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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Should dehydration in older people be a marker of lack of quality in long term care provision? | | Author(s) | Lee Hooper, Diane K Bunn |
| Journal title | Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, vol 15 no 4, 2014 |
| Publisher | Emerald, 2014 |
| Pages | pp 232-236 |
| Source | www.emeraldinsight.com/qaoa.htm |
| Keywords | Dehydration ; Care homes ; Nursing homes ; Health services ; Services ; Long term ; Management [care] ; Quality. |
| Annotation | This viewpoint article considers whether dehydration in older people should be used as a marker of lack of quality in long-term care provision. It examines the assumed relationship between dehydration and the quality of care, and then considers factors that can lead to dehydration in older people. It finds that even with the best care, older people, in the absence of a sense of thirst, and for fear of urinary accidents, difficulties getting to the toilet or choking, may choose to drink less than would be ideal for their health. While good care supports older people to minimise these problems, it also respects older people making their own decisions around when, what and how much to drink. It appears that dehydration may sometimes be a sign of good care, as well as arising from poor care. Residential care homes should not be stigmatised on the basis of their residents being dehydrated. Rather, they should be helped to explore whether they are achieving an appropriate balance between care and quality of life for their residents. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-170526212 A |
| Classmark | CST: KW: LHB: L: I: 4Q: QA: 59 |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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