Innovation Procurement in the Elderly Care in the Netherlands:

In outpatient care the home care, including hospices, is recognized as a model for providing quality, cost-effective and charitable care. The focus is mainly on the care that helps everyday lifeof the patient as well as the relatives, rather than on treatment, and in most cases it takes place in the patients' home. In Europe, in recent years there has been a real "boom" in home care due to demographic processes linked to increased needs for elderly care and chronically ill under the conditions of limited financial resources.In outpatient medical care in our country by means of a national framework contract there are regulated visits to the patient's home by a doctor, as well as visits by medical staff employed by him - nurse, midwife, medical assistant / paramedic / for manipulation, counseling and monitoring. At the same time there is no regulated legal activity in the Republic of Bulgaria, which is essentially the subject of home care.Since 1994 „Caritas“ has carried out the "Home Care" service, which provides a complex - health and social care for over 360 sick adults in a place where the elderly person feels the most comfortable - in their own home. „Caritas Home Care“ is provided by mobile teams of nurses and social assistants who visit the elderly at home and provide them with the necessary care according to their health and social needs.With the establishment of the first „Home Care Center“ in Lozenets region, Sofia, with the support of the PHARE ACCESS program in 2003, the Bulgarian Red Cross introduces in Bulgaria an integrated model for provision of health care and social services in the home of adults, chronically ill and people with permanent disabilities. To date, there are a number of problems in home care related to the realization of home care for patients in need in out-of-hospital settings: lack of legal regulation for home care, lack of qualified staff in outpatient care; lack of organization and structures for care; unsettled funding and the inability of the part of the population that is most in need of care to pay for it, there is no regulation to control the activity. Although home care began over 20 years ago, our country is yet to make its way to the European program called „Home care in Europe“.

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Development of a Mobile Time Banking system on Blockchain (MTBB) for Community Elderly Care (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.16269 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Hungyi Chen ◽

Yuan-Chia Chu ◽

Feipei Lai

Keyword(s):

Care Service ◽

Elderly Care ◽

Banking System ◽

The Elderly ◽

Community Services ◽

The Other ◽

Smartphone App ◽

Smartphone Apps ◽

Member Service ◽

Blockchain Technology

BACKGROUND Time banking is a good mechanism to provide elderly care in community services with members having mutual benefits, besides social welfare and out-of-pocket fee payment mechanisms. With further integration with off-line works, mobile time banking may provide a better way, compared to traditional web access. On the other hand, blockchain technology has been long encountering difficulty in integrating with real-world economies or activities. Development of a mobile time banking system on blockchain (MTBB) may provide a realistic solution for community elderly care. Besides, the tracking mechanism from blockchain technology itself may also help track the elderly care service transaction records in order to measure better Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by United Nations (UN). OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to develop the MTBB, which enables tracking service transaction records in community elderly care through mutual helps. METHODS The MTBB was developed to empower organizations, either Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) organizations, or Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs), to issue time tokens of their proprietary token types to the members who participate in the volunteer activities organized by the organizations respectively. In the service activities, members sign in and sign out before and after the services by using a smartphone app, and then get the time tokens afterwards. Members with time tokens can then exchange time tokens for elderly care services using the same smartphone app. MultiChain is used as the blockchain technology stack, as one of its features to support multiple token types is critical. RESULTS Database applications with smartphone apps integrated with MultiChain were developed. The whole set of the database schema was integrated with two smartphone apps, one for members, and the other for organizations, in addition to the two backend operations modules, one for organizations, and the other for managing all organizations and members. The MultiChain wallet was also integrated into the member app, as well as the organization backend modules for keeping track of the service transactions and time tokens. Metadata with the service transaction information is stored in the MultiChain blocks so that the transaction records are immutable and can thus be analyzed in the future. CONCLUSIONS The twelve characteristics of Cahn’s time banking are the guidelines of developing this MTBB with integration of MultiChain blockchain technology for tracking service transaction records. The study also combines the 1-to-1 member service exchange with organizations holding volunteer activities and issuing proprietary time tokens. With the blockchain transaction tracking mechanism, all of the elderly care service records through or within organizations can be tracked and analyzed to align with UN’s five SDGs.

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How did Sweden Fail the Pandemic?

International Journal of Health Services ◽

10.1177/0020731421994848 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 002073142199484

Author(s):

Finn Diderichsen

Keyword(s):

Elderly Care ◽

The Elderly ◽

Nordic Countries ◽

The Other ◽

Differential Survival ◽

Adequate Care ◽

Differential Exposure ◽

The Government ◽

Differential Immunity ◽

Inequalities In Mortality

Sweden has since the start of the pandemic a COVID-19 mortality rate that is 4 to 10 times higher than in the other Nordic countries. Also, measured as age-standardized all-cause excess mortality in the first half of 2020 compared to previous years Sweden failed in comparison with the other Nordic countries, but only among the elderly. Sweden has large socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities in COVID-19 mortality. Geographical, ethnic, and socioeconomic inequalities in mortality can be due to differential exposure to the virus, differential immunity, and differential survival. Most of the country differences are due to differential exposure, but the socioeconomic disparities are mainly driven by differential survival due to an unequal burden of comorbidity. Sweden suffered from an unfortunate timing of tourists returning from virus hotspots in the Alps and Sweden's government response came later and was much more limited than elsewhere. The government had an explicit priority to protect the elderly in nursing and care homes but failed to do so. The staff in elderly care are less qualified and have harder working conditions in Sweden, and they lacked adequate care for the clients. Sweden has in recent years diverged from the Scandinavian welfare model by strong commercialization of primary care and elderly care.

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A Study on Supply–Demand Satisfaction of Community-Based Senior Care Combined with the Psychological Perception of the Elderly

Healthcare ◽

10.3390/healthcare9060643 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (6) ◽

pp. 643

Author(s):

Jiangang Shi ◽

Wenwen Hua ◽

Daizhong Tang ◽

Ke Xu ◽

Quanwei Xu

Keyword(s):

Latent Variables ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Care Service ◽

Elderly Care ◽

The Elderly ◽

Living Environment ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Strategic Decisions ◽

Community Based ◽

The Government

Based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory and customer satisfaction theory, we constructed a satisfaction model for supply–demand satisfaction for community-based senior care (SSCSC) combined with the psychological perspective of the elderly, and four dimensions of basic living needs (BLNs), living environment (LE), personal traits (PTs), and livability for the aged (LA) were selected to construct the model. The data were obtained from 296 questionnaires from seniors over 50 years old (or completed by relatives on their behalf, according to their actual situation). Twenty-two observed variables were selected for the five latent variables, and their interactions were explored using structural equation modeling. The results showed that LA was the most significant factor influencing SSCSC, and it was followed by BLNs and LE. PTs did not show a direct effect on LA, but they could have an indirect effect on SSCSC through influencing BLNs and LE. Based on the current state of community aging satisfaction, we propose to establish a community elderly care service system based on the basic needs of the elderly population, providing differentiated and refined elderly care services and improving the level of aging-friendly communities. This study provides references for the government to formulate relevant policies and other supply entities to make strategic decisions and has important implications for further enhancing community elderly services to become an important part of the social security system for the elderly.

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Research on the Impact of Blood Type on the Elderly Care Mode and the Corresponding Industry

Proceedings of the 2020 3rd International Conference on Information Management and Management Science ◽

10.1145/3416028.3416041 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Fengjuan Liu ◽

Yuechen Liu ◽

Shuang Liang

Keyword(s):

Elderly Care ◽

The Elderly ◽

Blood Type ◽

The Impact

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Registered nurses’ role experiences of caring for older stroke patients: a qualitative study

BMC Nursing ◽

10.1186/s12912-021-00626-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Wei Cheng ◽

Jiong Tu ◽

Xiaoyan Shen

Keyword(s):

Nursing Education ◽

Older People ◽

Registered Nurses ◽

Elderly Care ◽

The Elderly ◽

Working Environment ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Stroke Patients ◽

Care Needs ◽

Nursing Clinical Practice

Abstract Background With China’s population ageing rapidly, stroke is becoming one of the major public health problems. Nurses are indispensable for caring for older patients with acute and convalescent stroke, and their working experiences are directly linked to the quality of care provided. The study aims to investigate registered nurses’ experiences of caring for older stroke patients. Methods A qualitative descriptive design was adopted. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with 26 registered nurses about their lived experiences of caring for older stroke patients. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Results Two main themes were identified. First, the nurses identified an obvious gap between their ideal role in elderly care and their actual practice. The unsatisfactory reality was linked to the practical difficulties they encountered in their working environment. Second, the nurses expressed conflicting feelings about caring for older stroke patients, displaying a sense of accomplishment, indifference, annoyance, and sympathy. Caring for older stroke patients also affects nurses psychologically and physically. The nurses were clear about their own roles and tried their best to meet the elderly people’s needs, yet they lack time and knowledge about caring for older stroke patients. The factors influencing their working experiences extend beyond the personal domain and are linked to the wider working environment. Conclusions Sustaining the nursing workforce and improving their working experiences are essential to meet the care needs of older people. Understanding nurses’ lived working experiences is the first step. At the individual level, nurse mangers should promote empathy, relieve anxiety about aging, and improve the job satisfaction and morale of nurses. At the institutional level, policymakers should make efforts to improve the nursing clinical practice environment, increase the geriatric nursing education and training, achieve a proper skill mix of the health workforce, and overall attract, prepare and sustain nurses regarding caring for older people in a rapidly aging society.

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“Caring for the Elderly is Very Difficult”: Challenges and Coping Strategies of Caregivers in Urban Poor Accra, Ghana

Clinical Nursing Research ◽

10.1177/1054773820982307 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 105477382098230

Author(s):

Frank Kyei-Arthur ◽

Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe

Keyword(s):

Coping Strategies ◽

Family Caregiving ◽

Urban Poor ◽

Phenomenological Study ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Elderly Care ◽

The Elderly ◽

Care Recipients ◽

Negative Impacts ◽

And Coping

This study is part of a broader phenomenological study on the experiences of family caregivers and their care recipients. There is a general paucity of research on the experiences of primary and secondary caregivers, and the negative impact of elderly care on caregivers in the urban poor settings in Ghana. This study explored primary and secondary caregivers’ challenges and coping strategies in the urban poor context in Accra, Ghana. This study was conducted in Ga Mashie. Thirty-one caregivers were interviewed. A phenomenological analysis was conducted using NVivo 10. Primary and secondary caregivers experienced economic, physical, social, and psychological burdens. Also, caregivers used spirituality and perseverance to cope with their challenges. The findings demonstrate that caregivers’ challenges varied by type of caregiver. Researchers and policymakers should consider the type of caregiver when designing interventions to mitigate the negative impacts of family caregiving on caregivers.

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