Michelle H. Thomsen

How Do Elderly People Adapt to and Accept Nursing Technology? Michelle H. Thomsen

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Nursing / Foster Care Management / Social Services, grade: 1,0, University of Applied Sciences Frankfurt am Main (Fachbereich 4), course: Health in the Nordic Countries - Lifestyle and Environment, language: English, comment: Die Arbeit wurde im Rahmen eines Auslandsaufenthalts am University College Lillebaelt in Odense, Dänemark geschrieben., abstract: The aim of this assignment is to find out if the elderly's Sense of Coherence has an impact on the way they accept and adapt to nursing technology. The method that has been used consists of qualitative and quantitative research. The use of both methods helped to get a broader understanding of the technologies' impact on elderly people. A phenomenological hermeneutical method was used to understand and analyse the articles that were chosen. Aaron Antonovsky's theory Sense of Coherence gave the opportunity to find out how elderly people cope with the use of technology. Throughout the analysis four different articles are used to bring in different aspects on nursing technology, how the elderly adapt to technology and the importance of ethical aspects. The Sense of Coherence's effect on the adaption to nursing technology is illuminated. To draw a conclusion, nursing technology seems to be an ambivalent but effective tool in caring for elderly people. Health professionals and elderly people need education to handle the technology and to take advantage of the benefits. It is important for nurses to focus on the elderly's Sense of Coherence to make it easier to accept and adopt to the technology. It is important for the nurse to take into consideration the ethical aspects of safety, dignity and rights of people when working with nursing technology. Furthermore the future development of nursing technology and its impact on nurses and elderly people are considered.