‘Meaning in life? Make it as bearable, enjoyable and good as possible!’: A qualitative study among community‐dwelling aged adults who receive home nursing in the Netherlands

Hupkens, Susan; Goumans, Marleen; Derkx, P.H.J.M.; Machielse, Anja

doi:10.1111/hsc.13071

Cited by 11 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(75 reference statements)

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“…Our participants emphasised that especially feeling as an equal person, instead of a patient, was important to them. The nurse-patient relationship provided them with the opportunity to enact favourite (social) roles and use their character strengths, which are pivotal for MiL (29,53).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the interviews we firstly invited the aged person to share experiences on their MiL. These findings are reported in a separate article (29). twice, and four once.…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Netherlands, where this study was conducted, 94% of persons over 65 age in place (28). People ageing in their own homes could provide a different perspective on care in relation to MiL than those living in nursing homes, as living at home is an important source of MiL among older adults (29,30).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nurses’ attunement to patients’ meaning in life – A qualitative study of experiences of Dutch adults ageing in place

Hupkens

Goumans

Derkx

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background Meaning in life (MiL) is considered to be an important part of health and is associated with many positive outcomes in older adults, such as quality of life and longevity. As health promotors, nurses may take patients’ MiL into account in the care process. There is a knowledge gap in terms of what constitutes good care in relation to older patients’ MiL, and what the benefits may be for patients when nursing is attuned to this aspect. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of home nursing older adults in relation to nurses’ attunement to MiL. Methods Gadamerian hermeneutic phenomenological design with semi-structured interviews. Participants were 24 aged home nursing patients. A framework of care ethical evaluation was used in the analysis. Multiple dialogues enhanced understanding. Results Patients did not expect nurses’ regard for their MiL. They rather expected ‘normal contact’ and adequate physical care. Nurses showed that they were open to patients’ MiL by being interested in the patient as a person and by being attentive to specific and hidden needs. Participants explained that the nurse’s behaviour upon arrival set the tone: they knew immediately if there was room for MiL or not. All participants had positive and negative experiences with nurses’ behaviour in relation to MiL. Valued nursing care included maintaining a long, kind and reciprocal relationship; doing what was needed; and skilled personalised care. Participants mentioned ‘special ones’: nurses attuned to them in a special way who did more than expected. Benefits of care that was attuned to patients’ MiL were experiencing a cheerful moment, feeling secure, feeling like a valuable person and having a good day. Older adults also stressed that consideration for MiL helps identify what is important in healthcare. Conclusion Aged homecare patients value nurses’ attunement to their MiL positively. Although patients regard MiL mostly as their own quest, nurses play a modest yet important role. Managers and educators should support nurses’ investment in reciprocal nurse-patient relationships.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the interviews we firstly invited the aged person to share experiences on their MiL. These findings are reported in a separate article (29). twice, and four once.…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Nurses’ attunement to patients’ meaning in life – A qualitative study of experiences of Dutch adults ageing in place

Hupkens

Goumans

Derkx

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In the Netherlands, where this study was conducted, 94% of persons over 65 age in place [28]. People ageing in their own homes could provide a different perspective on care in relation to MiL than those living in nursing homes, as living at home is an important source of MiL among older adults [29,30]. There is a knowledge gap on the subject of home nurses' recognising and responding to older patients' MiL.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because MiL is different for every individual [19,29] and older adults have different strategies to retain MiL [29,31,32], good care with respect to MiL requires individual attunement. We chose Tronto's four elements of good care as a theoretical lens, as they clearly include this individual attunement.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nurse’s attunement to patient’s meaning in life - a qualitative study of experiences of Dutch adults ageing in place

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Meaning in life (MiL) is considered to be an important part of health and is associated with many positive outcomes in older adults, such as quality of life and longevity. As health promotors, nurses may take patients' MiL into account in the care process. There is a knowledge gap in terms of what constitutes good care in relation to older patients' MiL, and what the benefits may be for patients when nursing is attuned to this aspect. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of home nursing older adults in relation to nurses' attunement to MiL. Methods: Gadamerian hermeneutic phenomenological design with semi-structured interviews. Participants were 24 aged home nursing patients. A framework of care ethical evaluation was used in the analysis. Multiple dialogues enhanced understanding. Results: Patients did not expect nurses' regard for their MiL. They rather expected 'normal contact' and adequate physical care. Nurses showed that they were open to patients' MiL by being interested in the patient as a person and by being attentive to specific and hidden needs. Participants explained that the nurse's behaviour upon arrival set the tone: they knew immediately if there was room for MiL or not. All participants had positive and negative experiences with nurses' behaviour in relation to MiL. Valued nursing care included maintaining a long, kind and reciprocal relationship; doing what was needed; and skilled personalised care. Participants mentioned 'special ones': nurses who attuned to them in a special way and did more than expected. Benefits of care that was attuned to patients' MiL were: experiencing a cheerful moment, feeling secure, feeling like a valuable person and having a good day. Older adults also stressed that consideration for MiL helps identify what is important in healthcare. Conclusion: Aged homecare patients value nurses' attunement to their MiL positively. Although patients regard MiL mostly as their own quest, nurses play a modest yet important role. Managers and educators should support nurses' investment in reciprocal nurse-patient relationships.

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Hopefulness and meaning in adults with disabilities’ physical activity: A qualitative study.

Standley¹,

Ravesloot²,

Sage³

et al. 2023

Rehabilitation Psychology

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Purpose/Objective: The body of knowledge regarding the processes involved in changing physical activity behaviors in people with disabilities is very limited. This qualitative study is a follow-up to a pilot study on an individualized health coaching intervention for adults with any type of disabilities, titled Health My Way, that used a disability-specific health-promotion curriculum. In the original study, we found that participants in the health coaching intervention experienced improved health-promoting behavior, notably physical activity. In the current follow-up study, we examined the relationships among participants' personal sense of meaning and hope and the physical activity change process. Research Method/Design: Participants (n = 12) were a subset of participants from the original pilot study, who were adults with any type of disability, recruited by convenience sampling. These participants completed in-depth interviews to explore possible interactions among health coaching, health behavior changes (including physical activity), meaning, and hope. The curriculum-based health coaching intervention involved weekly, individual coaching for up to 12 weeks. We used thematic analysis to analyze interview data. Results: We identified three main themes: tapping into sources of meaning, increasing hopefulness, and hopelessness combined with lack of meaningful engagement. Conclusions/ Implications: In the context of health coaching for people with disabilities, identifying sources of personal meaning appears to be necessary for the initial motivation for goal-directed action regarding physical activity. Subsequent generation and maintenance of hope appear to be vital for maintaining physical activity in this population.

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‘Meaning in life? Make it as bearable, enjoyable and good as possible!’: A qualitative study among community‐dwelling aged adults who receive home nursing in the Netherlands

Cited by 11 publications

References 43 publications

Nurses’ attunement to patients’ meaning in life – A qualitative study of experiences of Dutch adults ageing in place

Nurses’ attunement to patients’ meaning in life – A qualitative study of experiences of Dutch adults ageing in place

Nurse’s attunement to patient’s meaning in life - a qualitative study of experiences of Dutch adults ageing in place

Hopefulness and meaning in adults with disabilities’ physical activity: A qualitative study.

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