| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to investigate aspects and
specific events of health care intervention techniques rendered
to chronic, non-acutely ill elderly patients, (henceforth known
as CNIE), while in an acute care hospital. The patients' own
perceptions were sought to ascertain if the care given was
patient-centred or more characteristic with the traditional
biomedical science approach (BMS). This latter approach,
according to many researchers, remains the primary mode of
hospital health care intervention.
The BMS approach is described by sociologists and others as
a health care strategy that is overly cure oriented rather than
care oriented. It is impersonal, objective, and dualistic - the
very opposite of a patient-centred approach. Using a patientcentred
care survey to carry out empirical research, I set out to
ascertain, at a local level, the extent and degree a BMS approach
existed within Thunder Bay's three acute care hospitals.
The sample included 32 participants who were or remain heavy
users of health services. These individuals were either waiting
for placement or recently placed into another care facility. At
the time of the interview, qualified participants were located
either in one of three Thunder Bay acute care hospitals, a
private nursing home, one of two city Homes for the Aged, or in their own home. All shared their perceptions of the care they
received while in hospital.
CNIE patient demographic characteristics - sex, age, marital
status, length of present hospitalization, former occupation,
mother tongue, hospital recently treated at and reason for
hospitalization - were documented. Six care indices were embodied
in the patient-centered survey. These included Communication,
Education, Emotional Support, Patient Needs and Preferences,
Consistency of Quality of Care and Physical Comfort. Descriptive
statistics were used for analysis of the results.
Based on the comments obtained from the CNIE population
sample, findings suggest that, although present or former
patients were satisfied overall with the care they received while
in an acute care hospital, there are particular reported problems
in different domains of the care rendered to them which are
congruent with characteristics/aspects of the traditional
biomedical science approach. Results also suggest that the need
for a paradigm shift - from a solely objective, rational and
impersonal approach (vis a vis a biomedical science orientation)
to a more biopsychosocial-like approach, (a "revolution” in the
Kuhnian sense of the term), may not be as monumental a task as
some researchers would suggest.
Recommendations for further research are made. | |
