Effect of community-based comprehensive interventions on first aid skills and the level of serf-efficacy in the elderly

Abstract

Objective To improve first aid and mutual aid skills and quality of life in the elderly through the comprehensive community interventions and provide the theoretical basis for the establishment of the standardized education system and effectiveness evaluation study of first aid knowledge and skills in the elderly in community.Methods On the principle of convenience sampling,180 elderly people from 4 communities of Yuhang District in Hangzhou were selected,and all of them were investigated with the first aid knowledge questionnaire and self-efficacy scale for the elderly in community on the levels of first aid knowledge and selfefficacy.All participants received six-month community-based comprehensive interventions,and the levels of first aid knowledge and self-efficacy were compared between before the intervention,and 3 and 6 months after the intervention.In addition,the emergency situation and implementation effects of community-based comprehensive interventions within six-month interventions were investigated with the first-aid skills training followed up questionnaire.Results A total of 184 questionnaires were distributed and 184 valid questionnaires were returned,resulting in a response rate of 100％,and four elderly people were lost to follow up,180 valid questionnaires were finally obtained.Before the intervention,there were 77.8％ in 180 elderly people in the community who had not previously received training in first aid knowledge and skills,and 87.2％ elderly people who could not perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).Six months after the intervention,the score of first aid knowledge of the elderly in community increased from (48.06 ± 16.17) to (82.50 ± 15.28),the score of self-efficacy increased from (24.07 ± 6.62) to (30.86 ± 5.21),and there were significant differences between before and after the intervention (F =303.475,264.404,respectively; P ＜ 0.05).The scores of first aid knowledge and self-efficacy in each dimension in the elderly,who had different gender,age,educational level,living style,previous history of occupation and chronic diseases,increased when the intervention time was prolonged.Conclusions The first aid baseline survey finds that the level of first aid knowledge in community elderly is still far from satisfactory.The application of community-based comprehensive interventions can strengthen the first aid knowledge and improve the level of self-efficacy in the elderly. Key words: Community; Elderly; First aid knowledge; Self-efficacy; Comprehensive interventions