Factors Influencing Dementia Caregivers' Health-related Quality of Life

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to explore the health-related quality of life of caregivers for demented elders. METHOD: The subjects of this study were 170 pairs of demented elders and their caregivers. Socio-demographic characteristics of the demented elders and the caregivers, Barthel index and SF-36 were used in this study. Data analysis procedure included t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, and hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS: The score of overall health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was 288.62 in norm-based scoring. The major factors that affect HRQoL of the demented elders' caregivers were burden, the age of the caregiver, ADL and gender of the demented elder, and these factors explained 34.5% of HRQoL. CONCLUSION: The factors significantly affecting the caregivers' HRQoL were burden, the age of the caregiver and ADL. The effective social support system should be considered in respective nursing interventions to decrease the level of burden and to increase HRQoL in demented elders' caregivers. Further studies and efforts will be needed to investigate preceding factors of burden and HRQoL.

Pain of Elderly Women with Osteoarthritis / 간호학회지

The purpose of this study was to determine the meaning of the pain and experiences of elderly women with osteoarthritis, by adopting Colaizzi's phenomenological method. The participants were 7 elderly women over the age of 65. They were selected using a theoretical sampling technique. The Data was collected by in-depth and open-ended interviews from Dec. 1. 1999. to Feb, 28. 2000. The length of the interviews varied from 120 minutes to 180 minutes. Data was recorded and analyzed by a constant comparative method. From the data, significant statements were extracted and then organized into 48 themes, which resulted in 15 clusters of themes and 6 categories. The final descriptions turned out to be valid through the interviewee' validation process. Essential themes of the pain experiences emerged : "physical discomfortness(disturbances)", "negative state of mind", "influence of the death", "positive change in life", "Cause of pain perceived", and "change of their personal relationships". From these results, it was found that elderly women need nursing care based on a deep understanding of pain, and a reflection on their past is imperative to overcome their given situations. In conclusion, it is suggested that the care givers provide more support to solve the problems experienced by the elderly. Thus the researchers expect to provide understanding of older people and give basic data of holistic care for them.

A Study on the Home Health Care Needs of Postpartum Women / 여성건강간호학회지

This study was carried out to understand the home health care needs of postpartum women during the postpartum period. The goal of this study was to obtain data needed to develope postpartum home health care programs and to improve the nursing quality for postpartum women. A convenient sample of 105 healthy women who were discharged after delivery at a maternity hospital in Ulsan, Korea were studied from January 25 to April 15, 2001. Data collection was done with a structured questionnaire (maternal concerns questionnaire) by mailing. Data was collected from 1 to 4 weeks after delivery. The Results of this study were as follows: 1. The mean score of home health care need of postpartum women was 2.51. The degree of nursing need according to the category of home health care needs was 'concerns about the infant (2.91 +/- .68)', 'maternal physical and emotional concerns (2.62 +/- .52)', 'concerns related to the husband (2.45+/-73)', 'concerns related to the family (2.16+/-.64)', 'concerns related to the community (2.03+/-.60)' in rank. Among the items, 'recognizing illness in the newborn (3.36+/-.83)', 'normal growth and development (3.33+/-.92)' were high. 2. Among items of concerns about infant (2.91+/-.68), 'recognizing illness in the newborn (3.36+/-.83)', 'normal growth and development (3.33+/-.52)' showed high nursing needs. 3. Among items of maternal physical and emotional concerns (2.62+/-.52), 'being a good mother (3.31=/-.86)', 'return of their figures to normal (3.04+/-1.05) showed high nursing needs. 4. Among items of concerns about husband (2.45+/-.73), 'husband being a good father (2.84+/-1.00) shows high nursing needs. 5. Among items of concerns related to the community (2.03+/-.60), 'getting to health care facilities (2.69+/-.90) shows high nursing needs. 6. On considering the relationship between the postpartum women s home health care needs and their general characteristics, parity (t=2.436, p=.017) and delivery type (t=2.074, p=.041) were statistically significant.