Oosterveld-Vlug Mariska G, Pasman H Roeline W, van Gennip Isis E, Muller Martien T, Willems Dick L, Onwuteaka-Philipsen Bregje D
Department of Public and Occupational Health, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Expertise Center for Palliative Care, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Department of General Practice & Elderly Care Medicine, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
J Adv Nurs. 2014 Jan;70(1):97-106. doi: 10.1111/jan.12171. Epub 2013 May 26.
To gain insight in the way nursing home residents experience personal dignity and the factors that preserve or undermine it.
Nursing home residents are exposed to diverse factors which may be associated with the loss of personal dignity. To help them maintain their dignity, it is important to investigate this concept from the residents' perspective.
A qualitative descriptive study.
In-depth interviews were conducted between May 2010-June 2011 with 30 recently admitted residents of the general medical wards of four nursing homes in The Netherlands.
Illness-related conditions were the starting point of a process which could affect personal dignity, by threatening aspects of one's individual self and social world. Living in a nursing home was not a reason in itself to feel less self-worth, but rather seen as a consequence of functional incapacity. Nevertheless, many residents felt discarded by society and not taken seriously, simply because of their age or illness. Waiting for help, being dictated to by nurses and not receiving enough attention could undermine personal dignity, whereas aspects of good professional care (e.g. being treated with respect), a supportive social network and adequate coping capacities could protect it.
Contrary to the general view in society that living in a nursing home always undermines one's dignity, good professional care and a supportive social network can preserve dignity as well. To support residents in their challenge of maintaining dignity, nursing home staff, relatives and society should pay more attention to the way they treat them.
深入了解养老院居民体验个人尊严的方式以及维护或损害尊严的因素。
养老院居民面临多种可能与个人尊严丧失相关的因素。为帮助他们维护尊严，从居民角度研究这一概念很重要。
一项定性描述性研究。
2010年5月至2011年6月期间，对荷兰四家养老院普通内科病房的30名新入院居民进行了深入访谈。
与疾病相关的状况是一个可能影响个人尊严的过程的起点，它威胁到个人自我和社会世界的各个方面。住在养老院本身并非感到自我价值降低的原因，而更被视为功能丧失的结果。然而，许多居民感到被社会抛弃且不被重视，仅仅因为他们的年龄或疾病。等待帮助、受护士指使以及未得到足够关注会损害个人尊严，而良好的专业护理（如受到尊重对待）、支持性的社会网络和足够的应对能力则可以保护尊严。
与社会普遍观点（即住在养老院总是会损害一个人的尊严）相反，良好的专业护理和支持性的社会网络也可以维护尊严。为帮助居民应对维护尊严的挑战，养老院工作人员、亲属和社会应更加关注对待他们的方式。
