A study to assess the effectiveness of family focused nursing Interventions on Knowledge and functional health Problems among older adults and their caregivers at selected Rural community setting

Abstract

India is an aging society with the rate of ageing population exceeding the growth of the general population. Prevalent problems experienced by the older adults include sleep disorder, problems with eating or feeding, incontinence, confusion, depression, evidence of fall and skin break down. Falls are a leading cause of death in older adults. Falls lead to 20% to 30% of mild to severe injuries and major cause of 10% to 15% of all emergency department visits. Fall related injuries typically occur in the home. Sleep problems can also have serious medical consequences. Insomnia is a strong predictor of mortality and morbidity. Sleep loss may exacerbate medical and psychiatric illnesses. Inadequate sleep (poor quality of sleep) (or) insufficient duration (or) both may result in difficulty with concentration, memory, confusion, increased risk of fall, and decrease the overall quality of life. Falls in community dwelling older adults are often preventable and sleep disturbances are manageable. Thus the family focused nursing intervention had significantly reduced the functional health problem and improved the knowledge among older adults and their caregivers in the experimental group. The research phenomena focused on family focused nursing intervention for older adults and care giver, in which the knowledge and functional health problems among older adults and knowledge of care givers were assessed. The research investigator utilized the FFNI which included family focused education, balance and strengthening exercise, possible modification at home environment, sleep hygiene and breathing exercise. The study concluded that there was a significant reduction of risk for fall rate by 29.7%, reduction of sleep disturbances rate by 23.7% and improvement of knowledge among older adults and their caregiver s rate by 44.8%, and 42.7% respectively. The study result proposes and the research investigator also recommends that the utilization of FFNI in any setting will help to promote active aging.