Completed studies

The care provided in long-term care homes increases in complexity and must meet the needs of heterogeneous residents, very often at the end of their life. An essential aspect in end-of-life care is the engagement of the person and their relatives, but this is rarely observed in practice. In addition, there are few studies describing strategies that facilitate the engagement of relatives, despite the possible benefits. Thus, a qualitative study will be conducted to explore strategies to engage the relative of older people in end-of-life care in long-term care homes.

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Major neurocognitive disorders are diseases that are a difficult experience for people living with the disease and for their relatives. Ambiguous loss is the experience of family caregivers when the losses associated with the degenerative process result in significant changes in the psychological relationship with the person living with the disease. Studies do not allow to fully understand the complexity of ambiguous loss. The purpose of this master thesis is to explore the ambiguous loss lived by family caregivers of older people having major neurocognitive disorders in long-term care homes.

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Delirium is an acute and fluctuating cognitive disorder that affects up to 50% of older people after surgery. This condition carries important consequences in older people as well as distress in their relatives and nurses. In this regard, a partnership between nurses, older people and their families has the potential to optimize preventive interventions. However, the evidence is scarce on this topic. Hence, this study aims to explore the perceptions of older people and their relatives regarding engaging in a care partnership to optimize the prevention of postoperative delirium.

Link to a narrated presentation of a literature review on the prevention of postoperative delirium in older people.(in French)

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In order to prevent and treat confusion, it is necessary to improve care management of older people in acute care facilities by adapting the environment to their needs. Early detection of this condition is essential in order to prevent complications that might lead to a loss of independence and to a higher risk of mortality. The purpose of the project is to implement an intervention to increase nurses’ awareness to the predisposing and precipitating factors of confusion and to the work in partnership with the family to prevent and manage this complication.

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Link to a brochure developed on the prevention of delirium in older adults.

Hospitalized older people needing placement in long-term care facilities within the public sector can be relocated several times before a permanent place becomes available. The meanings that older people assign to these experiences are not well known, while they can influence their transition and their health. A critical microethnography study was designed for the purpose of understanding these meanings. The thematic data analysis has led to the identification of three themes:  spatio-temporal disruptions and emotional separations during relocations; uncertainty in the presence of powerlessness; concerns associated to daily living.

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Over 40% of emergency room visits are made by people aged 65 and over. As a result of demographic changes, healthcare professionals in the emergency room are managing older people on a regular basis and will increasingly do so in the future. In spite of the increasing number of emergency room visits by older people, nurses show little interest in this population and this influences the quality of care delivered. The purpose of this ethnography is to understand the meanings emergency room nurses assign to the care of older people.

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Older people experience chronic pain frequently. It is, however, generally not identified and undertreated. The problem is even more widespread among populations with cognitive disorders living in long-term care facilities. Several studies have explored the assessment of pain in this population. One of the proposed solutions is to increase collaboration within the healthcare team. This aspect has not been widely explored in the literature. The objective of this study is to explore the healthcare team’s perceptions on collaboration in the management of chronic pain in older people with cognitive disorder living in long-term care facilities.

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