0000000000243263
AUTHOR
Maj-britt Råholm
Fostering dignity in the care of nursing home residents through slow caring
Background: Physical impairment and dependency on others may be a threat to dignity. Research questions: The purpose of this study was to explore dignity as a core concept in caring, and how healthcare personnel focus on and foster dignity in nursing home residents. Research design: This study has a hermeneutic design. Participants and research context: In all, 40 healthcare personnel from six nursing homes in Scandinavia participated in focus group interviews in this study. Ethical considerations: This study has been evaluated and approved by the Regional Ethical Committees and the Social Science Data Services in the respective Scandinavian countries. Findings: Two main themes emerged: dig…
Dignity, Dependence, and Relational Autonomy for Older People Living in Nursing Homes
Dignity is a core concept in nursing care. In earlier theories on dignity, close links have been drawn between dignity and autonomy, and autonomy has been closely related to independence. These traditional understandings of dignity and autonomy may be challenged when an individual moves into a nursing home. Our findings show that negative views about dependence, institutional frames and structures in the nursing home, and the attitudes and actions of healthcare personnel may diminish independence and lead to a lack of autonomy. Each of these areas can be experienced as a serious threat to the residents' dignity. Findings are interpreted and discussed in the light of a theory of relational a…
Maintaining dignity in vulnerability: A qualitative study of the residents' perspective on dignity in nursing homes
Postprint tilgjengelig 20.03.17. Background Older people, living in nursing homes, are exposed to diverse situations, which may be associated with loss of dignity. To help them maintain their dignity, it is important to explore, how dignity is preserved in such context. Views of dignity and factors influencing dignity have been studied from both the residents’ and the care providers’ perspective. However, most of these studies pertain to experiences in the dying or the illness context. Knowledge is scarce about how older people experience their dignity within their everyday lives in nursing homes. Aim To illuminate the meaning of maintaining dignity from the perspective of older people livi…
Dignity and existential concerns among nursing homes residents from the perspective of their relatives
Aims and objectives: The aim of this cross-country Scandinavian study was to explore how residents in nursing homes experience that their dignity is promoted and attended to. This is one part of the Scandinavian project in which we interviewed residents, relatives and staff members. Background: The main subject concerns the dignity of residents of nursing homes for older people. This article brings forward results from interviews of relatives on how they experience that the dignity is met, promoted and attended to for their next of kin. Design: The study was qualitative with a hermeneutic approach. Methods: Qualitative research interviews of 28 relatives of residents at six participating nu…
The Dialectical Movement Between Deprivation and Preservation of a Person's Life Space: A Question of Nursing Home Residents' Dignity.
The aim of this study was to answer the question "What do nursing home residents do themselves in order to maintain their dignity?" Twenty-eight residents, 8 men and 20 women, aged 62 to 103 years, from 6 different nursing homes in Scandinavia were interviewed. The results showed that the residents tried to expand their life space, both physical and ontological, in order to experience health and dignity.
Dignity in relationships and existence in nursing homes’ cultures
Introduction: Expressions of dignity as a clinical phenomenon in nursing homes as expressed by caregivers were investigated. A coherence could be detected between the concepts and phenomena of existence and dignity in relationships and caring culture as a context. A caring culture is interpreted by caregivers as the meaning-making of what is accepted or not in the ward culture. Background: The rationale for the connection between existence and dignity in relationships and caring culture is that suffering is a part of existence, as well as compassion in relieving suffering, and ontological interdependency. Aim: To describe different expressions of dignity in relationships and existence in co…
Clinical Application Research through reflection, interpretation and new understanding - a hermeneutic design
The implementation of theoretical knowledge in clinical practice and the implementation of good clinical practice into theory have been of interest in caring science for the last 30 years. The aim of this article was to elaborate and discuss a methodology named clinical application research. The method is grounded in a hermeneutical design inspired by Gadamer's philosophy. The methodology, clinical application research, has been used in a research project A life in dignity and experiences from the researchers forms the bases for the elaboration and discussion. The project was performed in collaboration with residents, family caregivers and healthcare providers at six nursing homes in Scandi…
The significance of meaningful and enjoyable activities for nursing home resident’s experiences of dignity.
Background Living in a nursing home may be challenging to the residents’ experience of dignity. Residents’ perception of how their dignity is respected in everyday care is important. Aim To examine how nursing home residents experience dignity through the provision of activities that foster meaning and joy in their daily life. Method A qualitative design was used and 28 individual semistructured interviews conducted with nursing home residents from six nursing homes in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The data were analysed with qualitative content analysis. Independent ethical committees in all participating countries granted their approval for the study. Findings The participants highlight two…
The meaning of dignity in nursing home care as seen by relatives
Background: As part of an ongoing Scandinavian project on the dignity of care for older people, this study is based on ‘clinical caring science’ as a scientific discipline. Clinical caring science examines how ground concepts, axioms and theories are expressed in different clinical contexts. Central notions are caring culture, dignity, at-home-ness, the little extra, non-caring cultures versus caring cultures and ethical context – and climate. Aim and assumptions: This study investigates the individual variations of caring cultures in relation to dignity and how it is expressed in caring acts and ethical contexts. Three assumptions are formulated: (1) the caring culture of nursing homes inf…
Dignity in nursing homes - Eksistential needs and concerns of the residents from the perspective of their relatives
- Aims and objectives: The aim of this cross-country Scandinavian study was to explore how residents in nursing homes experience that their dignity is promoted and attended to. This is one part of the Scandinavian project in which we interviewed residents, relatives and staff members. Background: The main subject concerns the dignity of residents of nursing homes for older people. This article brings forward results from interviews of relatives on how they experience that the dignity is met, promoted and attended to for their next of kin. Design: The study was qualitative with a hermeneutic approach. Methods: Qualitative research interviews of 28 relatives of residents at six participating …