Development of Continuing Care Model for Disabled Elderly Patients

Abstract

     The objectives of this participatory action research were to develop a continuing care model for disabled elderly patients. The study was divived into three phases: (1) the incidence analysis phase of disabled elderly patients, (2) the phase of the continuing care development, and (3) the result phase of the continuing care development. The samples in the study included 50 interdisciplinary samples from hospitals and health care networks, and 60 pairs of disabled elderly patients and their caregivers. The research was conducted from February 2018 to December 2018. The instruments used in the research were a semi-structured questionnaire, an evaluation form of activity daily living (ADL), and an evaluation form of health care behavior at home. The statistics used to analyze the data was frequency, percentage, mean, and stand deviation. Pair T-test was also used as the inferential statistics in this study.

     The research results revealed that the development model contained five sections: (1) the development of discharge planning, (2) the development of a self-health care booklet for disabled elderly patients, (3) accessible channels to hospital services, (4) a follow-up by telephone, and (5) the integration of the continuing care by the interdisciplinary team. When the model was tested, it was found that the satisfaction of the team was mean 3.5 The mean score of the health care behavior at home was 2.57. The results of activity daily living (ADL) before and after the evaluation showed that the ADL score was significantly increased (p<.05). In conclusion, the development of the continuing care model for disabled elderly patients is sustainable caring, resulting in better life of disabled elderly patients with dependency.