Factors Affecting Care Workers' Coping Abilities in Emergencies to the Korean Elderly.

Soon-Ok Kim,Jaelan Shim

doi:10.3390/ijerph16162946

Abstract

This study provides basic data for enhancing coping abilities in emergencies concerning direct long-term care (LTC) workers, which is necessary for providing safe care for elderly patients living in facilities and at home. A survey was conducted including 327 care workers who officially qualified as long-term providers for elderly patients through elderly care facilities and a domiciliary service center. The majority (91.4%) of the care workers surveyed experienced an emergency, but of them, only 36.4% performed first aid and 56.8% failed to perform first aid, for which the emergency was reported to nurses. The average score regarding first aid knowledge was 8.40 out of 21, and the mean scores for the subtopics of basic life support and general first aid were low (3.56 out of 7 and 5.84 out of 14, respectively). Nearly three-quarters (72.5%) responded that they were unaware of emergency coping methods, and the score for coping abilities in emergencies was also low (52.93 out of 100). The results indicate that factors affecting coping abilities in emergencies were related to the size of the workplace and first aid experience. We propose the development and implementation of an emergency coping training program focusing on case studies for direct LTC workers.

Highlights

Study BackgroundAccording to a 2017 Report by the United Nations, the population of older persons aged 80 and over is predicted to increase more than three times, from 126 million in 2015 to 425 million by 2050; it is urgent that measures be set up for elderly care [1]
One of the nation’s solutions to this social problem is the Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) scheme for older persons, introduced in July 2008, which provides older adults who have difficulty performing daily living activities on their own owing to dementia, geriatric diseases, and other conditions with long-term care services, including housework and physical activity support [3]
This study aims to provide results that can be utilized as basic data for the development of a training program that can enhance their coping abilities in emergencies, which is a core competency for direct LTC workers

Summary

Introduction

Study BackgroundAccording to a 2017 Report by the United Nations, the population of older persons aged 80 and over is predicted to increase more than three times, from 126 million in 2015 to 425 million by 2050; it is urgent that measures be set up for elderly care [1]. Aging causes many health issues for the elderly, and the incidence of chronic degenerative diseases is high. They tend to develop comorbid conditions, for which the causes are unclear and ambiguous and symptoms are complex and atypical. Older adults may face an emergency at any time, and with age, they are likely to need much more emergency care [7,8,9]. Those eligible for LCTI for older persons include patients with dementia, Parkinson’s disease, cerebrovascular disease, or degenerative diseases, Int. J. Public Health 2019, 16, 2946; doi:10.3390/ijerph16162946 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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