[Epidemiology without numbers: nurses tell their perception, and the management strategies, of the behavioral problems of the elderly].
OBJECTIVE
To assess the practicability of caring strategies which rely on the subjective resources and insights of nursing personnel in the management of behavioral problems of the elderly.


METHODS
Following the indications of a training session, the nurses in charge of a residential geriatric department have been invited to express, through brief written accounts, their point of view on: 1. the definition(s) of behavioral problems; 2. the strategies adopted before or with or in the place of psychotropic drugs; 3. the experience gained from significative responses to non-pharmacological treatments.


RESULTS
All the narratives by individual participants are reported to document, through the variability of their languages, concepts, interventions, the need as well as the possibilities of caring behaviors, where listening attitudes are practiced, thus allowing also a better awareness of original role opportunities.


CONCLUSIONS
Narrative practices can usefully be incorporated into caring duties and contexts, and represent an important training tool, specifically relevant for the grey areas of medicine.
Andriolo
Fosca
F
lnfermiere/i del Centro Residenziale Anziani D. Sartor Costelfranco Veneto, Treviso.
Bertollo
Morgan
M
Bragagnolo
Sergio
S
Caoduro
Luciano
L
Caon
Marisa
M
Daminato
Monica
M
De Sabbata
Dolores
D
Dei Tos
Vittorina
V
Favaro
Rosanna
R
Fraccaro
Silvia
S
Frattin
Gabriella
G
Lefter
Viorna
V
Malvestio
Anna
A
Mardegan
Daniela
D
Pellizzon
Palmira
P
Tieppo
Cinzia
C
Totaro
Paolo
P
Visentin
Emma
E
Zanatta
Antonella
A
Zonta
Fernanda
F
Cecchetto
Giovanna
G
Lepore
Vito
V
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016903:Drug Monitoring; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005851:Geriatric Nursing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D011619:Psychotropic Drugs