Determination of health care needs in older ındividuals visited at home

Abstract

Objective: Health care needs determined via home visits to individuals >65 years within the scope of public health nursing courses are presented. Materials and Methods: The population in this descriptive study comprised 110 individuals aged ≥65 years who were living in central neighborhoods of Avanos district in the province of Nevsehir and regularly visited during one semester within the scope of the public health nursing course. This was conducted 16 h a week for 12 weeks under the supervision of instructors. Students conducted home visits to designated families at least once a week for 45 min. Descriptive characteristics of elderly individuals, identified problems, and status of students utilizing their roles as a nurse were identified through home visit files. Data were analyzed using number and percentage distributions. Results: Fifty-nine nursing students conducted 601 home visits and provided home nursing services for 110 patients. Totally, 67.3% of the elderly were females and 68.18% were in the 65-74-year age group. The three most common chronic diseases were hypertension (46.6%), diabetes (24.6%), and cardiovascular diseases (13.3%). Moreover, 52.7% of the elderly were using multiple medications and 24.5% did not use their medications regularly. The most common problems identified were lack of information on chronic diseases (26.4%) and inadequate fluid intake (20%). The students stated that they solved problems by utilizing their education, research, care providing and counseling roles as a nurse. Conclusion: Home visits are important for determining health care needs of the elderly and planning services to be offered.