Deprivation of Dignity in Nursing Home Residents

Background: Elderly people will represent a major challenge within health care in the future. Number of persons 67 years of age and older is estimated to increase strongly, in Norway from 617000 in 2009 to approximately 1,5 million in 2060. In relation to the growth in number of elderly, there will be fewer of a working age and fewer middle-aged to care for an increasing number of elderly. Due to these facts we might launch the thought that human dignity might even be at a greater risk in future health care than it is today. Purpose: The overall purpose of this cross-country Nordic study was to gain deepened knowledge in how to maintain and promote dignity in nursing home residents. The purpose of this paper is to present results concerning the question: How is nursing home residents’ dignity maintained or deprived from the perspective of close family caregivers? In this presentation we only focus on deprivation of dignity.
Methodology: The overall design of this study is modified clinical application research. The study took place at six different nursing home residences in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Data collection methods were individual research interviews. All together the sample consisted of 28 close family caregivers. The empirical data material was analysed and interpreted involving a hermeneutic approach. Results preliminary): The following themes represent the results: Depriving dignity through abandoning, through the feeling of not belonging, through physical and mental humiliation, due to sins of omissions and no confirmation.