The association between specific nurse case management interventions and elder health.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the association between specific nursing interventions performed in the context of nurse case management and older people's quality of life and functional ability.


METHODS
Longitudinal.


METHODS
Nurse case management through a university hospital and two community health centers.


METHODS
One hundred seventy-five community-dwelling frail older persons (> or =70 and at risk for repeated hospitalizations).


METHODS
Specific groups of nursing interventions provided in the context of nurse case management over a 10-month period--coping assistance, lifespan care, risk management, and physical comfort promotion--were focused on. These interventions were recorded using a standardized nursing language. Outcomes were measured using telephone and home interview and medical record review using the 36-item Short Form and the Older American Resources and Services Multidimensional Functional Assessment Questionnaire.


RESULTS
Older people receiving coping assistance interventions demonstrated an increase in instrumental activity of daily living functioning although they had lower general health, role-emotional, and mental health scores.


CONCLUSIONS
Coping assistance is one nursing intervention of several provided in the context of nurse case management that is independently associated with improving the functional status of frail older persons even in the presence of declining health normally associated with aging over several months. Examining the relationships between specific nursing activities and health outcomes of frail older persons may be useful in furthering understanding of the results of randomized trials of nurse case management in this population.
Schein
Constance
C
Saint Anne of Winona-Benedictine Health System, Winona, Minnesota, USA.
Gagnon
Anita J
AJ
Chan
Lisa
L
Morin
Isabelle
I
Grondines
Justin
J
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002170:Canada; D019090:Case Management; D003151:Community Health Centers; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D012308:Risk Management; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile