The development and validation of instruments to measure dignity-protective continence care for care-dependent older people in residential aged care facilities: A study protocol.

Abstract

To develop and validate two instruments to measure dignity-protective continence care for care-dependent older people in residential aged care facilities: one instrument to be completed by care recipients and another for healthcare professionals. The first phase of the project will involve a review of literature to identify the attributes of "dignity-protective continence care" for older people, which will be used to design the initial drafts of the instruments. Thereafter the Delphi survey technique will be used to establish the face and content validity of the draft instruments with three purposive samples; (a) care recipients (care-dependent older people with decisional capacity),(b) formal carers (nurses and personal care workers from residential aged care facilities, and (c) healthcare professionals with gerontological expertize in the management of incontinence. Afterinstrument development, a large cross-sectional survey of care recipients and formal carers will be conducted to establish the internal consistency and construct validity of the instruments. This will be followed by a series of tests to establish their test-retest reliability. The completed research will result in two reliable and valid instruments that will support broader efforts to ensure that care practices in residential aged care facilities do not violate the dignity of care-dependent older people with continence care needs, and allow care partners and providers to act upon the results.