The diploma thesis is structured into a theoretical part and an empirical part. The theoretical part consists of four chapters. The empirical part of the diploma thesis is based on qualitative research. The data were collected via semi-structured interviews with the senior citizens and the nurses. The replies were processed into clearly arranged charts and categories with brief descriptions. Another research method applied was observation. The interviews were followed by a detailed analysis of the documentation, which involved the analysis of the medical records of the senior citizens with a focus on medical diagnosis, chronic medication, and processing of the fall risk and its evaluation. The diploma thesis pursued three objectives by means of four related research questions. The first objective was to ascertain the extent of the clients' awareness of fall risks. The second objective was to assess the discomfort associated with usage of the special device preventing hip joint injuries resulting from falls during common everyday activities of the senior citizens. Finally, the third objective was to obtain the opinions of the healthcare staff on working with clients wearing special devices preventing the hip joint injuries. Four research questions were formulated in connection with these three objectives. Research question No. 1: What is the quality of information provided by the healthcare staff as part of the preventive intervention regarding the falls? Research question No. 2: How willing are the clients to accept changes contributing to fall prevention? Research question No. 3: To what extent is the comfort of the client affected by using special devices preventing fall-related hip joint injuries? Research question No. 4: To what extent is the work of the healthcare staff affected if their clients use devices preventing fall-related hip joint injuries? The results of the qualitative research suggest that the extent of information provided by the healthcare staff as part of the preventive intervention regarding the falls is insufficient in terms of awareness of the risky places. In particular, the research revealed that the nurses fail to sufficiently monitor the effects of chronic medication which may contribute to psycho-motor inhibition of the senior clients. As far as mobility aids are concerned, the nurses offer these devices sufficiently. The nurses demonstrated very good knowledge of all the mobility aids which may facilitate self-reliance of the senior clients. Another problematic issue is the safety of the rooms, particularly in terms of various protrusions and unevenness in the bathrooms. The results of the research do not show any unwillingness of the clients to accept changes contributing to fall prevention. Nevertheless, two of the respondents failed to engage in the activities and maintain physical fitness by regular exercise in the Retirement House. Furthermore, the results do not show any limitation of the clients' comfort resulting from using special devices preventing fall-related hip joint injuries. Finally, according to the research the healthcare staff does not feel restricted in any way when working with senior clients using such device. The results of the research will be used for repeated meetings with the senior clients and particularly with the nurses. The management of the Retirement House, together with the healthcare staff, are working on a new educational material which would indicate risky places with increased probability of falls. These results could be beneficial also for other facilities where healthcare staff takes care of senior citizens. Last but not least, the results are of interest also to the health insurance companies which could provide this special device with at least partial subsidy as part of the primary prevention programme.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:nusl.cz/oai:invenio.nusl.cz:200564 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | SOUKUPOVÁ, Hana |
| Source Sets | Czech ETDs |
| Language | Czech |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
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