the review question. Findings highlight positive and negative tensions within ethnoculturally diverse older adults’ health care use experiences of understanding and being understood, having trust in providers and the health care system, having needs, preferences and resources met and desire for self-care over dependency. The majority of experiences were negative. Tipping points towards negative experiences included language, fear, provider attitudes and behaviours, service flexibility, attitudes towards Western and traditional health care and having knowledge and resources.

Originality/value

The authors propose concrete actions to mitigate the tipping points. The authors discuss policy recommendations for health care system changes at the micro, meso and macro service levels to promote positive experiences and address mainstream service policy inequities.

Details

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 20 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9894

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 April 2020

Watchara Tabootwong and Frank Kiwanuka

Partnership is both a goal and an approach to family-centered care (FCC). Family members play an important role alongside the health-care team when an older family member is…

308

Abstract

Purpose

Partnership is both a goal and an approach to family-centered care (FCC). Family members play an important role alongside the health-care team when an older family member is admitted to the hospital. Family involvement in care for an older person forms a partnership approach where health professionals and the family engage collaboratively in care. This enhances the quality of care and family satisfaction with care. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the potential areas of partnerships of family members with health-care professionals while caring for older people based on the perspective of FCC.

Design/methodology/approach

A literature review was carried out.

Findings

The findings of this study focus on how healthcare professionals can listen to, respect the perspectives of family members, and share useful information with the family while caring for an older person. Family participation in providing care and collaboration between healthcare professionals and families is a seminal goal strategy in caring for older people during hospitalization. It is helpful to family members as a way of training and preparing them to assist their loved one after hospital discharge. Furthermore, it can establish a good relationship between healthcare professionals and families.

Originality/value

Partnership between health-care professionals and families helps and supports the older people and the family in managing the health condition the following discharge from the hospital.

Details

Working with Older People, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-3666

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 July 2023

Chin-Hui Chen

The demand for long-term home care services has been increasing in Taiwan due to the significant growth of the older population. In order to understand the crucial roles that…

Abstract

Purpose

The demand for long-term home care services has been increasing in Taiwan due to the significant growth of the older population. In order to understand the crucial roles that language and communication play in providing better long-term home care services in Taiwan, this study aims to adopt a gerontological sociolinguistic perspective to investigate how professional care workers communicate with older people in this context.

Design/methodology/approach

Interviews were conducted with 58 long-term home care workers to identify their communication accommodation strategies for older people, considering their health conditions (dementia), personalities (grumpiness), living status (loneliness) and general principles of long-term home care communication.

Findings

The study's findings provide practical insights for long-term home care workers to enhance their communication skills while interacting with older people.

Research limitations/implications

The results could contribute to improving the quality of care services provided to older people and address their specific communication needs.

Originality/value

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to identify contextually specific communication accommodations to older people in existing literature of gerontological sociolinguistics that addresses language, communication and older age. The salience of the findings in this study can be further enhanced if they were applied in the development of training programs for future Taiwanese long-term home care workers.

Details

Working with Older People, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-3666

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 August 2023

Bahtiar Bahtiar, Ida Ayu Kade Sri Widiastuti, Dwi Nopriyanto, Nurlaila Fitriani, Khumaidi Khumaidi, Arief Andriyanto and Iskandar Muda

The purpose of this study is to explore the lived experiences of the constraints of older adult family caregivers with chronic diseases in caring for and accessing health services…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the lived experiences of the constraints of older adult family caregivers with chronic diseases in caring for and accessing health services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used the descriptive phenomenology qualitative method. The sampling method was purposive sampling involving 16 older adult family caregivers.

Findings

The results of this study showed three themes such as difficulties in health services in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic (complaints of services provided by doctors, older adult treatment control problems and difficulty getting to hospital health facilities); difficulties accompanying taking older adult medicine (older adult non-compliance response to taking medication and older adult medicine assistance); and psychosocial complaints caring for and accompanying the older adult (negative emotions for the older adult, difficulty interacting with the older adult and the economic burden of caring for the older adult).

Practical implications

Barriers to family caregivers in caring for older adults with chronic diseases can help health-care service providers understand and support families caring for and assisting older adults, which may contribute to the quality of life and care for both family caregivers and older adults.

Originality/value

This study showed that Indonesian family caregivers faced difficulties caring for and living with older adults with chronic diseases during the pandemic. Family caregivers’ experiences are essential when developing an intervention to support and manage health care for older adults with chronic illnesses.

Details

Working with Older People, vol. 28 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-3666

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 September 2013

Mark Llewellyn, Marcus Longley, Paul Jarvis and Tony Garthwaite

The purpose of this paper is to provide an account of a comprehensive and independent study of 1,029 older people who receive home care in Wales. The study aims to expand…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an account of a comprehensive and independent study of 1,029 older people who receive home care in Wales. The study aims to expand knowledge on the views of older people, a group who traditionally have struggled to make their voices heard. It asked older people about six specific components of home care: being listened to; having trained, knowledgeable and skilled care workers; having enough time to be cared for; receiving care from as few different workers as possible; receiving quality care; and being signposted to other sources of information.

Design/methodology/approach

After an initial literature review and period of analysis, a thematic framework for home care was developed which contained the six components described above. A questionnaire was subsequently designed and distributed via the post to all home care services over 65 years old in four local authorities across Wales. A sample response rate of 26.7 per cent was achieved.

Findings

The paper provides evidence on the levels of satisfaction (or otherwise) with the home care received by older people in Wales. Overall, nearly 85 per cent of older people are either “satisfied” or “very satisfied”, and given the sample size these data are significant (within appropriate confidence intervals) for the whole of the 25,000 people who receive home care in Wales. However, it is difficult to contextualise these findings given that there are no effective comparator data.

Research limitations/implications

Given the chosen research approach, the results may lack a certain depth of understanding. That said, the size of the sample does provide commissioners and providers of services with certainty about the general population view.

Originality/value

This paper offers a unique independent analysis of home care in Wales, and provides the reader with detailed insights into the views of older people who rarely get a chance to be heard.

Details

Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-7794

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 February 2019

Steve Moore

Through the lens afforded by two theories drawn from the discipline of social psychology, the purpose of this paper is to explain the evident continuing abuse of adults at risk…

Abstract

Purpose

Through the lens afforded by two theories drawn from the discipline of social psychology, the purpose of this paper is to explain the evident continuing abuse of adults at risk living in care homes by the staff who should be looking after them.

Design/methodology/approach

By considering existing theories and research into the reasons why vulnerable adults are abused the paper proposes the relevance of other extant theories on the degradation of moral restraint and dehumanisation of victims, and on the social psychology of intergroup relations, to the perpetration of abuse.

Findings

The paper demonstrates how theories that explain the psychology of human behaviour in certain circumstances may be usefully applied to the inveterate social problem of the abuse of vulnerable adults living in care homes.

Practical implications

The paper offers the opportunity for the reader to consider how these theories of social psychology may be applied to explain and guide remedies to the persistent levels of abuse in English care homes, abuse that continues despite government oversight of care provided to adults who may be at risk by virtue of the activities of the statutory regulator and health and social care commissioners, and the interventions of safeguarding personnel.

Originality/value

This is a conceptual paper from which future research and theorising may arise to better understand the most fundamental causes of the abuse of older people in care homes in order to develop feasible and effective measures to overcome it.

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