Fulfilment of dimensions of human life should be assessed to provide care that meets the needs of clients.

The existing types of geriatric homes will serve as prototypes for future development. There is however, a need for additional homecare services to reduce care givers' strain in the families.

Care givers and care recipients can agree on the suggested attributes of care dependency but may judge them in different ways. Self-assessed care dependency has the potential to challenge preconceptions of care givers about care dependency.

The aim of this study was to identify the attitudes of older Egyptians towards receiving nursing care at home and to identify the characteristics that allow differentiating between various types of these attitudes. The number of older persons in Egypt requiring nursing care is increasing. Care was traditionally provided by the family, but the social network is changing in bigger cities. Beside geriatric homes, older Egyptians can refer to private helpers and a small number of home care services. Structured guideline interviews were performed with 33 Egyptians above 60 years of age. Participants were chosen by purposeful sampling. Twelve of them received home care. Interviews were analyzed with qualitative content analysis according to Mayring. Participants could be classified under three main categories of care seeking types: (1) insufficient income, (2) sufficient income and family dependent decision about care, (3) sufficient income and independent decision about care. Variations under these categories were due to differences in the social network and the perceived self-help abilities. Examples for the influence of factors which explained variations were not identified in every category to the same extent. Some types of care seeking that exist in reality may be missing in this study. Findings suggest the hypothesis that care seeking of older Egyptians is related to their social status. Those with insufficient income seem to reject home care whereas independent personalities with sufficient income may be the main winners of this offer.

Aim. The aim of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of the modified Arabic Care Dependency Scale for selfassessment of older persons in Egypt and to compare these self-assessments to proxy assessments by care givers and family members. Background. The Care Dependency Scale is an internationally used instrument to measure care dependency. The Arabic version may improve data collection on this phenomenon in the Middle East where the population is ageing. Design. A cross-sectional study with a sample of 611 older persons living in Greater Cairo. Participants belonged to three groups: nursing home residents, home care recipients and non-care recipients; 459 participants were also rated by proxies and 171 repeated their self-assessment after two weeks. Methods. The correlation between sum scores of the Care Dependency Scale and the Activities of Daily Living scale was calculated to establish criterion validity. Construct validity was determined by comparing care recipients and non-care recipients with regard to their Care Dependency Scale sum scores and by exploratory factor analysis. Intraclass coefficients were used to assess test-retest reliability of self-ratings for each item. Mean differences between self and proxy assessment were calculated. Results. The Care Dependency Scale had a strong correlation to the Activities of Daily Living scale and is able to distinguish between care recipients and non-care recipients. Factor analysis revealed one factor for basic needs and one factor for psychosocial needs. ICC values were >0AE7 for most items related to the factor for basic needs among care recipients. Proxy assessment yielded higher care dependency than self assessment. Conclusion. Care Dependency Scale items for basic needs are suitable to assess care dependency among Egyptian care recipients. Relevance to clinical practice. Assessment of care dependency is useful to obtain data for appropriate resource allocation among care recipients.Key words: Activities of Daily Living, Arabic translation, care dependency, Egypt, older persons, psychometric study population. For the year 2050, this life expectancy is estimated to reach 75AE2 years for men and 79AE4 years for women (ESCWA 2007). An increasing number of people aged 60 and above will be associated with an increase of disabilities and ensuing care dependency. Based on data from the Global Burden of Disease Study on severe levels of disability and the calculation of population projections, Harwood et al. (2004) predict an increasing number of care dependent people in the Middle East. They demand, however, improved data collection on this issue. Such data are required for an appropriate allocation of nursing services for older persons in these countries. To date there is still a scarcity of such information.

Health promotion programmes that are not restricted to a narrow focus on health but provide the opportunity to socialise may support older adults in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Geriatric care is a new phenomenon in Egypt. This study investigates how Egyptian caregivers experience their work and how they conceive its meaning. A qualitative case study in a geriatric home in Upper Egypt was conducted using structured interviews with 10 staff members and content analysis according to Mayring. Performing care required learning to overcome initial experiences of fear, disgust, and sexual taboo. Care was perceived as a laborious repetition. Its ideal form was described as a reaction to a demand combined with kind patience and a family-like relationship. Christian and female values allowed coping with experienced problems and alleviated conflicts between traditional gender roles and care of male residents. Traditional values helped to adapt to the requirements of providing care. Sexual taboos may reduce willingness to provide care, but traditional values may encourage caregivers.

Purpose:The aim of this study is to determine the cultural adequateness of the Arabic version of the Care Dependency Scale (CDS), an internationally used instrument to measure care needs by either self-reports or external assessment. Method: A Delphi study in two rounds about the Arabic version was performed with 37 panelists in Cairo. Acceptance of CDS items was rated on a 4-point Likert-type scale. Results: Agreement among panelists in the second round was found for 11 CDS items, but 2 items had decreased acceptance after rephrasing and 2 were rejected. Discussion: Rejected items seem to reflect a heterogeneous perception in the target population. Despite some limitations, the CDS is a promising instrument to detect care needs among older Egyptians.