Biomaterial Database

The autonomy of demented patients: interviews with caregivers. 1988

S L Ekman, and A Norberg

University of Umeå, Sweden.

Tape-recorded semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 nursing aides and enrolled nurses in the geriatric clinic in Umeå, Sweden. The interviews focused on the difference between the care of demented and non-demented patients and ethical conflicts in dementia care. The results indicate that caregivers have problems in providing the demented patients with opportunities to act autonomously in everyday matters on the ward, mainly due to the difficulty of understanding what the patients wish and the fact that their wishes, when understood, often seem irrational. Measures to provide the demented patients with more opportunities to act autonomously in everyday matters are suggested.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D010344	Patient Advocacy	Promotion and protection of the rights of patients, frequently through a legal process.	Patient Ombudsmen,Patient Representatives,Clinical Ombudsman,Patient Ombudsman,Advocacy, Patient,Ombudsman, Clinical,Ombudsman, Patient,Ombudsmen, Patient,Patient Representative,Representative, Patient,Representatives, Patient
D003142	Communication	The exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs between individuals or groups.	Miscommunication,Misinformation,Social Communication,Communication Programs,Communications Personnel,Personal Communication,Communication Program,Communication, Personal,Communication, Social,Communications, Social,Miscommunications,Misinformations,Personnel, Communications,Program, Communication,Programs, Communication,Social Communications
D003482	Custodial Care	Board, room, and other personal assistance services generally provided on a long term basis. It excludes regular medical care.	Care, Custodial
D003704	Dementia	An acquired organic mental disorder with loss of intellectual abilities of sufficient severity to interfere with social or occupational functioning. The dysfunction is multifaceted and involves memory, behavior, personality, judgment, attention, spatial relations, language, abstract thought, and other executive functions. The intellectual decline is usually progressive, and initially spares the level of consciousness.	Senile Paranoid Dementia,Amentia,Familial Dementia,Amentias,Dementia, Familial,Dementias,Dementias, Familial,Dementias, Senile Paranoid,Familial Dementias,Paranoid Dementia, Senile,Paranoid Dementias, Senile,Senile Paranoid Dementias
D004552	Elder Abuse	Emotional, nutritional, financial, or physical maltreatment, exploitation, or abandonment of the older person generally by family members or by institutional personnel.	Abuse Experiences, Elder,Aged Abuse,Elder Abuse Experiences,Elder Maltreatment,Elder Mistreatment,Elder Neglect,Elderly Abuse,Experience of Elder Abuse,Senior Abuse,Senior Neglect,Abuse Experience, Elder,Abuse, Aged,Abuse, Elder,Abuse, Elderly,Abuse, Senior,Elder Abuse Experience,Elderly Abuses,Experience, Elder Abuse,Maltreatment, Elder,Mistreatment, Elder,Neglect, Elder,Neglect, Senior,Senior Abuses,Senior Neglects
D005260	Female		Females
D005851	Geriatric Nursing	Nursing care of the aged patient given in the home, the hospital, or special institutions such as nursing homes, psychiatric institutions, etc.	Nursing, Geriatric,Geriatric Nursings,Nursings, Geriatric
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man