Body care of older people in different institutionalized settings: A systematic mapping review of international nursing research from a Scandinavian perspective

Abstract

Body care is considered a key aspect of nursing and imperative for the health, wellbeing, and dignity of older people. In Scandinavian countries, body care as a professional practice has undergone considerable changes, bringing new understandings, values, and dilemmas into nursing. A systematic mapping review was conducted with the aims of identifying and mapping international nursing research on body care of older people in different institutionalized settings in the healthcare system and to critically discuss the dominant assumptions within the research by adapting a problematization approach.

The choreographies of the elimination of faeces—An ethnographic study of the institutionalized body care practices of older people in different health care settings

“…The Framework emphasizes the contextual aspects of care, including the institutional setting; however, nursing research focuses little on these aspects (Rosendal et al, 2022). Mudd et al argue that the Framework and other nursing theories do not address the context in ways that elucidate the complexity of the contextual factors (Mudd et al, 2020).…”

“…Mudd et al argue that the Framework and other nursing theories do not address the context in ways that elucidate the complexity of the contextual factors (Mudd et al, 2020). A recent review on body care practices for older people also illustrates that nursing research primarily focuses on evidence-based research and the relational aspects of body care (Rosendal et al, 2022). However, there is a lack of research exploring the contextual aspects of care and the involvement of non-human actors in care practices (Rosendal et al, 2022).…”

“…A recent review on body care practices for older people also illustrates that nursing research primarily focuses on evidence-based research and the relational aspects of body care (Rosendal et al, 2022). However, there is a lack of research exploring the contextual aspects of care and the involvement of non-human actors in care practices (Rosendal et al, 2022). Recent research from other areas than nursing stresses the importance of focusing on material and social dimensions of care (Ceci et al, 2017) and the institutional context to understand the complexities in care practices (Hansen & Grosen, 2022).…”

“…Moreover, body care is also regarded as a relational practice, with a focus on the dilemmas involved, such as the balancing act between being dependent and vulnerable and the effort to maintain both integrity and independence (Holmberg et al, 2019; Lomborg et al, 2005). Overall, research on body care of older people tends to focus primarily on the care of different body parts (e.g., bowel elimination, skin, oral care), while the general term body care is little used (Rosendal et al, 2022).…”

“…Furthermore, dealing with body wastes like faeces is often subject to stigma and taboo (Lawler, 1994). This is also reflected in nursing research, which scarcely addresses faeces (Ihnát et al, 2016; Rosendal et al, 2022).…”