["Gender-specific needs of nursing home residents" : Focus on personal hygiene].
BACKGROUND
Residential nursing homes are specialized in dealing with people in need of care and are required to respect their dignity and right to self-determination. This includes the respectful handling of gender-specific needs and wishes of residents. Personal hygiene is one important area to which this applies.


OBJECTIVE
This study was carried out to investigate residents' gender-specific perception of life and care in nursing homes. This article focuses on unspecific and gender-specific needs in the area of personal hygiene, seeking to identify where changes are needed.


METHODS
Structured interviews were conducted in four nursing homes with a total of ten male and ten female residents without cognitive impairments. Content analysis and description of findings proceeded in two stages: interviewees' experiences of everyday life and care were first reconstructed before gender-specific aspects were analyzed.


RESULTS
Both universal and gender-specific needs were identified in the area of personal hygiene. The gender-unspecific wish for respect for dignity and privacy was in some cases neglected. A need for meaningful communication and respectful relationships was also gender-unspecific. Gender-specific wishes related in particular to the gender of persons assisting with or conducting personal hygiene measures.


CONCLUSIONS
In addition to improved perception and consideration of gender-specific needs, it is also necessary to adapt nursing in residential institutions more closely to the individual needs of residents. Further research is needed in relation to the perspectives of nursing staff and the development of participatory methods for involving residents in shaping everyday life in residential institutions.
Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal, Breitscheidstr. 2, 39114, Magdeburg, Deutschland. josefine.heusinger@hs-magdeburg.de.
J
J
Heusinger
Institut für Gerontologische Forschung e. V., Torstr. 178, 10115, Berlin, Deutschland. dummert@igfberlin.de.
S
S
Dummert
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D028701:Patient Rights
Gender; Residents’ perspective; Self determination; Sex; Shame