Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Should dehydration in older people be a marker of lack of quality in long term care provision?

Should dehydration in older people be a marker of lack of quality in long term care provision? Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider whether dehydration in older people should be used as a marker of lack of quality in long-term care provision. Design/methodology/approach – The piece examines the assumed relationship between dehydration and the quality of care, and then considers the factors that can lead to dehydration in older people. Findings – Even with the best care, older people, in the absence of a sense of thirst, and for fear of urinary accidents, difficulties getting to the toilet or choking, may choose to drink less than would be ideal for their health. While good care supports older people to minimise these problems, it also respects older people making their own decisions around when, what and how much to drink. It appears that dehydration may sometimes be a sign of good care, as well as arising from poor care. Social implications – Residential care homes should not be stigmatised on the basis of their residents being dehydrated, but rather helped to explore whether they are achieving an appropriate balance between care and quality of life for their residents. Originality/value – This discussion may be of use to those living in, working in, managing or assessing residential care. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Quality in Ageing and Older Adults Emerald Publishing

Should dehydration in older people be a marker of lack of quality in long term care provision?

Hooper, Lee; Bunn, Diane K
Quality in Ageing and Older Adults , Volume 15 (4): 5 – Dec 8, 2014
Download PDF
5 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/should-dehydration-in-older-people-be-a-marker-of-lack-of-quality-in-5fyi6wfZlj
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
ISSN
1471-7794
DOI
10.1108/QAOA-09-2014-0019
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider whether dehydration in older people should be used as a marker of lack of quality in long-term care provision. Design/methodology/approach – The piece examines the assumed relationship between dehydration and the quality of care, and then considers the factors that can lead to dehydration in older people. Findings – Even with the best care, older people, in the absence of a sense of thirst, and for fear of urinary accidents, difficulties getting to the toilet or choking, may choose to drink less than would be ideal for their health. While good care supports older people to minimise these problems, it also respects older people making their own decisions around when, what and how much to drink. It appears that dehydration may sometimes be a sign of good care, as well as arising from poor care. Social implications – Residential care homes should not be stigmatised on the basis of their residents being dehydrated, but rather helped to explore whether they are achieving an appropriate balance between care and quality of life for their residents. Originality/value – This discussion may be of use to those living in, working in, managing or assessing residential care.

Journal

Quality in Ageing and Older Adults – Emerald Publishing

Published: Dec 8, 2014

There are no references for this article.