PRIVACY OF OLDER ADULTS

Abstract

Introduction: In contrast to hiding specific things, privacy concerns protecting one’s right to self-control and autonomy, which accompanies everyone’s existence. In the healthcare sector, older adults’ thoughts about privacy should be evaluated relative to those of nurses to understand how the concept of privacy is perceived and whether necessary attention is given to the subject. Materials and Method: This was a descriptive study. A sociodemographic Information Form and Patient Privacy Scale were used. After the necessary institutional and ethical permissions were obtained, face-to-face data were collected from 926 older adults and 788 nurses from six public and four university hospitals. Results: The mean scores of the Patient Privacy Scale were 4.78±0.14 for nurses and 3.78±0.32 for older adults, which were significantly different (p≤0.001). In addition, when the Patient Privacy Scale scores of the nurses were evaluated according to sociodemographic data, no significant differences were found between the Patient Privacy Scale scores and scale subdimensions and sociodemographic data (p>0.05). In contrast, a significant difference was found between the scale and scale subdimensions in older adults (p≤0.05). Conclusion: When nurses communicate with older adults, they create a healthier environment in terms of privacy by considering older adults’ expectations of privacy, taking measures to protect privacy, and providing training on the subject. Keywords: Privacy; Aged; Nurses; Ethics, Medical.