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1 – 10 of 295Siu Mee Cheng and Cristina Catallo
The Healthy at Home (H@H) is an older adult day program that is in Toronto in Ontario, Canada. This is an integrated health and social care (IHSC) program that seeks to address…
Abstract
Purpose
The Healthy at Home (H@H) is an older adult day program that is in Toronto in Ontario, Canada. This is an integrated health and social care (IHSC) program that seeks to address the social isolation and health needs of a highly vulnerable older adult population living in the north Toronto communities. These are Russian-speaking Jewish older adult immigrants. The case provides a detailed description of the factors that enabled a diverse group of health and social care organizations to integrate their respective services to address the health and social care needs of their clients using a culturally appropriate and trauma-informed lens.
Design/methodology/approach
A case description comprised of key informant interviews, and a focus group was undertaken of representatives from health and social care organizations serving clients in the north Toronto area.
Findings
This case description identified eleven integration factors that enabled organizations to provide integrated care using a culturally appropriate and trauma-informed lens, and they include developing an aligned vision and goals, communications, an inter-organization culture of inter-dependence, champions, pre-existing relationships, and champions. In addition, operating in the not-for-profit sector, sector differences, enabling public policies and a strong sense of community have influenced integration of services across the organizational partners to serve its high-risk client group.
Originality/value
This case description lends insights into how IHSC can be leveraged to provide culturally appropriate and trauma-informed care for highly vulnerable client/patient populations. A lesson learnt is that social care partners can engage in successful integration leadership in joint health and social care integration efforts.
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Niamh Griffin, Leah O’Sullivan and Ruth Usher
Ireland’s ageing population has resulted in an increasing number of older adults living with frailty. Despite growing attention towards older adults’ and health professionals’…
Abstract
Purpose
Ireland’s ageing population has resulted in an increasing number of older adults living with frailty. Despite growing attention towards older adults’ and health professionals’ perspectives of frailty, occupational therapy research is limited. This study aims to explore occupational therapists’ perceptions of frailty and how their perceptions impact their approach to the assessment and management of frailty.
Design/methodology/approach
Using qualitative descriptive design, 19 occupational therapists working with older adults participated in online focus groups. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.
Findings
Perceptions of occupational therapists were constructed into three main themes: conceptualising frailty; management of frailty; and advancing frailty practice. Findings indicate that occupational therapists perceived frailty as a multidimensional concept but highlight a reluctance to use frailty terminology with patients. Findings also suggest that although occupational therapists are involved in provision of care for older adults living with frailty, the profession’s scope is not optimised in the assessment and management of frailty.
Originality/value
Findings provide insight into occupational therapists’ perceptions of frailty. Development of a shared understanding of frailty between clinicians and patients and enhancement of undergraduate frailty education are recommended to progress occupational therapy’s role in frailty management.
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Bonnie Poksinska and Malin Wiger
Providing high-quality and cost-efficient care of older people is an important development priority for many health and social care systems in the world. This paper suggests a…
Abstract
Purpose
Providing high-quality and cost-efficient care of older people is an important development priority for many health and social care systems in the world. This paper suggests a shift from acute, episodic and reactive hospital-centered care toward longitudinal, person-centered and proactive home-centered care. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge of a comprehensive development strategy for designing and providing home-centered care of older people.
Design/methodology/approach
The study design is based on qualitative research with an inductive approach. The authors study development initiatives at the national, regional and local levels of the Swedish health and social care system. The data collection methods included interviews (n = 54), meeting observations (n = 25) and document studies (n = 59).
Findings
The authors describe findings related to policy actions and system changes, attempts to achieve collaboration, integration and coordination, new forms of care offerings, characteristics of work settings at home and differences in patients' roles and participation at home and in the hospital.
Practical implications
The authors suggest home-centered care as a solution for providing person-centered and integrated care of older people and give examples of how this can be achieved.
Originality/value
The authors outline five propositions for research and development related to national policies, service modularity as a solution for customized and coordinated care, developing human resources and infrastructure for home settings, expanding services that enable older people living at home and patient co-creation.
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Henriikka Anne-Mari Seittu, Anneli Hujala and Minna Kaarakainen
Integrated care (IC) is mainly studied from the perspectives of organisations or employees. However, less research is focussed on how patients themselves experience person-centred…
Abstract
Purpose
Integrated care (IC) is mainly studied from the perspectives of organisations or employees. However, less research is focussed on how patients themselves experience person-centred (PC) IC in practice. This context-specific, small-scale study examines what PC-IC means to older patients who went through joint replacement surgery (JRS).
Design/methodology/approach
The data consists of ten in-depth interviews of older patients, focussing on their experiences of care during their patient journey related to joint knee or hip replacement surgery. The data were analysed with thematic analysis.
Findings
Three central dimensions of PC-IC for older patients were identified: information sharing, continuity of care and compassionate encountering. Human validation and compassionate encountering were experienced as important aspects of PC-IC. Compassionate encountering was concretised through professionals’ very small everyday practices, which made the patient feel comfortable and respected. Instead, probably due to the medical and quite straight-forward nature of the joint replacement care process, patients seem to be pleased to trust the expertise of professionals and did not necessarily expect an active role or participation in the decision-making.
Originality/value
This Finnish case study focusses on the patients’ authentic perceptions of what is central to person-centred IC in the specific context of JRS.
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Bernice Skytt, Hans Högberg and Maria Engström
The Purpose of the study was to investigate the construct validity and internal consistency of the LaMI among staff in the context of elderly care in Sweden.
Abstract
Purpose
The Purpose of the study was to investigate the construct validity and internal consistency of the LaMI among staff in the context of elderly care in Sweden.
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaire data from a longitudinal study of staff working in elderly care were used. Data were collected using the Leadership and Management Inventory. First data collection was for explorative factor analysis (n = 1,149), and the second collection, one year later, was for confirmatory factor analysis (n = 1,061).
Findings
The explorative factor analysis resulted in a two-factor solution that explained 70.2% of the total variance. Different models were tested in the confirmatory factor analysis. The final model, a two-factor solution where three items were omitted, showed acceptable results.
Originality/value
The instrument measures both leadership and management performance and can be used to continually measure managers’ performances as perceived by staff to identify areas for development.
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Margitta B. Beil-Hildebrand, Firuzan Kundt Sari, Patrick Kutschar and Lorri Birkholz
Nurse leaders are challenged by ethical issues in today’s complex health-care settings. The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze key elements of moral distress…
Abstract
Purpose
Nurse leaders are challenged by ethical issues in today’s complex health-care settings. The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze key elements of moral distress identified by nurse leaders from health-care systems in the USA, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The aim was to develop an understanding of distressing ethical issues nurse leaders face in the USA and three German-speaking European countries.
Design/methodology/approach
This descriptive cross-sectional study surveyed a convenience sample of nurse leaders in the USA, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The voluntary, anonymous survey also included qualitative questions and was distributed using the Qualtrics® platform. A thematic analysis of the qualitative data in each country was carried out and a comparative analysis identified similarities and differences between the groups of nurse leaders comparing the US data to that from three German-speaking European countries.
Findings
The survey was completed by 316 nurse leaders: Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (n = 225) and the USA (n = 91). Similar themes identified as causing all nurse leaders moral distress included a lack of individual and organizational integrity, hierarchical and interprofessional issues, lack of nursing professionalism, patient care/patient safety concerns, finances negatively impacting care and issues around social justice. Within these six themes, there were also differences between the USA and the three German-speaking European countries.
Originality/value
Understanding the experiences associated with distressing ethical situations can allow nurse leaders and organizations to focus on solutions and develop resilience to reduce moral distress in the USA and three German-speaking European countries.
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Zheng Wang and Rong Deng
Fitness games, as a medium that combines playfulness and usefulness for exercise, face challenges in sustaining long-term user engagement. Currently, there is limited research…
Abstract
Purpose
Fitness games, as a medium that combines playfulness and usefulness for exercise, face challenges in sustaining long-term user engagement. Currently, there is limited research exploring factors influencing users' continued intention to use from the perspective of user experience. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the priority of various user experience attributes of fitness games in promoting users' sustained engagement and to construct a user behavior model, offering theoretical guidance for designers and businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
This study distributed 441 survey questionnaires and, based on the fundamental characteristics of external games, established a model for users' continued intention to use external games. It explores the impact of various gaming elements on users' continued intention to use fitness games and the relationships between these elements.
Findings
The study indicates that usefulness, functional quality, and ease of use directly influence players' intention to continue playing external games. Social interactions, technical quality, and playfulness do not have an impact on the continued intention to use.
Originality/value
This research breaks away from the bias of previous studies overly focusing on playfulness in games. It fills the research gap regarding the continued intention to use fitness games and provides insights into the design and operation of fitness games.
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Weiliang Zhang, Sifeng Liu, Junliang Du, Liangyan Tao and Wenjie Dong
The purpose of this study is to advance a novel evaluation index system and evaluation approach for ability of older adults in China.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to advance a novel evaluation index system and evaluation approach for ability of older adults in China.
Design/methodology/approach
This study constructed a comprehensive older adult ability evaluation index system with 4 primary indicators and 17 secondary indicators. Grey clustering analysis and entropy weight method are combined into a robust evaluation model for the ability of older adults.
Findings
The result demonstrates that the proposed grey clustering model is readily available to calculate the disability level of elderly individuals. The constructed index system more comprehensively considers all aspects of the disability of the elderly.
Originality/value
This study provides a quantitative method and a more reasonable index system for the determination of the disability level of the elderly.
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Teagan Cunningham, Carolyn Murray, Jia Tina Du, Nina Evans and Tahereh Ziaian
This scoping review article aimed to systematically search the literature on the use, purpose and barriers of information and communication technology (ICT) for culturally and…
Abstract
Purpose
This scoping review article aimed to systematically search the literature on the use, purpose and barriers of information and communication technology (ICT) for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) older adults in the host country. The review also conducted a search for literature on programs that aim to develop digital literacy skills for CALD older adults.
Design/methodology/approach
A scoping review approach was utilized to identify and search the available literature, and to map the key concepts. A total of 23 relevant articles were included following a systematic search across seven databases.
Findings
The review suggests that CALD older adults use ICT for various purposes, including social interaction, health management, information gathering, immigration, everyday routines and leisure. The barriers faced by these older adults in using ICT encompass fear and limited knowledge, language issues, lack of interest, limited access to technology and health concerns. The existing training programs focus on enhancing self-efficacy and confidence and promoting attitudinal changes toward ICT.
Originality/value
Despite the presence of empirical studies, few scoping or systematic reviews have focused on CALD older adults and technology. Research developments related to the technology use of CALD older adults and associated training programs have been fragmented and sporadic, resulting in gaps in the evidence base. This review fills such a gap to better understand the research status connected to CALD older people’s technology adoption and use.
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This paper aims to introduce the concept of using the well-established Shared Lives approach to support survivors of domestic abuse with complex needs including those with…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to introduce the concept of using the well-established Shared Lives approach to support survivors of domestic abuse with complex needs including those with learning and physical disabilities, older people and carers.
Design/methodology/approach
Survivors with complex needs are often excluded from traditional domestic abuse support services thus increasing their risk and making recovery impossible. Using the Shared Lives approach in suitable cases could address gaps in provision and improve the outcomes for survivors with disabilities, older survivors and carers.
Findings
The paper draws on evidence from reports and research about the experiences of these cohorts of survivors to explain how the Shared Lives approach could increase support options for specific categories of survivors.
Practical implications
Using the Shared Lives approach to support cohorts of victims/survivors who experience barriers to accessing support could improve outcomes for these people, reduce risk of serious harm and improve quality of life.
Originality/value
With the recent recommendation from Association of Directors of Adult Social Services around increasing use of Shared Lives, this paper provides one potential way to meet this recommendation.
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