The health-related quality of life of older people through preventive home visits: A quantitative longitudinal study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Preventive home visits are a low-threshold counselling and support approach. They have been reported to achieve heterogeneous effects. However, preventive home visits have the potential to reduce the risk of becoming dependent on long-term care. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of preventive home visits as a nursing intervention on health-related quality of life of older people in a longitudinal survey and to develop recommendations for which target groups preventive home visits have the highest benefit. The sample consisted of 75 people, aged between 65 and 85, who were able to understand and speak German, had not yet been eligible for benefits from the long-term care insurance and lived in the municipality under study. METHODOLOGICAL DESIGN AND JUSTIFICATION: A quantitative longitudinal study in order to investigate the effects of preventive home visits. ETHICAL ISSUES AND APPROVAL: There were no ethical concerns. Accordingly, ethical approval was granted. RESEARCH METHODS, RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The health-related quality of life was recorded four times between 01/2017 and 08/2020 with the Short-Form-Health-Survey-12 and analysed using descriptive statistics. Results reveal that the physical health status cannot be easily influenced over a short period of time. The main effect, however, is that preventive home visits have a significant positive effect on the mental health status. The main topics during the home visits were mobility, nutrition and social participation. Increased knowledge and motivation for preventive behaviour extended the autonomy of older people. Accordingly, preventive home visits can support a self-determined life in a familiar environment. The results of the present study show that preventive home visits as a nursing intervention in rural areas are successful. In Germany, preventive home visits have not yet been implemented on a regular basis. In order to do so, a general definition of the concept is needed. Preventive home visits should be officially included in the regular health care services in Germany.

Acceptance of preventive home visits by nurses - The user perspective.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate acceptance of preventive home visits (PHVs) for older adults in rural Germany. DESIGN: Qualitative descriptive approach. SAMPLE: We investigated the personal, individual perspective of adults aged 65 to 85, who were not yet eligible for benefits from the long-term care insurance, were able to understand and speak German, and who lived in the municipality under study. MEASUREMENTS: Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted between 02/2019 and 08/2020. They were transcribed, coded using MAXQDA, and content analyzed. Ethical approval was obtained. RESULTS: The acceptance of PHVs was extremely high and characterized by five main effects: very close relationship with the nurse, well-being, empowerment, satisfaction, ambivalence. Participants wish to receive PHVs in the future and would recommend it to others. Even those with a healthy or health-promoting lifestyle are thankful to be able to refer to the counselling sessions if life circumstances should deteriorate. Those who became care-dependent wish to continue and perceive it as a valuable addition to their care. CONCLUSION: From the participants' point of view, this low-threshold counselling-and-support approach should be maintained in the future. PHVs can support health and independence in older adults and therefore prevent them from becoming care-dependent.

[Family Health Nursing - a challenge for education and training? Results of an European project]. / Family Health Nursing - eine Herausforderung für Aus- und Weiterbildung? Ergebnisse eines europäischen Projektes.

BACKGROUND: Since the WHO study "Family Health Nursing" (FHN) the concepts have been established different within Europe. Due to this, the international project "Family Health Nursing in European Communities" was started in order to develop a standardised educational concept. AIMS: The aim of this project was to gather the different requirements and to clarify problematic issues within the participating EU countries. METHOD: Thus, a literature review, a Delphi study in order to achieve consensus on definition of FHN, an analysis of competencies and requirements as well as an overview of available education/training with experts from the field of care was carried out. RESULTS: The results of the review reflect the varying level of occupation within the countries included in this analysis. Over the time, various conceptual orientations and professional designations have been established. Within this project the preferred job title was "Family Nurse" (46,3 %). Health promotion and prevention (85,8 %) were seen as main tasks of the Family Health Nurse. Therefore, the respondent experts state the need for more specialized training at an undergraduate (81,5 %) level. CONCLUSIONS: The project outlines the countries' effort towards a high-level in familial care which could be supported in long term by a consistent FHN concept.