ERIC Number: EJ756346
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-Feb
Pages: 7
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0016-9013
EISSN: N/A
What Do Family Members Notice Following an Intervention to Improve Mobility and Incontinence Care for Nursing Home Residents? An Analysis of Open-Ended Comments
Levy-Storms, Lene; Schnelle, John F.; Simmons, Sandra F.
Gerontologist, v47 n1 p14-20 Feb 2007
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of family members' responses to open-ended interview questions about an intervention to improve incontinence and mobility care for their relative in a nursing home. Design and Methods: The study was a randomized, controlled intervention trial with incontinent nursing home residents (N = 145), wherein research staff provided toileting and walking assistance of sufficient intensity to significantly improve continence and mobility outcomes in the treatment group. Interviewers posed open-ended interview questions to family members after 8 weeks of intervention to assess if they noticed a difference in care. Results: Family responses to open-ended questions showed that, compared to the control group, the intervention group noticed significant overall improvement in incontinence and mobility care and in residents' outcomes in mobility. Implications: Families' responses to open-ended questions were sensitive to improvements in incontinence and mobility care and may provide evidence for important care quality differences that would be missed if only direct satisfaction and discrepancy-based closed-ended questions were asked.
Descriptors: Intervention, Nursing Homes, Physical Mobility, Patients, Older Adults, Interviews, Responses, Matched Groups, Quality Control, Family Attitudes, Hygiene, Satisfaction, Physical Health
Gerontological Society of America. 1030 15th Street NW Suite 250, Washington, DC 20005. Tel: 202-842-1275; Fax: 202-842-1150; e-mail: geron@geron.org; Web site: http://www.geron.org/journals/gsapub.htm
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A