Characteristics of the daily lives of elderly women at various facilities for the elderly

Abstract

A number of studies have been conducted about support for the daily lives of elderly individuals that will elevate their quality of life (QOL). Services provided to support these individuals have also become more diverse. This study will attempt to add to the understanding of QOL for the elderly by comparing levels of dependence and QOL of elderly women in four different types of institution. Individuals who were over 65 years of age and who were able to participate in a 1 h interview were chosen for this study. The subjects were selected from the elderly population of a hospital for aged patients, health service facilities for the elderly, a nursing home and a general hospital. Levels of dependency of activities of daily living (ADL) were measured using the Kahoku Aging Longitudinal Study Scale. The scale qualitatively evaluates the cognition and activities of the elderly. Each measure is rated on a four point scale. Quality of life was measured using the visual analogue scale. Elderly women living at the nursing home differed from those living in the other facilities in regard to their degree of independence in ADL and QOL. These findings indicate that there were differences in the characteristics of the daily lives of elderly women at different types of facilities.

Functional Mobility, Depressive Symptoms, Level of Independence, and Quality of Life of the Elderly Living at Home and in the Nursing Home

“…Although not including a home-dwelling elderly group, the results of a cross-institutional study by Tada et al 28 also reflect that independence in ADLs, which was assessed by KALS, was higher than expected in nursing home residents and also it was argued that nursing homes attach more importance to helping people remain as independent as possible in their daily lives. The results of the studies by Erdil et al, 1 Kerem et al, 29 and Tada et al 28 are parallel to the current study, which indicate that functional mobility and level of independence are higher in nursing home resident elderly individuals than their home-dwelling counterparts. In light of these findings, health care professionals and caregivers (including family members) may be recommended to be careful in placing restrictions on the daily activities of older people, and to take the underlying ability of the elderly into account, instead of simply providing care to the individual.…”

“…Research in the literature comparing functional mobility, level of independence, depressive symptoms, and QoL according to the residential status of the elderly is limited in number. [28][29][30][31][32] Erdil et al 1 found that some of the elderly living at home were dependent in activities such as paying bills, cleaning, washing clothes, and shopping.…”

“…26,27 Level of Independence Level of independence was evaluated by the Kahoku Aging Longitudinal Study Scale (KALS), which qualitatively evaluates the cognition and activities of the elderly in 12 areas. 28 These areas are walking, going upstairs/downstairs, eating, washing, use of toilet, bathing, dressing, taking medicine, seeing, hearing, conversing, and using the telephone. Each activity was rated on a 4-point scale (0: dependent, 1-2: some help, 3: independent).…”

Calidad de vida de los mayores que viven institucionalizados en residencias para mayores: Un análisis cuantitativo

“…Diferentes autores han escrito una mayor movilidad funcional, mejor nivel de independencia, menor número de síntomas depresivos e incluso mejor calidad de vida de los mayores institucionalizados en residencias para mayores que en los mayores que residen habitualmente en domicilios junto con sus familiares (Tada et al, 1999;Kerem et al, 2001;Suhin y Yalem , 2003;Ozer , 2004;Chung , 2008;Karakaya et al, 2009;Yumin et al, 2011). Con frecuencia, algunos estudios describen que las personas mayores que viven en residencias tienen mejor salud y requieren menos cuidados de enfermería que los que viven en casa junto con sus familias (Erdil et al, 2006;Damian et al, 2013;Karakaya et al, 2009).…”