INTRODUCTION:

Aging is inevitable. None of us can avoid getting older but all of us hope to age gracefully, remaining healthy and vital well into our golden years. Today worldwide estimation is about 600 million persons aged around 60 years and above. There are approximately 81 million older people in India. As people ages they tend to suffer from problems relating to physical, psychological, emotional, social and economic aspects. As they are becoming less productive cease to be functional, they may be viewed as a ‘’Burden’’ upon the family and the community, ending up in the old age homes(Dr. Joseph Kuruvilla 2010).Normal ageing changes reduce the functional status of senior citizens. The prevalence rate of inability to perform Activities of Daily Living are high among senior citizens and it rises steeply with advancing age and are especially high for persons aged 85 and over .It is the prime responsibility of the nurses to assess the functional status to develop insight on the needs of the senior citizens.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

A study to assess the functional status and its impact on psycho-social status among elderly in selected old age home, Madurai

OBJECTIVES:

1. To assess the functional status of elderly of selected old age home.

2. To describe the impact of functional status on psycho- social status qualitatively.

METHODOLOGY:

Research Design: The non experimental research approach of univariate descriptive design was adopted.

Setting: The study was Conducted in two old age homes, Madurai.

Sampling: convenient sampling technique.

Sample size: a total of 50 elderly who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were selected for the study.

Inclusion Criteria

· Both male and female aged 60 and above residing in old age home.

· Elderly who were able to understand Tamil.

Exclusion criteria

· The senior citizens who were diagnosed to have degenerative disorder

· Physically and mentally challenged.

· Unwilling to participate

· Fractured limbs.

DESCRIPTION OF TOOL

Part:1

Demographic variables such as age, sex, education, Religion, marital status and co-morbid condition.

Part: 2

Data were collected using COOP charts (The Dartmouth primary care cooperative information project) for adult primary care practice developed by E. Nelson in 1987.Thus COOP charts are rapid visual ways to assess the health and functioning of subjects. The charts are designed to measure physical fitness, feelings, daily activities, pain, change in health, overall health, social support and quality of life.

MAJOR FINDINGS:

Interview method was adopted for the study. The major findings of the study revealed that,

38% of the elderly were able to perform only light activities

48% of them had expressed quite a bit of depression.

50%of elderly had some difficulty to perform their daily activities.

46% of them were moderately limited in social activities.

60%of them expressed no change in their health status for the past weeks.

36% of them received quite a bit of support in the old age home.

56% of them valued their quality of life as good as well as bad.

Qualitative content analysis done that revealed the impact of limited functional capacity on Psycho- Social status. The themes emerged were

· Death viewed better than disability.

· Feeling of dependence.

· Feeling of isolation.

· Lack of social involvement.

· Worthlessness.

DISCUSSION:

The prevalence of disturbances in functional ability is high in elderly people. In this study majority of the samples were in the age group of 65-75 years (52%).Regarding sex , most of them were females(74%) and women perceived their health status as poorer than men did. The study is consistent with the study conducted by Broeiro etal, who reported that 23% of the elderly had limitations in physical fitness,25% had unfavourable repercussions in feelings,12%had difficulties in everyday life activities and 7% had limitations in social life.

Meyboom-dejong BM and smith conduced study on morbidity and functional status of elderly.30% of the elderly patients assessed their physical functions as seriously limited, whereas 6% to 8% reported psychological problems and limitations in daily activities.As age related changes are progressive in nature the functional ability of the elderly may decline in the future. Similar study was conducted by Vidhya.T and Punitha Josephine on Functional ability and mobility among elderly.They found that 81% of samples were in less chance of fall and only 6% of samples were in high risk of fall. There was a positive correlation between functional ability and mobility. This findings will pave the way for the nurses to develop the strategies to promote the mobility of the senior citizens.

IMPLICATIONS:

The findings of the study imply that the nursing curriculum should be reframed adequately to meet the demands of senior citizen.It’s high time for nurses to formulate strategies to improve functional status among elderly.

CONCLUSION:

The elderly of the old age homes can be assisted by the nurses in improving functional status and meaning ageing through exercises by equipping them with coping skills.

REFERENCES:

Minna Manty et al., “Physical activity counseling on mobility imitation among elderly” Journal of Gerontology, 64(1) pg no:83-89.

Ankur Baruna “Functional impairment in elderly”, Indian Journal of Gerontology 26 (1 )pg no;221-226.

Vidhya and Punitha Josephine “Functional ability and mobility among senior citizens”, Nightingale Nursing Times 2012: 7(11)

www.orangevalley.sg

www.gerontology.com

Received on 18.05.2014 Modified on 22.05.2014

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research 2(2): April- June 2014; Page 164-165

Assessing Functional Status of Old Age Home Residents