Nursing Students' Visits to Older Adults With Multiple Chronic Conditions: Effects on Self-care and Other Related Variables (VISITAME)
Overview
- Phase
- N/A
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Chronic Disease
- Sponsor
- Universidad de Almeria
- Enrollment
- 252
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Change in self-care behaviours
- Status
- Completed
- Last Updated
- 2 years ago
Overview
Brief Summary
BACKGROUND
The concurrence of multiple chronic conditions in older adults is associated with increased healthcare expenditure, increased hospital admissions, consultations and pharmaceutical expenditure. Having been diagnosed with multiple chronic conditions is associated with biopsychosocial health deterioration, worsening quality of life and increased mortality in older adults. Consequently, older adults with multiple chronic conditions present complex health statuses that require healthcare professional to focus on promoting health and independence through self-care.
Available evidence suggests that the implementation of programs with individualized interventions focused on health promotion could improve self-care and other related variables in older people with chronic conditions. In this regard, the World Health Organization recommends the implementation of community health promotion programs including at least 5 home-visits carried out by healthcare professionals to promote self-care, independence, and quality of life amongst older adults with chronic conditions. However, the evidence on the cost-effectiveness of such visiting programs is inconsistent, which makes it difficult to integrate them into the services offered by public-funded healthcare systems. In search of more effective interventions to improve self-care and other related variables amongst older adults with multiple chronic conditions, nursing student visits could be a valid, effective alternative. Some studies suggest that the implementation of periodic follow-up programs (visits or telephone calls) by nursing students not only improves their knowledge and attitudes in relation to the care of older adults, but they could also have a positive impact on patients.
STUDY'S HYPOTHESIS
A program of supervised visits carried out by nursing students will significantly improve self-care behaviors and other related variables amongst older adults with multiple chronic conditions.
AIM
The aim of the VISITAME project is to examine the short-term (12 weeks) and medium-term (6 months) effects of a nursing students' home-visit programme on self-care behaviors amongst older adults with multiple chronic conditions.
STUDY DESIGN
A parallel two-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be carried out. Participants will be randomly assigned to either an intervention group (IG) or a control group (CG).
Investigators
Jose Manuel Hernandez Padilla
Associate Professor (Profesor Titular)
Universidad de Almeria
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •Age ≥ 65 years.
- •Having been diagnosed with more than one chronic condition.
- •Living at home (community-dwelling).
- •Signing the informed consent to participate in the study.
Exclusion Criteria
- •Having cognitive impairment (Pfeiffer test \> 2 failures).
- •Having been diagnosed with a psychiatric condition (for example: schizophrenia).
- •Being a beneficiary of any of the services offered by the Fund of the Spanish National System for Autonomy and Support for Dependency.
- •Being a beneficiary of private personal assistance to help with functional dependency.
- •Participate in a program of similar nature from any public or private entities.
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Change in self-care behaviours
Time Frame: Changes from baseline to 3-month and 6-month follow-up
Self-care in chronic illness inventory (SC-CII). The SC-CII will be used to measure the primary outcome of the study: 'self-care behaviours'. The SC-CII is a self-administered inventory, comprised of 20 items divided into 3 scales. The self-care maintenance scale is comprised of 8 items that measure, on a five-point Likert scale (1=never, 5=always), the frequency with which patients perform health-maintenance behaviors. The self-care monitoring scale is comprised of 5 items that measure, on a five-point Likert scale (1=never, 5=always), the frequency with which patients perform health-monitoring behaviors. The 'self-care management' scale is comprised of 7 items that measure, on a five-point Likert scale (1=not at all likely, 5=very likely), the probability for a patient to perform health-management behaviors. The scores of the three tools are calculated individually (between 0 and 100). Higher scores are indicative of better self-care.
Secondary Outcomes
- Change in diet quality(Changes from baseline to 3-month and 6-month follow-up)
- Change in perceived social support(Changes from baseline to 3-month and 6-month follow-up)
- Change in funcional capacity for activities of daily living(Changes from baseline to 3-month and 6-month follow-up)
- Change in loneliness(Changes from baseline to 3-month and 6-month follow-up)
- Change in self-efficacy in self-care(Changes from baseline to 3-month and 6-month follow-up)
- Change in dignity(Changes from baseline to 3-month and 6-month follow-up)
- Change in falls(Changes from baseline to 3-month and 6-month follow-up)
- Change in visits to emergency departments(Changes from baseline to 3-month and 6-month follow-up)
- Change in health-related quality of life(Changes from baseline to 3-month and 6-month follow-up)
- Change in hospital admissions(Changes from baseline to 3-month and 6-month follow-up)
- Change in nutritional status(Changes from baseline to 3-month and 6-month follow-up)
- Change in personal autonomy(Changes from baseline to 3-month and 6-month follow-up)