Home Care Nursesʼ Experiences With and Perceptions of Elder Self-Neglect

Abstract

Self-neglect is a poorly understood phenomenon evident to home healthcare nurses who describe older adults who self-neglect as disheveled, unkempt individuals living in cluttered, filthy homes. In spite of the concerns nurses report about these individuals and their situations, individuals who self-neglect give no indication there is any reason for concern for their welfare, and in fact some refuse intervention. The purpose of this study was to determine how home healthcare nurses perceive elder self-neglect, their experiences with this phenomenon, and to explore the steps nurses take when self-neglect is suspected.

Home care for patients with dirty homes: a qualitative study of the problems experienced by nurses and possible solutions

“…Giving home care to patients in a dirty home while having doubts about the best strategy and feeling unskilled is demanding for home-care nurses. Dirty home conditions were found to evoke strong negative emotions in nurses, which is also described in previous literature [ 2 , 6 ]. The overwhelming emotions blocked the ability to empathize and respond with compassion to the patient.…”

“…Although entering an extremely dirty home is considered a problem by many nurses, scientific research into the tasks of nurses in these situations is scarce [ 2 ]. Empirical studies among nurses describe a dirty home mainly as a symptom of self-neglect in elderly people [ 3 – 6 ]. Self-neglect behaviours, such as neglect of the home, lack of personal hygiene or refusing help, were found to result in feelings among nurses of confusion and ambiguity regarding the nurses’ role [ 2 ].…”

Nurses’ Encounters With Older Adults Engaged in Self-Neglectful Behaviors in the Community: A Qualitative Study

“…B. Palmore, 1999). Research on nurses’ encounter with elder self-neglect has been scarce (Johnson, 2015), although some prior studies have explored the related subject of elder abuse and neglect (e.g., Band-Winterstein, 2012).…”

A Qualitative View of Homecare Support Workers on Unmet Health Needs of People with Dependency

“…Investigations conducted with nurses in the USA [58] and in Ireland [59] detected elderly self-neglect among their clients. With regard to self-care, nursing has its reference in Dorothea Orem's theory [60], which defines it as the set of practices performed by a person on his/her own will to preserve his/her well-being, health and life.…”