The Role of Community Nurse Practitioners in Supporting Families in Caring for Bedridden Elders at Home: Case Study

Abstract

The number of elderly people in Thailand is increasing. Most of them suffer from chronic diseases that possibly cause deterioration and disability of their health conditions. These complications eventually lead the elderly patients to become bedridden. Bedridden elderly patients are usually cared for specially by their family members that are close to home. Unfortunately, some of the family members of these elderly population, may not fully care for them because of their other responsibilities such as working, travelling from a distance, or even their own health issues. This places a toll on the care of the bedridden elderly patients. Apart from that, the bedridden clderly often require total or partial assistance with their activities daily livings, and in many case, they also have other specific and complicated needs that may arise during the course of their care. For these reasons, their family members seek competent and qualified elderly caregivers or elderly care centers to take care of their bedridden seniors. Additionally, it is challenging for community nurse practitioners to support these families and their bedridden elderly patients at home due to the constraints associated with their health care and needs.

The purpose of this paper is to present the role and responsibilities of the community nurse practitioners through the application of Orem’s nursing system theory in supporting effective home care for the bedridden elderly. The emphasis is placed on families and caregivers to learn and consider making decisions and to practice caring for the bedridden elderly at home efficiently and sustainably. This will not only allow the elderly patients to be with their own family, but will also increase their chances of staying healthy and having a good quality of life.