Unnecessary Care in Nursing Homes - Essay Example

"Unnecessary Care in Nursing Homes" is a great example of a paper on nursing homes. 
The study is based on the health promotional model that among other provisions identifies the role of behavior, characteristics, and perceived benefits on an individual’s action in health promotion (O’Carroll and Park, 2007). The model’s provision means that based on behavior and personal traits, care personnel may engage in unnecessary care practices, and identifying these is the paper’s objective. The study proposes a quantitative method’s survey design, a design that collects data on characteristics and attitudes, and is often suitable in cases where experimental and quasi-experimental designs are not necessary. The research method also collects data from variables’ natural existence and is preferred for its suitable scope for the study and for its advantages. The current study aims at investigating unnecessary care in nursing homes and identifies features of offered care, together with elements of attitudes towards care in nursing homes. Consequently, the method is able to identify variables for classifying care as either necessary or unnecessary. One of the advantages of the survey design, that informs its selection for the study, is its emphasis on empirical data that is further obtained from primary sources. This establishes objectivity, and therefore reliability and validity, of a study. Survey also ensures a “wide and inclusive coverage” of research participants (Denscombe, 2007, p. 31). This characteristic of the design also ensures a representative sample in a study and therefore increases confidence in the generalization of a study’s findings. Cost efficiency is another advantage of survey design and supports financial feasibility. Unlike experimental and quasi-experimental designs that require costs for intervention, survey design does not need intervention and therefore saves on the involved costs. Similarly, survey design takes shorter periods to implement because of a lack of intervention needs. There are, however, possible disadvantages of the design such as empiricism, data overload, and bias, but these can be easily managed by proper planning and morality in research.

Population and sample

Care personnel, patients, and patients’ close associates will be the study’s population. A sample of 180 participants will be drawn from the population using a stratified random sampling approach. A random approach will be used to select participants and conflict of interest in the participants, in relation to their respective nursing homes, will be an exclusion criterion. Those with an alternative stake in the respective facilities will be disqualified to minimize possible bias. The study will also consider individuals who interacted with the respective facilities within the previous three months. The participants must have interacted with one of the nursing homes. The study’s unit of measurement will also be individual research participants and not nursing homes. The study is exploratory, with the incidence of unnecessary practices as the variable.  

Data collection

Telephone interviews will be used for data collection because of its advantages such as a higher response rate than in the application of questionnaires and cost-efficiency. The direct interaction facilitates participation and may improve participants’ attitudes towards the study. The study’s proposal will be presented to relevant authorities, in the institution and the care profession, for approval. Research participants will then be identified from databases of nursing homes that will be selected randomly. List of the participants will be compiled by the categories and from each institution and a random sampling done for each category in each institution. Six participants will be selected from each category, randomly and upon informed consent, using ten nursing homes. Each of the participants will be contacted for interview appointments and interviews conducted at the participants’ convenience.