Experiences of health and well‐being, a question of adjustment and compensation – views of older people dependent on community care

Abstract

Most studies concerning older people's health and well-being have focused on their ill health, disease and complaints and have mainly been conducted with a quantitative design. Hence, there is still a need for qualitative studies in which these peoples' own views on health and well-being are shown, especially when they are dependent on health care in a community setting. A qualitative approach was used in the study reported here and aimed at obtaining a deeper understanding of older peoples' own views about their health and well-being. Interviews were carried out on two occasions with 19 older people living in their own homes and in sheltered accommodation. The data were analysed using content analysis. The findings suggested that the possibility to feel healthy was dependent both on the older person's own ability to adjust or compensate to their situation, and on how their caregivers, relatives and friends could compensate for the obstacles the older person faced. The subcategories that captured the informants' experiences of health and ill health were described as positive and negative poles of autonomy, togetherness, tranquillity and security in daily life. The significance of the caregivers was clearly evident. Their competence, commitment and treatment were prerequisites for the older person's ability to experience health in spite of being dependent on care.

Making Each Other’s Daily Life: Nurse Assistants’ Experiences and Knowledge on Developing a Meaningful Daily Life in Nursing Homes

“…[30] study, which outlined that if staff solely based their assessment on observation some symptoms such as depression may be difficult to discover. Older persons may experience health and positive well-being despite their health problems, but those problems must be alleviated and managed [31]. Consequently, NAs’ observations of and questions posed to older persons remain important [7].…”

Experiences of health and care when growing old in Norway - From the perspective of elderly immigrants with minority ethnic backgrounds

“…As a result, they were missing the kind of life that older people 'back home' had, insofar as being socially active and included in most parts of daily life even when being ill or immobile. Several studies have argued that an active social life is associated with good health and well-being among older people [20,21] , including an expression of 'togetherness versus being an onlooker' as described in a Swedish study of older people dependent on community care [22] . The older immigrants in this study appeared to be unobtrusive and withdrawn 'onlookers' in regard to the new society.…”

Struggling for existence—Life situation experiences of older persons with mental disorders

“…Importantly, the actions of caregivers and relatives can result in a diminished self-image and self-respect among older persons. A previous study demonstrated that older persons depend on the behavior of caregivers to feel healthy (From, Johansson, & Athlin, 2007); there is no evidence to indicate that this differs for older persons with mental disorders. Consequently, to facilitate the maintenance of dignity of identity and thereby increase the will to live, the older persons need to be acknowledged and respected.…”