Abstract
BackgroundBeing involved in the care of a loved one is a desire of many next of kin. However, according to several studies of the perceptions of nursing home staff, the involvement of next of kin is not an obvious part of care. To be able to involve next of kin in care at nursing homes, the perceptions of what participation means are an important piece of knowledge. The aim of this study was therefore to describe variations in next of kin's perceptions of the meaning of participation in the care of older persons living in nursing homes.MethodsEighteen next of kin of older persons living in ten nursing homes in Sweden were recruited for interviews. The study design was based on a phenomenographic approach, focusing on the qualitatively different ways in which a person perceives, experiences or conceptualises a phenomenon or certain aspect of reality.ResultsFive categories emerged from analysis of the interviews, representing the next of kin's perceptions of the meaning of participation in the care of older persons in nursing homes: be present; communicate; monitor; do practical tasks; and to represent. The next of kin expressed meanings that belonged to more than one category, and the categories were interdependent.ConclusionsOur results indicate that there are several meanings of next of kin's perceptions of participation at nursing homes. Nursing home staff's knowledge of these perceptions is important to enable next of kin to participate according to their own preferences.
Highlights
Being involved in the care of a loved one is a desire of many of kin
While many of kin continue to participate in the care of the older person by doing the same things as they did at home [11], other of kin find that they need to take greater responsibility at the nursing home than they would want to [11, 12], and some describe a state of dependency of the professionals [5]
Nursing homes are an individual accommodation provided under the Social Services Act [28], where staff are available around the clock and the municipality is responsible for care up to the medical level
Summary
According to several studies of the perceptions of nursing home staff, the involvement of of kin is not an obvious part of care. To be able to involve of kin in care at nursing homes, the perceptions of what participation means are an important piece of knowledge. The aim of this study was to describe variations in of kin’s perceptions of the meaning of participation in the care of older persons living in nursing homes. Nursing home staff’s knowledge of these perceptions is important to enable of kin to participate according to their own preferences. According to nursing home staff [6], the involvement of of kin is not an obvious part of care. According to of kin, participation is described as a way to handle anxiety and maintain control in difficult situations, and not Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Nordic College of Caring Science
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