title: The congruence of elderly client and nurse perceptions of the clients' self-care agency.
abstract: Congruence of client and nurse perceptions is vital to mutual goal-setting as a means of achieving self-care in the elderly. The purpose of this descriptive, correlational study was to explore the relationship between nurse and elderly client perceptions of the clients' self-care agency. A sample of 40 elderly client subjects and registered nurses' selected from two community health agencies, completed a questionnaire consisting of three instruments: (a) a demographic sheet; (b) the appraisal of Self-Care Agency Scale; and (c) the Perceived Health Status. Pearson product moment correlation coefficients were significant for the relationships between: (a) client and nurse perceptions of clients' self-care agency (r = 0.42, P less than 0.01); (b) client and nurse perceptions of clients' health status (r = 0.38, P less than 0.01; and (c) nurse perceptions of clients' self-care agency and nurse perceptions of clients' health status (r = 0.44, P less than 0.01). With increasing emphasis on health promotion of the elderly in the community, identified relationships may have potential implications for gerontological and community nursing practice.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ward-Griffin
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bramwell
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003152:Community Health Nursing; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006293:Health Promotion; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000592:standards*; D012648:Self Care; D012649:Self Concept