Suffering and mental health among older people living in nursing homes - a mixed-methods study
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Geriatrics, Nursing, Psychiatry and Psychology, Palliative Care
- Keywords
- suffering, mental health, mix-methods, nursing homes
- Copyright
- © 2015 Drageset et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ PrePrints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2015. Suffering and mental health among older people living in nursing homes - a mixed-methods study. PeerJ PrePrints 3:e943v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.943v1
Abstract
Background. Knowledge about mixed-methods perspectives that examine anxiety, depression, social support, mental health and the phenomenon of suffering among cognitively intact NH residents is scarce. We aimed to explore suffering and mental health among cognitively intact NH residents. Methods. This study used a mixed-methods design to explore different aspects of the same phenomena of interest to gain a more comprehensive understanding. The qualitative core component comprised a qualitative interview from 18 nursing home residents (≥65 years) about experiences related to pain, grief and loss. The supplementary component comprised interview from the same respondents using the SF-36 Health Survey subscales , the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Social Provisions Scale. Results. The individual descriptions reveal suffering caused by painful experiences during life. The quantitative results indicated that symptoms of anxiety and depression were related to mental health and symptoms of anxiety were related to bodily pain and emotional role limitations. Attachment and social integration were associated with vitality and social functioning. Discussion. To improve the situation, more attention should be paid to the residents’ suffering related to anxiety, depression and psychosocial relations.
Author Comment
This is a submission to PeerJ for review.