Risks as dilemmas for home care staff caring for persons with dementia
2021 (English)In: Aging & Mental Health, ISSN 1360-7863, E-ISSN 1364-6915, Vol. 25, no 9, p. 1701-1708Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Objectives: Many persons with dementia live at home with support from home care services. Despite this, research is scarce concerning how risks in daily life among persons with dementia are perceived and handled by home care staff. This study aimed to explore how home care staff identify risks in the everyday lives of persons with dementia, and to inquire into how they reasoned about their own actions related to those risks.
Method: A qualitative approach was applied for the study. Both individual interviews and focus groups were conducted with home care staff (n = 23). Data was analysed using a constant comparative method.
Results: Identifying, reasoning and acting upon risks in the everyday lives of persons with dementia were related to several dilemmas for the home care staff. These dilemmas are described and elaborated on in three categories: 1) Strategies for tracking risks, 2) Dilemmas concerning where to draw the line and deciding when to act, and 3) Dilemmas when acting on risks.
Conclusion: The study provides new knowledge about the dilemmas that staff in home care services may face and how they reason about managing risks in the homes of persons with dementia. The study shows that the staff had to weigh risk and safety against the autonomy of persons with dementia. Based on these findings, we want to highlight the importance of competence among home care staff and the organizational conditions that must exist in order to manage the challenges of risky situations.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis, 2021. Vol. 25, no 9, p. 1701-1708
Keywords [en]
activities of daily living, Alzheimer’s disease, Dementia, home care services, risk assessment, home care, human, information processing, qualitative research, Focus Groups, Humans
National Category
Occupational Therapy Gerontology, specialising in Medical and Health Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-59569DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2020.1758914ISI: 000531959300001PubMedID: 32336124Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85085031562OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hj-59569DiVA, id: diva2:1733412
Funder
Forte, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare2023-02-022023-02-022023-02-02Bibliographically approved