Craftman Åsa G, Pakpour Amir H, Calderon Helena, Meling Anna, Browall Maria, Lundh Hagelin Carina
Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Sophiahemmet University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Health Soc Care Community. 2022 Sep;30(5):e2648-e2656. doi: 10.1111/hsc.13708. Epub 2022 Jan 11.
The ageing population is increasing worldwide, with older people often having multimorbidity and a need for help with activities and personal care. Home Care Assistants (HCAs) are central to the provision of care in the home. They meet older people approaching the end of life and their relatives. Little is known about HCAs attitudes towards caring for a dying person and how aspects such as education, age, earlier care experiences, care education and experience of caring for dying older people affect their attitudes. The aim was to describe HCAs' attitudes towards the care of dying persons living in their ordinary homes. This cross-sectional study used the Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale (FATCOD) for data collection during December 2017 and January 2018, and descriptive statistics and regression analysis for data analysis. The participants were HCAs (n = 127, 96% of those eligible) in a municipality in central Sweden. An overall positive attitude was reported. About 32% lacked formal HCA education although 93% had experience of interacting with a dying person. Age, HCA education, internal palliative care education, number of years' experience and previous experience of caring for a dying person were independently associated with HCAs' attitudes. In the multivariate regression analysis, age and years of experience were the only significant predictors of HCAs' attitudes towards caring for dying care recipients. Young employees without HCA education and experience of a dying person might be vulnerable in situations involving caring for a dying person. Communicating about death and dying, forming a relationship with the care recipient and the family, and providing care when a person is dying can be challenging. Implications: Young employees without HCA education and experience of interacting with a dying person needs to be prepared for the situation. This needs to be considered by stakeholders and social and healthcare organisations.
全球老龄化人口正在增加，老年人往往患有多种疾病，在活动和个人护理方面需要帮助。家庭护理助理是在家中提供护理的核心力量。他们会接触到临终老人及其亲属。对于家庭护理助理对照顾临终者的态度，以及教育、年龄、早期护理经历、护理教育和照顾临终老人的经验等因素如何影响他们的态度，人们了解甚少。本研究旨在描述家庭护理助理对照顾居住在普通家庭中的临终者的态度。这项横断面研究在2017年12月至2018年1月期间使用弗罗梅尔临终关怀态度量表（FATCOD）进行数据收集，并采用描述性统计和回归分析进行数据分析。研究对象是瑞典中部一个市镇的家庭护理助理（n = 127，占符合条件者的96%）。结果显示总体态度积极。约32%的人缺乏正规的家庭护理助理教育，尽管93%的人有与临终者互动的经验。年龄、家庭护理助理教育、内部姑息治疗教育、工作年限和照顾临终者的既往经验与家庭护理助理的态度独立相关。在多元回归分析中，年龄和工作年限是家庭护理助理对照顾临终护理对象态度的唯一显著预测因素。没有家庭护理助理教育背景且没有照顾临终者经验的年轻员工在照顾临终者的情况下可能较为脆弱。谈论死亡和临终事宜、与护理对象及其家人建立关系以及在一个人临终时提供护理可能具有挑战性。启示：没有家庭护理助理教育背景且没有与临终者互动经验的年轻员工需要为这种情况做好准备。利益相关者以及社会和医疗保健组织需要考虑这一点。
