A PS has significant effects on the areas of activity, participation and QoL in elderly people. These findings have implications for prescriptions of a PS to this population. Implications for Rehabilitation Powered scooter interventions increased the performance of activities and increased participation in elderly people with mobility limitations. Actions from several parts of the community are required to prevent from mishaps from using powered scooters. The Individually Prioritized Problem Assessment is an adequate method to measure goal attainment in elderly users of powered scooters.

The aim of this study was to describe the everyday life experiences of 22 elderly persons with physical disabilities in Sweden. The participants were aged between 65 and 91 years. Interviews were conducted and analysed according to a qualitative research approach. Disengagement in activities and social contacts resulted in feelings of resignation and dejection for some participants, while others delegated tasks as a satisfactory alternative. Participants also described how activities and social contacts continued, albeit in a different way, and being active and socializing gave feelings of pleasure and a sense of belonging. While receiving help was experienced as valuable, it also increased the fear of becoming dependent. Occupational therapy intervention should be directed at increasing social contacts and engagements in meaningful activities, as well as strengthening the individual's autonomy. The transferability of the study can be questioned as the sample only included elderly persons with physical disabilities from urban areas. Further research is needed to address the impact of occupational therapy interventions on life satisfaction.

Background:In a larger action research project, guidelines were generated for how a meaningful daily life could be developed for older persons. In this study, we focused on the nurse assistants’ (NAs) perspectives, as their knowledge is essential for a well-functioning team and quality of care. The aim was to learn from NAs’ experiences and knowledge about how to develop a meaningful daily life for older persons in nursing homes and the meaning NAs ascribe to their work.Methods:The project is based on Participatory and Appreciative Action and Reflection. Data were generated through interviews, participating observations and informal conversations with 27 NAs working in nursing homes in Sweden, and a thematic analysis was used.Result:NAs developed a meaningful daily life by sensing and finding the “right” way of being (Theme 1). They sense and read the older person in order to judge how the person was feeling (Theme 2). They adapt to the older person (Theme 3) and share their daily life (Theme 4). NAs use emotional involvement to develop a meaningful daily life for the older person and meaning in their own work (Theme 5), ultimately making each other’s daily lives meaningful.Conclusion:It was obvious that NAs based the development of a meaningful daily life on different forms of knowledge: the oreticaland practical knowledge, and practical wisdom, all of which are intertwined. These results could be used within the team to constitute a meaningful daily life for older persons in nursing homes.

The aim of this study was to explore elderly persons' conceptions of what they expected to gain from attending day-care rehabilitation centres (DCR). A purposeful sampling procedure was employed. Interviews with 22 prospective elderly day-care patients were carried out and analysed according to a phenomenographic approach. The analysis yielded eight categories. Two categories, Social contact and Exercise, described what the elderly persons expected to encounter. The remaining categories, A change from the monotony of everyday life, An opportunity to be yourself, A balm for the body, A safety net, A mastery of everyday activities, and An energizing spark, described the meanings of the encounters. Two categories were attributed to the elderly persons' physical presence at the centre and the gains were expected to end when the programme ended. In three categories the expected improvements were projected into the future and were expected to last. The findings imply that follow-up home visits and suggestions for alternative social activities in order to provide stimulation and social equality would be a valuable complement to the DCR programme. Rehabilitation personnel need to consider the ambivalent view on assistive devices as well as the elderly person's need for continuity when setting goals and planning individual programmes.

Prescription of PMDs to elderly users might be cost-effective. However, there are shortcomings in measuring QALY gains from the use of a PMD, and it is unclear how time savings among relatives should be valued. Implications for Rehabilitation Prescription of powered mobility devices for the elderly with disability seems to be cost effective and should be a standard intervention. In economic evaluations of powered mobility devices and other assistive devices, the commonly used analyses methods are not always appropriate and therefore need to be adjusted.