Home Care Services For Elderly Research Articles

The Application of “Internet+” in the Ageing Adaptation of Elderly People with Disabilities at Home

This paper focuses on the role of the Internet in empowering social work to intervene in ageing-in-place services for the disabled elderly in terms of time, space, and resources. Through the practical analysis of home care service providers, the advantages and characteristics of the “Internet” for ageing-in-place services for the disabled elderly are identified, as well as some of the problems that exist in the current intelligent home care service platform. This paper proposes to improve and optimize the “Internet+” by fully enhancing the technical empowerment of the Internet, improving the integration and spanning of space, and giving full play to the role of social work on the Internet. This paper proposes to improve and optimize the “Internet+” elderly home care services for the disabled, so as to solve to a certain extent the practical problems faced by the “Internet+” elderly home care services in the early stage of development. The significance of this paper is that, through the study of the “Internet+” home care services for the elderly with disabilities, the process of the services is sorted out and summarized, and suggestions and measures are put forward for its shortcomings, providing practical methods and feasible paths for future generations, which are of great significance for other social work agencies using Internet tools.

Potentially inappropriate prescribing to older patients receiving multidose drug dispensing

BackgroundMultidose drug dispensing (MDD) is an adherence aid that provides patients with machine-dispensed medicines in disposable unit bags, usually for a 14 day period. Previous studies have suggested that the quality of prescribing, with time, is lower for MDD users, compared to patients receiving prescriptions dispensed as usual. This study aimed to examine the quality of prescribing to Norwegian elderly home care service patients receiving MDD.MethodsA cross-sectional study comprising 45,593 MDD patients aged ≥70 years was performed. The proportion of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) was assessed using the Norwegian General Practice Criteria, and drug-drug interactions (DDI) were investigated using the Norwegian Medicines Agency database.ResultsOn average, patients were prescribed 10.6 drugs (SD = 5.0), of which 6.1 were dispensed via MDD. Men used on average fewer drugs than women (10.7 vs 11.1), Twenty-seven percent of patients used at least one PIM. Concomitant use of three or more psychotropic drugs (10.8%), and prescribing of diazepam (6.4%) was the most commonly identified inappropriate prescribing. DDIs affected 59% of the patients, however, only 2.7% had serious interactions. Women were more frequently exposed to both PIMs and DDIs than men, with an odds ratio of 1.50 (95% CI: 1.43–1.58) and 1.43 (95% CI: 1.37–1.50), respectively.ConclusionsPolypharmacy is common in elderly Norwegian patients using MDD. About one-fourth of the patients were exposed to PIMs, and over half were exposed to DDI.

Assessing individual needs in Swedish elderly home care services: care managers’ argumentation in relation to the needs of migrant customers

ABSTRACT The aim of the article is to analyse and problematize care managers’ argumentation of individual needs when assessing migrant customers within Swedish public elderly home care services. According to legislation, need for assistance should always be assessed individually. In recent decades of service decline, standardization of needs has been part of the distribution of elderly care services. Simultaneously, the stratum of older people has become more diverse, which means that a wider spectrum of needs is presented to the care managers. Ten interviews with care managers were analysed with a focus on their arguments regarding the care needs of elderly people with migrant backgrounds seeking assistance. The theoretical conceptions of the two perspectives of care and services were used to analyse the understanding of care managers’ arguments. Our analysis shows that the service perspective with assistance and support that are standardized for Swedes is poorly suited to people born outside Sweden and socialized into other expectations of family and society. The meaning of individual needs was imprecise and contradictory when confronted with diverse cultural codes. When general standards were used in the arguments by referring to regulations and local guidelines, immigrants’ individual needs were not prioritized. Our analysis suggests that the tension between national standards, local guidelines and individual needs has to be discussed further, where theoretical tools related to care and services may be useful in guiding care managers’ professional arguments of individual needs and cultural sensitivity in the needs assessment.

The Effects of Information Literacy of Social Service Users’ on Service Quality and Satisfaction: Based on Elderly Home Care Services

The Effects of Information Literacy of Social Service Users’ on Service Quality and Satisfaction: Based on Elderly Home Care Services

A Comparative Study of Elderly Home Care Service Support in East Asia - Focusing on Japan and Chin

A Comparative Study of Elderly Home Care Service Support in East Asia - Focusing on Japan and Chin

Prevalence of Different Combinations of Antiepileptic Drugs and CNS Drugs in Elderly Home Care Service and Nursing Home Patients in Norway.

Introduction. Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are used to treat different conditions in elderly patients and are among the drug classes most susceptible to be involved in drug-drug interactions (DDI). The aim of the study was to describe and compare use of AEDs between home care service and nursing home patients, as these patients are not included in nationwide databases of drug utilization. In the combined population, we investigate DDI of AEDs with other central nervous system- (CNS-) active drugs and DDIs involving AEDs in general. Materials and Methods. Point-prevalence study of Norwegian patients in home care services and nursing homes in 2009. At the patient level, we screened for different DDIs involving AEDs. Results. In total, 882 patients (7.8%) of 11,254 patients used AEDs and number of users did not differ between home care services and nursing homes (8.2% versus 7.7%). In the combined population, we identified 436 potential DDIs in 45% of the patients. Conclusions. In a large population of elderly, home care service and nursing home patients do not differ with respect to exposure of AEDs but use more AEDs as compared to the general population of similar age. The risk of DDIs with AEDs and other CNS-active drugs should be taken into consideration and individual clinical evaluations are assessed in this population.

On the priority for needs of home care services of older adults in Taiwan, as based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Background As a result of trends including an increase in the elderly population, declining birth rates, and changes in lifestyle, ‘aging in place’ is currently the first choice of the elderly with respect to their old age planning. Moreover, home care service is the key to the success of aging in place. This study explores Taiwan elderly home care service industry in depth to understand the connotations, types, and importance of the home care service needs of the elderly people. Method Data collection used Modified Delphi method to determine the relevant criteria for evaluation and selection. In total 16 experts participated in this study. Results The result shows that the most important needs of the elderly were physiological (0.296), followed subsequently by security (0.276), esteem (0.172), love and belonging (0.153), and self-actualization (0.103). Amongst the need factors of the elderly, food (0.091) was most important, with the top five in order being a need for health and security (0.088), caring for oneself and life (0.07), overcoming psychological stress of illness (0.057), and personal safety (0.056). The priority of home care services needs provide a reason for service providers to arrange their resources and efforts for serving better services to elderly people.

Using information and mobile technology improved elderly home care services

BackgroundMany international studies recognized that home care services for elderly can reduce a health system׳s financial burden while maintaining high quality standards of patient care. Nevertheless, published research also reports that first-line care or in-charge nurses often face many challenges while delivering the home care services. To deal with the challenges, researchers have suggested applying information and mobile communication technology (IMCT) to enhance the utilization of elderly home care services. MethodsWe used a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) to design the system structure and applied an IMCT to develop a mobile roaming sessions of the home care management system to help first-line nurses efficiently deliver care services while implementing functionality. The system includes three main modules: work scheduling, care service, and patient management. The work scheduling module used genetic algorithms to automatically generate monthly work schedules for nurses. Finally, we interviewed several users to understand the system usability. ResultsWe conducted a user experience interview to document and analyze the feasibility and efficiency of the system. The results showed that users found the system very useful in improving the home care services. Particularly, the care scheduling, care management, tour planning, and service logging functions are the most useful features of IMCT tools for improving the home care services. However, the small mobile phone screen and function integrations were main constraints in the system usability. ConclusionsWe applied IMCT to develop a mobile roaming sessions of home care management system to help first-line nurses efficiently deliver care service. The SOA approach successfully allowed us to combine existing information applications in a hospital to the ad hoc reporting in a home care management system. The system cost effectively improved elderly care services for small- to medium-sized home care centers.

Comparison of Public and Private Home Care Services for Elderly in Gothenburg Region, Sweden 2013

The purpose of this study is to compare and evaluate the public and private home care services for elderly given economic limitations after delegating them to municipality in the Gothenburg Region. The additional aim is to make politicians conscious about this development. The theoretical model of delegation and decentralization by Cristiano Castelfranchi and Rino Falcone (1998) and the Resource Dependency Theory by Pfeffer and Salancik (1978) constitute the theoretical reference frame. The study is based on an analysis of state regulation, policy documents and semi-structured interviews with the chief responsible for public and private home care services for elderly at the municipal level. This study reveals that the delegation of care for elderly to the municipalities faced some serious problems not to be solved until 2013 and surprisingly that these problems are especially seen where the recipients of such care don’t have a choice on their service provider. The lesson drawn from the research is that if politicians or other authorities take away the right from people to make their own decisions about their own lives, this inevitably results in dissatisfaction and subsequent reforms.

Research on demand for elderly home care service and its influential factors in Tianjin district

Objective To analyze the demand for home care service and its influential factors among elderly in Tianjin city.Methods A total of 254 residents aged 60 and above from Tianjin city were investigated with a self-designed questionnaireDemand for Home Care Service,Katz index of independence in Activities of Daily Living(ADL) and Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scale.Results The mean score for home care service has been revealed (2.40±0.67),as the ranking demonstrated:public welfare (3.61±1.04),social participation (2.69±1.32),medical service (2.56±0.90),rights safeguard by law (2.37±1.54),mental need (2.26±0.99),and need for daily life care (1.73±0.69).Multiple linear regression analysis showed that income,education level,activity of daily living and the convenience degree of seeking treatment were major factors affecting demand for home care service among elderly,which explained 16.3％ of the variance.Conclusions Oriented by demand,further progress shall be achieved multidimensionally,under which circumstances,individualized service ought to be de-livered.Simultaneously,the vulnerable elderly groups require more attention. Key words: District; The elderly; Home care service; Demand

Practice innovation as bodily skills: the example of elderly home care service delivery

The Heideggerian strand of organization studies has highlighted important aspects of organizational practices. Because of the emphasis of the practice-oriented approach on routine practice, researchers have taken a special interest in how innovative, improvised action arises. One of the dominant views is that innovative action is the outcome of different variations in everyday practices. Insightful though these studies are, they do not recognize the role of the body in their conceptualization. This article seeks to redress this imbalance by drawing on Merleau-Ponty’s (1962) phenomenology, suggesting that the body, as a carrier of practices, is the locus of innovative action. The article proposes that innovative action emerges in our bodily expressive-responsive skilful coping mode. In illustrating this argument, we make use of case study material focusing on practices involving elderly care service provision. We show how the care workers under consideration cope with the demands of their unpredictable work by adapting their bodily expressive-responsive abilities innovatively to emerging situational calls. Practice innovation emerges as the outcome of a tension between what it makes sense for the care workers to do based on the practical intelligibility underlying their own practices, on the one hand, and bureaucratic rules and requirements inscribed in terms of economic rationality and cost-efficiency, on the other. Because bureaucratic rules are perceived as alienating and unethical, innovation would inevitably be a form of resistance. The article specifies this form of practical resistance, concluding with some implications of this approach for organization studies.

A Study on the Perception for Korea Developmental Directions of the Elderly Home-Care Service: by Using Q Methodology

A Study on the Perception for Korea Developmental Directions of the Elderly Home-Care Service: by Using Q Methodology

Methodological challenges in the implementation and evaluation of social welfare policies

As social reality is quite elusive, even regarding seemingly well-recognized everyday concepts and objects, there are always methodological challenges underlying assessments and evaluations of implementation policies. The present article addresses this area of concern by presenting the results of a rereading of an empirical study of elderly home care services. Our results reveal the emergence of a dissolution of common and professional key concepts and objects in these welfare services to a degree that challenges both the implementation policy and the evaluation of policy. We claim that this has methodological implications for evaluation of implementation policies in general.