The effect of an intensive nurse home visit program on self-assessment of health and on social engagement in the independently living old elderly

O'Keefe, Danielle Marie (2012) The effect of an intensive nurse home visit program on self-assessment of health and on social engagement in the independently living old elderly. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Background -- The fastest growing segment of the Canadian population is comprised of seniors who are 65 years of age and older. In 2005, in Newfoundland and Labrador, seniors represented 13.1% of the population and by 2026 this percentage is projected to increase to 26.6. Recognizing the growth in the senior's population, it is important that research focuses on determining factors that will help maintain and/or improve well-being and general health. -- Research Rationale -- To assess and improve the care of seniors who were eighty years of age and older a randomized controlled trial, the ElderCare Project, was conducted in the St. John's and surrounding areas in Newfoundland and Labrador between 2006-2011. The research reported here is a before-after analysis of the impact of the nursing intervention employed in the ElderCare Project on self-assessment of health and on social engagement in the intervention group. -- Methods -- The intervention group consisted of 54 participants. At baseline, data was collected on utilization of social engagement activities and self-assessment of health as measured by the SF-36 Health Survey. The intervention consisted of the development of an ElderCare Plan followed by eight home visits by the research nurse. At completion of the study, data on the use of social engagement activities was once again collected and the SF-36 Health Survey was repeated. -- The self-assessment of health results were analyzed using the Paired Samples T-Test and McNemar's test for related samples was used to analyze the social engagement activities data. Logistic regression was used t o further analyze significant social engagement activity results. -- Results -- The nursing intervention did not result in a significant change in self-assessment of health. While there was not a significant change in the use of formal or intermediate social engagement activities from baseline to one year, statistically significant results [p<0.001] were found for the utilization of informal social engagement activities. When logistic regression was used to analyse the social engagement activity data further, education level was found to be associated with increased use of all social engagement activities [Odds Ratio 4.97, 95% (11.48-16.71; p=0.009]. Similar results were found when the logistic regression was run using informal social engagement activities [Odds Ratio 4.71, 95% Cl 1.32-16.8, p=0.017].

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