Abstract
The aim of the study was to describe and understand the self-care of
home-dwelling elderly and to produce a model of the phenomenon. In the
first phase of the study, a preliminary model for the self-care of
home-dwelling elderly was developed inductively. The data were collected by
interviewing 40 home-dwelling elderly persons aged 75 or more and analysed using
the constant comparative method of the grounded theory approach. In
the second phase, the aim was to gain information of individual
self-care. The original data were analysed at an individual level using
deductive data analysis. The classification frame consisted of the model
developed in the first phase. In the third phase, the
connections between the functional ability (ADL, IADL), life satisfaction,
self-esteem and self-care behaviour styles of home-dwelling elderly persons were
studied. In this phase, the deductive content analysis made in the second phase
was utilised while elaborating the self-care behaviour styles. The relationships
between the variables were analysed by using cross-tabulation. In the
fourth phase of the study, the point of interest was to describe and
understand the self-care of elderly persons from a life-history point of view.
New data were collected. They consisted of the oral biographies of five elderly
persons aged 75 years or more. The data were analysed by using the method of
inductive content analysis.
In the first phase of the study, four types of self-care were constructed. Each
type consists of a specific combination self-care behaviour styles, life
experiences and orientations towards the future. In the next phase, six new
self-care types emerged, the self-care styles being the same as in the original
types, but the past experiences and/or orientations towards the future differing
from the original. Functional ability, life satisfaction and self-esteem vary
between persons whose self-care behaviour styles are different. The best
functional ability is connected to an individual self-care behaviour style and
the worst to an abandoned style. Those with an abandoned self-care behaviour
style have the lowest life satisfaction and self-esteem. The highest life
satisfaction is connected with formally guided self-care and the highest
self-esteem with responsible behaviour. The life history study showed that
individual factors, such as the turning points of life, the habitual ways to
react, the resources, the meanings of self-care and the experiences of getting
old orient self-care into either an internal or an external
direction.
This study produces new knowledge of the self-care of home-dwelling elderly, the
factors associated with it and the development of self-care. The results of the
study can be used to plan and implement the care of home-dwelling elderly as
well as to teach geriatric care. In the course of the study, many different
approaches and methods have been used and partly developed for the study. These
methodological solutions can also be applied in other kinds of nursing
research.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:oulo.fi/oai:oulu.fi:isbn951-42-5903-3 |
| Date | 13 February 2001 |
| Creators | Backman, K. (Kaisa) |
| Publisher | University of Oulu |
| Source Sets | University of Oulu |
| Language | Finnish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess, © University of Oulu, 2001 |
| Relation | info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pissn/0355-3221, info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/eissn/1796-2234 |
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