atisfaction with diabetes care, perceived feelings of empowerment to participate in self-care management, and glycemic control in a sample of older African American men and women with diabetes. A descriptive correlational quantitative design was used. The participants in this study were 73 men and women of African descent who were at least 50 years, English speaking, and diagnosed with diabetes for at least one year. The participants were asked to complete three survey instruments: the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire-18 (PSQ-18), which measured how satisfied the participants were with their medical care; the Diabetes Empowerment Scale-Short Form (DES-SF), which measured attitudes towards diabetes and self-management of diabetes; and a demographic form, which collected data on the demographics of each participant. The most recent hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) of each participant was obtained from the medical records. The correlations between HbA1c, DES, and the PSQ-18 subscales were exam ined. The study data indicated all correlations were statistically significant and negative with one exception. There was no correlation between HbA1c and time spent, a satisfaction subscale. Approximately half the participants were high school graduates, married, and reported being born in the Caribbean. Most had primary care physicians, but less than half reported attending a diabetes education program. The average BMI was 33.0. The findings of this study indicated older African adults who reported higher satisfaction with the care provided by their health care provider reported feeling more empowered to participate in diabetes self-care and reported lower HbA1c levels, suggesting better glycemic control (R2 = .39; P=<.001). / The implications of this study are that feeling empowered to participate in diabetes self-care management may result in improved glycemic control. Positive diabetes outcomes have been linked in the literature with persons feeling empowered to participate in diabetes self-care. The significance of the findings from this study is that given the relationship between empowerment and glycemic control, nurses should support the empowerment model of diabetes teaching. Diabetes education should provide written materials that are culturally sensitive for African American elders. / by Bridgette M. Johnson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2012. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This study focuses on the association between patient characteristics, which include both demographic and contextual factors, and patients' experiences with health care. The pre-existing literature provides rich information about patients' various demographics related to patient experience. Despite the abundance of empirical evidence showing that patients' demographics do affect how they perceive their health care. However, there is little to no empirical knowledge explaining the significance of such factors. As the existing literature points out the need for taking into contextual factors such as patient's beliefs, attitudes, skills that are pertinent to dealing with health care, my study proposes patient activation as such a contextual factor that explains the association between patient demographics and patient experience. Findings suggest that patient activation is a strong predictor of two patient experience measures: patients' rating of doctor-patient communication and their self-reported difficulties in getting needed care. However, it is also observed that the mediating effects of patient activation vary by the two dimensions of patient experiences. Though this study demonstrates that promoting patient activation may be able to normalize how patients report the quality of doctor-patient interaction, further research is needed to address access to care issues.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / A move toward care of residents in nursing homes where they are respected and heard is finally emerging. Common strategies used in nursing homes to improve quality of care for residents are integration of person-centered care and assessing care using satisfaction surveys. Although approaches of integrating person-centered care and satisfaction surveys have been valuable in improving nursing home quality, strategies of care that include things that matter from residents’ perspectives while living in nursing homes need investigation. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to describe things that residents age 65 and older state matter to them while living in the long-term care sections of nursing homes. A qualitative mode of inquiry using purposeful sampling led to a natural unfolding of data that revealed things that mattered to residents. Content analysis was used to reduce the data in a manner that kept the data close to the context yet moved the data toward new ideas about including things that mattered to residents in nursing care. The findings revealed residents’ positive and negative experiences and addressed the question: How can nurses manage residents’ positive and negative aspects of care in nursing homes? This study substantiated the importance of developing nursing care strategies derived from residents’ descriptions of care. Finding ways to promote nurses’ investment in attitudes about a person-centered care philosophy is essential for successful person-centered care implementation. Enhancing nurses’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes with an investment in person centeredness will be more likely to put nurses in a position to role-model care that is person-centered from residents’ perspectives.