Older person's experience of the gains from the support and advice given during the preventive home visit

• Background: In order to maintain good health in old age, a comprehensive perspective including both health promotion and risk prevention is crucial. Preventive home visit is one intervention with the purpose to prevent risks and promote health among older persons. Support and advice given during the preventive home visit needs to be tailored towards the older person’s needs. In order to give advice and support that is targeting older persons prerequisites there is a need for more research about how older persons experience support and advice given during a preventive home visit. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore older person’s experiences of the gains from the support and advice given in a preventive home visit program developed in collaboration between several municipalities, a county council and researchers.Method: Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 older persons, mean age 79 years old, living at home who had received a preventive home visit. The interviews were analysed with content analysis.Findings: The overarching preliminary theme Being empowered and recognised as a person reviled the participants feeling of that the support and advice given encountered all aspects of health and the whole person. The support and advice generated conditions for the person to be empowered by contributing to a feeling of control and preparedness for the future. Further the support and advice given contributed to a feeling of being recognised when health, behaviour and the surrounding environment were assessed.Conclusion: Being empowered and recognised as a person might be central gains from the support and advice given during the preventive home visits, which enables good health among older persons.

Subject headings

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskaper (hsv//swe)

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)