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The Key to Me: Seniors' Perceptions of Relationship-Building with In-Home Service Providers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

Thomas W. Gantert ,
Carol L. McWilliam ,
Catherine Ward-Griffin  and
Natalie J. Allen
Thomas W. Gantert*
Affiliation:
University of Western Ontario
Carol L. McWilliam
Affiliation:
University of Western Ontario
Catherine Ward-Griffin
Affiliation:
University of Western Ontario
Natalie J. Allen
Affiliation:
University of Western Ontario
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to:/Les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à: Thomas W. Gantert, R.N., Ph.D, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, HSA H131, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5C1, (tgantert@uwo.ca)
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Abstract

Changing demographics and hospital downsizing have placed increasing demands on the home care sector. Many of those receiving in-home care are seniors whose chronic conditions require a collaborative approach. Both providers' paternalistic orientations toward senior clients and seniors' passivity within provider–client interactions have the potential to undermine relationship building. While the former has been documented, how seniors perceive relationship building within the home has received little attention. The purpose of this study was to explore seniors' perspectives on relationship building with in-home providers, focusing particularly on the facilitators of and barriers to this experience. Applying interpretive phenomenology, in-depth interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of senior clients and an immersion/crystallization analysis strategy was used to elicit the findings. Findings revealed that seniors perceived relationship building as a dynamic process that encompassed facilitators and barriers at both individual and contextual levels. The interpretive findings afford several insights into building provider–client relationships within the in-home context.

Résumé

Les données démographiques changeantes et les compressions imposées aux hôpitaux ont exercé de plus en plus de pressions sur le secteur des soins à domicile. Bon nombre des personnes recevant des soins à domicile sont des aînés dont l'état chronique exige une méthode concertée. Les orientations paternalistes des deux fournisseurs envers les clients âgés et la passivité des aînés lors des interactions fournisseur-client pourraient nuire à l'établissement de relations productives. Bien que ces orientations aient été documentées, la façon dont les aînés perçoivent l'établissement de bonnes relations à domicile a reçu peu d'attention. Le but de la présente étude était d'évaluer la façon dont les aînés voient l'établissement des relations avec les fournisseurs de soins à domicile, en mettant l'accent sur les facilitateurs de cette expérience et les obstacles afférents. En ayant recours à la phénoménologie interprétative, nous avons effectué des entrevues approfondies auprès d'un échantillon ciblé de clients âgés, et utilisé une stratégie d'analyse par immersion et cristallisation pour obtenir des résultats. Les résultats ont révélé que les aînés percevaient l'établissement de relations comme un processus dynamique qui englobait les facilitateurs et les obstacles au niveau tant individuel que contextuel. Les résultats interprétatifs donnent une meilleure idée de la façon de procéder pour établir des liens fournisseur-client dans le contexte des personnes à domicile.

Keywords

vieillissementaînés, établissement de relationsrelations fournisseur-clientsoins en établissementsoins à domicilerelationsagingseniorsrelationship buildingprovider–client relationshipin-home carehome carerelationships
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , Spring/Printemps 2008 , pp. 23 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2008

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