scholarly journals Breaking Up and a New Beginning When One’s Partner Goes into a Nursing Home: An Interview Study

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 672
Author(s):  
Gerd Ahlström ◽  
Nina Stååhl Markeling ◽  
Ulrika Liljenberg ◽  
Helena Rosén

In aging societies worldwide, spouses take on great responsibility for care when their partner continues to live at home. Nursing home placement occurs when the partner becomes too frail due to multimorbidity, and this will cause a change in the spouse’s life. This study aimed to explore the spouse’s experience of their partner’s move to a nursing home. Two interviews were conducted at 9-month intervals within the project entitled “Implementation of Knowledge-Based Palliative Care in Nursing Homes”. Thirteen spouses from both urban and rural areas were included, with an age-range of 60–86 years (median 72). Qualitative content analysis was performed. The main findings were captured in two themes: Breaking up of close coexistence and Towards a new form of daily life. The first encompassed processing loneliness, separation and grief, exhaustion, increased burden, and a sense of guilt. The second encompassed a sense of freedom, relief, acceptance, support and comfort. Professionals in both home care and nursing home care need to develop and provide a support programme conveying knowledge of the transition process to prevent poor quality of life and depression among the spouses. Such a programme should be adaptable to individual needs and should ideally be drawn up in consultation with both partners.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susann May ◽  
Kai Jonas ◽  
Thomas Zahn ◽  
Martin Heinze ◽  
Felix Mühlensiepen

Abstract BackgroundTelemedical care of nursing home residents in Germany, especially in rural areas, is limited to a few pilot projects and is rarely implemented as part of standard care. The possible merits of implementing video consultations in longer-term nursing care currently lack supporting evidence. In particular, there is little documentation of experiences and knowledge about the effects and potential benefits of the implementation in presently existing structures. ObjectiveThe goal was to assess the effect of implement medical video consultations into nursing home care addressing the following research questions:- How is medical care currently provided to nursing home residents, and where do problems in its implementation arise? - How can video consultations be used to reduce difficulties arising in everyday care? - How does implementation of video consultations impact day-to-day nursing home care delivery?MethodsTwenty-one guided interviews (pre-implementation n=13; post-implementation n=8) were conducted with a total of 13 participants (physicians, nurses and medical technical assistants). Narratives were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The results were contrasted in a pre-post analysis.ResultsChallenges described by the participants before implementation included a requirement for additional organisational and administrative efforts, interruptions in the daily care routine or delayed treatments, and risk for loss of patient-relevant information due to process diversity. After implementation, communication was facilitated upon introduction of assigned time slots for video consultations. Clinical information was less likely to be lost, additional work was spared, and medication and therapeutic and assistive devices were provided more quickly.ConclusionsTelehealth cannot replace physical, in-person visits, but does offer an alternative form of service delivery when properly integrated into existing structures. Our results suggest that the use of video consultations in nursing homes can reduce the burden and additional workload, and increase the efficiency of care provision for nursing home residents. Video consultations can complement in-person visits to nursing homes, especially to address the shortage of medical specialists in rural areas in Germany. To promote implementation and acceptance of video consultation in nursing homes, we need to increase awareness of its benefits and undertake further evaluation of video consultations in nursing home care.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susann May ◽  
Kai Jonas ◽  
Georgia V. Fehler ◽  
Thomas Zahn ◽  
Martin Heinze ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Telemedical care of nursing home residents in Germany, especially in rural areas, is limited to a few pilot projects and is rarely implemented as part of standard care. The possible merits of implementing video consultations in longer-term nursing care currently lack supporting evidence. In particular, there is little documentation of experiences and knowledge about the effects and potential benefits of the implementation in presently existing structures. The goal was to assess the effect of implementing medical video consultations into nursing home care addressing the following research questions: How is medical care currently provided to nursing home residents, and where do problems in its implementation arise? How can video consultations be used to reduce difficulties arising in everyday care? How does implementation of video consultations impact day-to-day nursing home care delivery? Methods Twenty-one guided interviews (pre-implementation n = 13; post-implementation n = 8) were conducted with a total of 13 participants (physicians, nurses and medical technical assistants). Narratives were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The results were contrasted in a pre-post analysis. Results Challenges described by the participants before implementation included a requirement for additional organisational and administrative efforts, interruptions in the daily care routine or delayed treatments, and risk for loss of patient-relevant information due to process diversity. After implementation, communication was facilitated upon introduction of assigned time slots for video consultations. Clinical information was less likely to be lost, additional work was spared, and medication and therapeutic and assistive devices were provided more quickly. Conclusions Telehealth cannot replace physical, in-person visits, but does offer an alternative form of service delivery when properly integrated into existing structures. Our results suggest that the use of video consultations in nursing homes can reduce the burden and additional workload, and increase the efficiency of care provision for nursing home residents. Video consultations can complement in-person visits to nursing homes, especially to address the shortage of medical specialists in rural areas in Germany. To promote implementation and acceptance of video consultation in nursing homes, we need to increase awareness of its benefits and undertake further evaluation of video consultations in nursing home care.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (12) ◽  
pp. 1708-1727
Author(s):  
Carrie Henning-Smith ◽  
Katy Kozhimannil ◽  
Shailendra Prasad

Rural residents experience higher disability, mortality, and poverty rates than their urban counterparts; they also have more barriers to accessing care, including nursing home care. Meanwhile, the proportion of nonelderly adult nursing home residents (<65 years old) is growing, yet little is known about this population and barriers they face trying to access care, especially in rural areas. This qualitative study uses data from 23 semistructured interviews with rural hospital discharge planners in five states to identify specific barriers to finding nursing home care for nonelderly rural residents. We grouped those barriers into three primary themes—payment status, fit, and medical complexity—as well as two minor themes—caregivers and bureaucratic processes—and discuss each in the article, along with potential policy and programmatic interventions to improve access to nursing home care for nonelderly rural residents.


1986 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 601-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Wood

1976 ◽  
Vol 2 (21) ◽  
pp. 805-806
Author(s):  
R. B. Lefroy

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