New thesis on risks for elderly people with cognitive impairment living at home with support from home care services

Hi Linda Sandberg, PhD-student at the Division of Occupational Therapy. On 26 October you will defend your thesis "Living at home with cognitive impairments - Risks in daily living and support from home care service”, what´s the main focus of the thesis?

The main focus of my thesis was to increase knowledge of conditions for older, home-residing persons with cognitive impairments – with focus on risks during daily living and support from home care service.

Which are the most important results?

The findings contributed new knowledge on how (i) persons with dementia experience and deal with risk-filled situations in their daily lives and on how (ii) home care staff identify and reason about risks as dilemmas in their role as home care providers to persons with dementia. The findings contributed new knowledge about support, namely, (i) types of services and number of service hours for older persons with and without documented cognitive impairment and (ii) perceived job strain among home care staff.

How can this new knowledge contribute to the improvement of people’s health?

Based on the findings it´s important to ensure that home care staff members have appropriate support and work under appropriate organisational conditions so they can take safety into account while supporting persons with cognitive impairment to engaged in daily life – despite presence of risks.