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The purpose of this study has been to explore how home care workers experience the use of ICT (that is, digital systems for time registration) in their work. The data collection took place through qualitative semi-structured interviews of seven home care employees in two different Swedish municipalities in Stockholm. Furthermore, a thematic analysis was performed by transcribing the interviews and trying to find common patterns or themes. The interviewees statements have been analyzed using two different theories: the role theory and Davies' (1994) theory of clock time and process time. The results show that the home care staff experience that the use of ICT leads to time pressure and stress during the working day. It also appears that the home care staff may experience the time registration system as a control function or monitoring method on them and their work. Other interviewees, on the other hand, describes that the registration of time contributes to increased security for both home care staff and the elderly care recipient. Finally, the results show that ICT is considered to contribute to an efficient and flexible home service work.

This diploma thesis aims at the influence of social support of an elderly person on his everyday activities. Thesis consists of theoretical and practical parts. The theoretical part describes topics involving old age and social support of an elderly person. The practical part includes field research in form of interviews. The main goal of this thesis was to find out, what influence has the social support on everyday life of an home living elderly person.

Elders who are living independently in the community (independent elders refers to all seniors who are living in the community as opposed to in an institution) often require support services, housing and transportation services. Unfortunately, research on North American elders repeatedly points to deficiencies in the health and human services that are available in small towns when compared to those available in urban centres. A lack of specialized medical and social services, few housing options and no public transportation services are characteristic of most small towns. For this thesis, seniors, municipal officials and formal care-givers in sixteen small towns in British Columbia were surveyed in order to determine the needs of small town elders in this province and the effectiveness of the present system in addressing these needs. The results of the seniors' survey indicated that significant proportions of the elderly living in small B.C. towns require assistance in maintaining their homes and with transportation. While the elders who reported difficulties coping with housework tended to be receiving assistance, not all those who had difficulty with yardwork, repairs and transportation were being helped. The interdependence between the support service, housing and transportation related needs of the elderly was apparent from the survey results. An inventory of the community-based services available in the sixteen B.C towns revealed that size of town is related to the number of services. In general, the larger the town, the greater the array of services for the elderly. However, size of town was not the only determining factor. Towns in which the local community had become involved in the issue of community-based services for the elderly typically had services that were not available in towns of comparable size. Under the Canadian Constitution, the provincial government is primarily responsible for the provision of health and social services. However, there are constraints or obstacles inherent to small towns which prevent services from being provided by the province. These include the fact that in a small town there is generally a shortage of personnel and organizational resources which enable a community to secure needed services from senior levels of government. As well, the distances among people and between people and services in rural environments, as compared to in urban environments, require special consideration. The results of this examination of the small town elderly in B.C. and the community-based services available to them suggest that there is a need for improvement to the present system. Enhancing the involvement of the local community in the provision of community-based services for the elderly is suggested as a possible strategy. As well, services which are at an appropriate scale and accessible to the rural elderly need to be developed. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The diploma thesis deals with mixed forms of elderly care in the Czech Republic. The aim is to identify the advantages and potential disadvantages of mixed forms of elderly care in connection with informal carers' mental health and social life. There are 2 groups of informal carers distinguished within the research - those, who get professional care help and those, who care alone or get just a little professional care help. Mixed methods design, which combines quantitative and qualitative research, was used to study the world of informal carers. The quantitative part is based on data from a research Podpora neformálních pečovatelů, which were selected by STEM/MARK agency in 2014. Qualitative research is based on 10 in-depth interviews with informal carers. Both pieces of research are integrated in a phase of data analysis by the explanation method. Informal carers' mental health problems and social problems and its intensity in connection to mixed forms of elderly care are formulated in the results. The thesis also presents factors, which influence mental health problems and social problems. The results showed that using professional care help simultaneously with informal elderly care has a positive impact on informal carers' mental health and social life. Nevertheless, the influence of mixed forms...

The aging experience of men and women in rural America is different than that of their urban counterparts. In this study, I identified key disparities in access to health care, mortality, and utilization of health care that result from geographic location. Foundational theories are discussed to illustrate that disparities can originate from historical societal behaviors. Secondary data and literary reviews create a combined qualitative and quantitative approach to explore the rural/urban divide, concluding that the potential for increased disparities as the aging population grows is very real and rural residents remain vulnerable to a poor(er) aging experience. Recommendations for policy and practice, as well as additional research, are made to address the conclusion.

Undernäring är ett stort problem bland äldre både internationellt och inom svensk hälso- och sjukvård. Inom den svenska äldrevården används verktyget Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), (bilaga 3) för screening av nutritionsstatus. Trots detta är var tredje patient underviktig inom den svenska äldrevården. Undernäring leder till en minskad livskvalitet, ökad risk för infektioner, ökad sjuklighet och en ökad dödlighet. Vid ett minskat intag av energi och näringsämnen, som understiger kroppens behov, förbrukar kroppen sina depåer av näringsämnen och muskulaturen bryts ner. Förutsättningen för en god hälsa och sjukdomsläkning är ett gott näringstillstånd. Enligt Virginia Henderson har alla människor vissa gemensamma egenskaper och behov, där omvårdnaden skall planeras utifrån patientens upplevda behov och bristande förmåga att tillfredsställa dessa. Sjuksköterskan har enligt International Council of Nurses [ICN], (2000) ett grundläggande ansvarsområden att främja hälsa, förebygga sjukdom, lindra lidande samt återställa hälsa. Syftet var att undersöka effekter av omvårdnadsåtgärder som syftar till att förebygga undernäring hos äldre i äldrevård. En forskningsöversikt genomfördes utifrån 14 inkluderade artiklar. Sökningen av artiklarna gjordes i databaserna PubMed, CINAHL och Psycinfo. Resultatet presenterades utifrån tre huvudteman, nutrition, kunskap och utbildning samt vikten av delaktighet och engagemang. Resultatet visade att nutritionsåtgärder som att förbättra måltidsmiljön, ge kosttillskott, arbeta utifrån en individanpassad vård där patienten engageras i sin egen näringsvård, var åtgärder som kan förebygga undernäring inom äldrevården. Åtgärderna kan tillämpas inom både äldreboende och sjukhus. Slutsatsen var att faktorer som upplevdes betydelsefulla ur patientens perspektiv var att själv få medverka i sin näringsvård. Nutritionsåtgärder som visat sig effektiva för äldre är kosttillskott och en familjelik måltidssituation.

Master of Science / Department of Computing and Information Sciences / Mitchell L. Neilsen / The purpose of the project is to develop an Android application that is capable of detecting possible falls for the elderly. With the advancement of wireless communications, the world has become smarter and there has been increase in use of smart phones. Android, being an open source platform has made it simple for every individual to develop their own applications, which in turn can be used on Android devices. Falls among the elderly are a serious concern for both families as well as medical professionals, since falls are considered to be the eighth leading cause of death in the United States. Untreated fall injuries in adults 65 or older can result in serious risks and health complications, since 20% of falls require immediate medical attention and about one-tenth of the falls result in fractures. Thus, as mentioned, fall detection is a critical event requiring quick and accurate response, especially for elderly people living by themselves. This is the motivation behind developing an elderly support, which detects a fall and alerts the caretaker regarding the information. The elderly support is about tracking the person and notifying the caretaker if there is an occurrence. One of the main features of this Android application is that it notifies the caretaker with alert messages which contain all the necessary information. The alert messages contain useful information about the people in danger, such as his/her geo location and also corresponding directions on a map. In occasions of false alerts, the supervised person is given the ability to estimate the value of importance of a possible alert and to stop it before proceeding with further steps. This project is geared towards supporting the elderly. The mobile application is capable of detecting possible falls and through a user-friendly interface that can be used to alert relatives, doctors, and other people who take care of the elderly.

Det är viktigt med insikt och ökad kunskap om den äldre individens behov och individuella upplevelser för att kunna bemöta individen och utforma vården efter dennes egna villkor. Denna kunskap är viktig att ha med sig som socionom, då ens yrkesroll kan komma att beröra äldre individer som målgrupp. Denna studie har genomförts i USA (Florida) med syfte att undersöka vad livskvalitet innebär för äldre människor på över 65 år, och vilka vardagliga situationer de kopplar livskvalitet till. I denna studie är livskvalitet beskrivet utifrån respondenternas egna personliga upplevelser av begreppet och dess innebörd. Sju semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med individer mellan åldrarna 71-94. Vi kom i kontakt med dem genom en verksamhet i Florida, som erbjuder hemtjänstlösningar till äldre människor som är i behov av vård och omsorg i det egna hemmet. I vår studie har vi använt oss av en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod, och utgått ifrån innehållsanalys som metod för att analysera vårt insamlade material. Denna studies resultat mynnade ut i tre teman som visar på viktiga kriterier för den äldre individen att uppleva livskvalitet. Dessa teman är: Självständighet, social gemenskap och meningsfullhet. Självständighet var viktigt för våra respondenter då det innebar att få vara autonoma i vardagen. Social gemenskap innefattar att synliggöras och bekräftas av omgivningen. Temat meningsfullhet kopplas till att våra respondenter ser en mening i deras primära krets, och begriplighet med deras nuvarande tillvaro. Att synas, höras och märkas är studiens titel, dessa ord är byggstenarna för ett förgyllt åldrande, då vi i vår uppsats fokuserat på den positiva aspekten av livskvalitet i samband med ett åldrande.