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Learning Objective 1: better understand the realities of aging at home and the need for public policy on aging.
Learning Objective 2: appreciate nurses’ leadership roles for older adults wanting to stay in their home for as long as possible
Since the majority of older adults are aging at home, the purpose of the study was to gain a better understanding of aging at home from seniors with a loss of independence and their families as well as identifying the challenges and successes of living at home. Following ethics approval, a total of 54 participants were interviewed individually in their home during a one year period. Older participants lived in rural or urban communities and identified themselves as English or French speaking. Data analysis was conducted concurrently with data collection. Verbatim were analyzed line by line in order to identify common categories and themes.
Results indicate that aging at home is a priority for seniors but also a challenge for them and their families. There are many benefits to aging at home ranging from health to economics but lack of psychosocial care and community resources create great difficulties. With an aging population, nurses will have an important role in providing psychosocial care and access to community resources. In fact, nurses’ understanding of older adults’ bio-psycho-social-cultural and spiritual needs will facilitate nursing leadership in practice and development of public policy for the aged.