A philosophical analysis of the concept empowerment; the fundament of an education‐programme to the frail elderly

Abstract

The word 'empowerment' has become a popular term, widely used as an important claim, also within the health services. In this paper the concept's philosophical roots are traced from Freire and his 'Pedagogy of the Oppressed' to the philosophical thoughts of Hegel, Habermas, and Sartre. An understanding of the concept, as a way to facilitate coping and well-being in patients through reflection and dialogue, emerges. Within an empowerment strategy the important claim on the nurse and the patient will be to reveal the patient's own resources and limitations in times with sickness and reduced functionality to promote the patient's choice to act and cope. From this point of view an education-programme for the frail elderly is outlined. If the nurse wants to empower the elderly patient she has to be willing to be educated through the dialogue with the patient, and to look for the patient's own meaning of being frail and elderly. The coping and self-care solutions for the patient may then even be different from the preferences of the nurse, and this does not mean that the empowerment strategy is a failure or that the patient then has to continue without the assistance from the nurse. Within an empowerment strategy, in the Freirerian sense, the important thing is that both the patient and the nurse together critically reflect on the meanings of the sickness so that the patient can be able to make his own conscious choices.

Perceived control in health care: A conceptual model based on experiences of frail older adults

“…Much has been written about the concept of control (Skinner, 1996;Walker, 2001; Wallston et al, 1987), as well as about concepts like mastery (Pearlin & Schooler, 1978;Skaff, Pearlin, & Mullan, 1996;Younger, 1991), self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977), locus of control (Levenson, 1981), empowerment (Hage & Lorensen, 2005;Martin-Crawford, 1999;Zimmerman, 1995;Zimmerman & Rappaport, 1988), and sense of agency (Hitlin & Long, 2009). All of these are conceptually associated, but being used in different theoretical traditions, e.g.…”

Empowerment in the Lifelong Learning Perspective. Example from the “ICT Guides” Project

“…Empowerment can be defined as a process of increasing personal, interpersonal or political power (Gutierrez, 1990, p. 149) that seeks to increase the personal, interpersonal and political power of oppressed and marginalized populations for individual and collective transformation (Lee, 2001). It can be also understood as an ability that is developed within a multidimensional social learning process and means gaining control over one's own life by acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills to improve one's life situation (Payne, 1997), with power and powerlessness, oppression and liberation as the key variables of the term (Hage and Loresen, 2005). Regarding empowerment, older adults are marginalized as economically unproductive and psychophysically dependent, and it is assumed that empowerment applies to various disciplines such as social welfare, social work or education (Green, 1993).…”

Differences in the Limits of Stability Between Older Rolling Walker Users and Older Single-Tip-Cane Users — A Preliminary Study

“…A nurse can surely help an older adult in adjusting the AAD to the proper height for individual need and re-assessing the AAD periodically (e.g., monthly) to correct any maintenance problems like loose or tight joints and/or loose or worn tips of the device. (3) Periodic education with pamphlets and/or video presentations on posture should be emphasized to older AAD users to make them consciously and consistently realize the importance of correct posture (Hage & Lorensen, 2005). Poor posture during ambulation with a cane or a RW is common in older AAD users and is highly correlated with falls (Liu, 2009;Liu et al, 2011).…”