Aim: The aim of the study was to deepen the understanding of how older persons living in a nursing home experience life close to death.

Background: A move to and a life in a nursing home while being close to death is a reality for many older people in Sweden. Being able to express thoughts and feelings about death has been described as both crucial for sustaining personhood as well as for establishing a meaningful existence at the end of life. Important are the experiences of older people living in nursing homes who are approaching death.

Method: Six older people were interviewed on one to four occasions. A total of 16 interviews were conducted with the participants. An interpretative approach was chosen.

Findings: The main interpretation, Feeling lonely in an unfamiliar place, is based on three themes (i) Waiting for death, with the subthemes death as a release and thinking of oneself as dead; (ii) Subordinate oneself to values and norms of the staff, with the subthemes feeling offended and feeling trapped; and (iii) Keep the courage up. The older people's lives were characterised by feelings of aloneness in an unfamiliar place which contributed to a sense of existential loneliness. They experienced few opportunities to discuss their thoughts of life and death, including preparations for passing away.

Conclusion And Implication For Practice: It is of importance for professionals to be able to meet older people as they are and respect them as human beings in their transitions, before, during and after the move to a nursing home. It is important to find ways to support older people's wellbeing and identity near death.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/opn.12129DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

older people
16
unfamiliar place
12
older people's
12
feeling lonely
8
lonely unfamiliar
8
older
8
life close
8
close death
8
living nursing
8
death
7

Similar Publications

Importance: The integration of patient-reported outcome (PRO) assessments in cardiovascular care has encountered considerable obstacles despite their established clinical relevance.

Objective: To assess the impact of a physician- and patient-friendly electronic PRO (ePRO) monitoring system on the quality of cardiovascular care in clinical practice.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This open-label, multicenter, pilot randomized clinical trial was phase 2 of a multiphase study that was conducted from October 2022 to October 2023 and focused on the implementation and evaluation of an ePRO monitoring system in outpatient clinics in Japan.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Patients with achalasia face a higher risk of developing esophageal cancer (EC), but the surveillance strategies for these patients remain controversial due to the long disease duration and the lack of identified risk factors.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of esophageal Candida infection among patients with achalasia and to assess the association of Candida infection with EC risk within this population.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective cohort study included patients with achalasia diagnosed at or referred for treatment and monitoring to the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, between January 1, 1980, and May 31, 2024.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Nearly all Medicare Advantage (MA) plans offer dental, vision, and hearing benefits not covered by traditional Medicare (TM). However, little is known about MA enrollees' use of those benefits or how much they cost MA insurers or enrollees.

Objective: To estimate use, out-of-pocket (OOP) spending, and insurer payments for dental, hearing, and vision services among Medicare beneficiaries.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

[Vaccination and cardiovascular diseases].

Herz

January 2025

Klinik für Kardiologie, Angiologie und internistische Intensivmedizin, Universitätsklinikum des Saarlandes, Kirrberger Str. 1, 66421, Homburg/Saar, Deutschland.

Respiratory tract infections with influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and respiratory syncytial (RS) viruses and pneumococci as well as endogenous reactivation of varicella zoster viruses presenting as herpes zoster, are associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes, such as myocardial infarction or hospitalization for heart failure. Effective prevention of these events, particularly through influenza and pneumococcal vaccination, is well established and cost-effective. Despite guideline recommendations to vaccinate older patients and people at risk, vaccination rates in these population groups remain suboptimal and below average in international comparison.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cluster analysis of sarcopenia in older adults: significant factors contributing to disease severity.

Eur Geriatr Med

January 2025

Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education "Russian National Research Medical University named after N.I. Pirogov" of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Separate structural unit "Russian Gerontology Research and Clinical Centre", 16 1st Leonova Street, Moscow, Russia, 129226.

Introduction: The European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2) defines sarcopenia as a muscle disease (muscle failure) rooted in adverse muscle changes that accrue across a lifetime; sarcopenia is common among adults of older age. New findings on the hormonal and metabolic characteristics of patients with sarcopenia have aided in developing more targeted therapeutic strategies. However, treating older patients with sarcopenia still poses a number of challenges.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!