| |
Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
 | |
|
Seniors' narratives of asking (and not asking) for help after a fall
— implications for identity | | Author(s) | Patricia A Miller, Christina Sinding, Lauren E Griffiths |
| Journal title | Ageing and Society, vol 36, no 2, February 2016 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press, February 2016 |
| Pages | pp 240-258 |
| Source | journals.cambridge.org/aso |
| Keywords | Falls ; Living in the community ; Accident & emergency depts ; Offers of help ; Family relationships ; Friendship ; Social surveys ; Canada. |
| Annotation | Falls among older people living in the community constitute a major public health concern, because of the potential morbidity and mortality associated with the fall. This study examined the informal care networks accessed by Canadian seniors who had visited the Emergency Department as a result of a fall, and considered the implications of the processes of asking for and receiving help on the older person's identity. Four themes were identified. The first was valuing independence. The remaining three themes concerned threats to the participants' identities linked to the need to ask for or receive help from family and friends. They were: becoming indebted, feeling devalued, and becoming a burden to others. Seniors were noted to excuse family members from the expectation of helping because of work and family commitments, and illness. Participants described a mutually beneficial relationship with friends, wherein both parties valued their independence and provided assistance to the other when needed. Their comments suggested that assistance was viewed as a good to be traded among peers. The authors' findings indicate that older people value their independence and may not seek help even when it appears to be available, if asking threatens valued identities. Health and social care practitioners and policy makers responsible for planning and delivery of services should take this into account, in order to ensure the best possible care for injured older people living in the community. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-160205201 A |
| Classmark | OLF: K4: LD6: QNF: DS:SJ: DS:SX: 3F: 7S |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
|
| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
| |
|