Foot health and self-care activities of older people in home care

NewsBot · Jul 28, 2012

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Foot health and self-care activities of older people in home care.
Stolt M, Suhonen R, Puukka P, Viitanen M, Voutilainen P, Leino-Kilpi H.
J Clin Nurs. 2012 Jul 27

Aims and objectives. To assess the foot health of older people and their self-care activities in home care. The ultimate goal is to prevent foot problems in older people and to develop the assessment skills of nurses working in home care. Background. Foot health problems are one reason why older people seek home care services. These problems are prevalent in older people, and they can impair performance of daily activities and threaten functional ability. However, studies in this field have concentrated on foot problems related to specific diseases. Non-disease-related research on foot health from the preventative perspective is lacking.

Design. A descriptive explorative design was used.

Methods. The foot health of older people was assessed by visiting home nurses with the Foot Health Assessment Instrument, and older people's foot self-care activities were evaluated with the Foot Self-Care Activities Structured Interview in 2010. The data were analysed statistically.

Results. Older people in home care have multiple foot health problems. The most prevalent problems were oedema, dry skin, thickened and discoloured toenails and hallux valgus. Caring for one's feet was a problem for many older people.

Conclusions. Older people's foot health needs to be assessed regularly to recognise foot health and self-care problems. Health care professionals have a vital role in preventing, recognising and caring for foot health in older people. Relevance to clinical practice. The foot health of older people needs to be improved by supporting older people in foot self-care and developing preventive nursing interventions. Regular foot health assessments and their documentation are crucial in preventing serious foot problems in older people. Moreover, multiprofessional collaboration is important to promote foot health in older people.
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Admin2 · Jul 28, 2012

Related Threads:
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Elizabeth Humble-Thomas · Aug 21, 2012

I am glad this study was done, although I could have told them the answer without doing a study, but what happens next?

David Widdowson · Aug 21, 2012

Elizabeth
The academic answer is... more resarch required.
Always nice to see a "101 in stating the bleeding obvious" though.
Regards
David

Elizabeth Humble-Thomas · Aug 22, 2012

Perhaps if they had spent the time it took to do the research running 'call in for nail cutting and foot care advice' clinics, then a number of patients (remember them?) might have benefitted? Just a thought?

Elizabeth Humble-Thomas · Aug 22, 2012

Perhaps, if they had run a 'call in for nail cutting and foot care advice clinic' in the time they took to do the research, some patients (remember them?) might have benefited?

NewsBot · Nov 11, 2017

A foot-care program to facilitate self-care by the elderly: a non-randomized intervention study.
Omote S et al
BMC Res Notes. 2017 Nov 9;10(1):586. doi: 10.1186/s13104-017-2898-9.

OBJECTIVE:
We aimed to evaluate a foot-care awareness program designed to improve foot morphology, physical functioning, and fall prevention among the community-dwelling elderly. Eleven independent community-dwelling elderly women (aged 61-83 years) were provided with foot-care advice and shown effective foot-care techniques to perform regularly for 6 months, and compared with a control group of 10 elderly women who did not receive any intervention. Measurements of foot form, functional capacity, subjective foot movement, and physical function were taken at baseline and 6-month follow-up.
RESULTS:
At follow-up, improvements were seen in the intervention group in foot morphology, subjective foot movement, foot pressure, and balance. In the intervention group, 90% of women had maintained or improved foot form and none of them had fallen during the post-intervention period, compared to the control group where 30% improved foot form (p = 0.0075) and four (40%) of them had fallen. Therefore, a foot-care program may have the potential to prevent falls and improve mobility among the elderly.
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NewsBot · Jan 2, 2021

Foot disease and physical function in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Rebecca K Iseli et al
Australas J Ageing. 2020 Dec 13

Objectives: To systematically assess the literature examining the association between foot disease (foot ulceration, infection, critical ischaemia and/or Charcot neuroarthropathy) and physical function in older adults.

Methods: Literature search of MEDLINE, Embase and CINAHL was performed. Studies were included if foot disease and physical function were assessed in participants of mean or median age ≥ 65 years.

Results: Of 2,574 abstracts screened, 19 studies (13 longitudinal, 6 cross-sectional) reporting on 5634 participants, 43% female, were included. Diabetes-related foot disease and critical ischaemia were most studied (n = 5017, 40% female). In 8 studies with control groups, foot disease was associated with poorer physical function. Meta-analysis of 5 studies (n = 1503, 45% female) found an association between foot disease and poorer physical function (SMD (95% CI): 1.00 (0.40, 1.62), P 0.001).

Conclusion: Foot disease is associated with poorer physical function in older adults. Future research should include broader study populations and intervention strategies.
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Foot health and self-care activities of older people in home care

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Foot health and self-care activities of older people in home care

NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

Admin2 Administrator Staff Member

Elizabeth Humble-Thomas Active Member

David Widdowson Active Member

Elizabeth Humble-Thomas Active Member

Elizabeth Humble-Thomas Active Member

NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

Healthy Footsteps - a supported self management programme

Self-awareness of foot health status in those diabetes

Mental health and outcomes of foot and ankle surgery

Intersectionality, vulnerability and foot health inequity

Perspectives toward feet, foot health, and footwear

mHealth application for the management of people with diabetes and recently healed foot ulceration

Religious health fatalism in diabetic foot ulcers

Share This Page

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