Frail homebound elderly : basic nursing challenges of home care. A comparative study across 11 sites in Europe

Abstract

The home has always been the place for care for older patients. Medical technology was first developed for use in institutions; patients that were in need of such medical assistance had to be admitted to a hospital or a nursing home. Now, medical progress has made it possible for patients with multiple diseases to be treated in their own homes. The quality of available housing and technical equipment has enabled people with severe impairments to manage at home even if they live alone. In the European countries, different welfare models have been developed, which may influence the situation for the home care patients at the different sites in the AD HOC study. This thesis presents ‘home’ as a value and discusses nursing challenges related to the basic physiological needs of patients receiving home care. The experiences and results from the six research articles that are included in this current thesis will be related to the concept of being homebound.