Managing Mealtime Tasks: Told by Persons with Dementia Research Appraisal - Case Study Example

Managing mealtime tasks: told by persons with dementia research appraisal. Managing mealtime tasks: told by persons with dementia is a research paper which was published in the journal of clinical nursing. Problem description is not well depicted in the paper however the paper is very crucial in nursing practices as it assist the nurses in understanding and managing the diet of those with dementia. The participant’s interview was conducted at their homes and as the research was conducted in different situation as opposed to the hospital environment it is very possible for it to be interpreted in different situations. Different factors affect negative the food intake by the people with dementia which makes them prone in developing malnutrition problem. According to the researchers’ daily activities management become difficult as mealtime tasks like shopping, eating and cooking have increased issues. Though less has been investigated to identify how persons with dementia understand the difficulties. Therefore the authors were conducting the research to solve the dilemma situation and pave way for their researchers to conduct further research especially on how identified mealtasks affect the people with dementia. The problem is written clearly in a way that readers’ interest is captured immediately and it is actually objectively researchable; though the target population was not clearly indicated in the problem statement although it is necessary for the researches to identify variable relations possible. Consequently the research problem will be crucial for the nurses as they are in a position to identify situations which people with dementia exist with and be in a position to identify appropriate measures to take when such a problem comes about. They will also be in a position to deal with different situations as they arise. in addition to that the research was conducted with an aim of assessing the self understanding of the mealtime task management of people with dementia. This will assist nursing practitioners’ by identifying that people with dementia understand fully what is meant by the term managing mealtime tasks and they are acquainted with the practices. The research was conducted on ten women and five men above 69-86 years of age with dementia through an interview by visiting the informant’s homes. It was done through a qualitative research method inconsistent with orthographic approach. In the research only those where between 69 and 86 years with dementia were included. It did not include the people who were within the age bracket and could not make independent decisions and those with less than 86 years with dementia. The sample was collected by visiting different homes and conducting an interview to different old people and the last sample was selected by studying the respondents’ interview forms to identify those who were within the required research criteria. Over all the interviewed participants only ten women and five men were selected for the study. Ethical approval was employed during the research as it was very crucial when collecting data through an interview for respondents to provide adequate information possible. Ethics in the research was ensured as the researchers ensured that none of the participants suffered physical harm, embarrassment or lack of privacy from the research activities(Armitage, Berry &Mathew 2001). During the research ethical issues were properly ensured though was not extensively put in use. Ethical issues were observed during the research as researchers would explain the study benefits to the respondents wherever they had direct contact. The researchers obtained informed consent from the respondents requesting them for permission to conduct the research as it was to be conducted at home as it could case certain level of inconvenience to the participants’ family members. Lastly researchers guaranteed the respondents privacy as they restricted access to the data instruments were the respondents identified as the research informed the respondents about their willingness to or fail to respond and ensuring that respondents access and identity is highly restricted and in getting the consent to interview respondents as it enhanced scheduling of the interview time with the respondents. Ethical issues if were not properly employed could have led to poor despondences resulting to poor results prone to biasness. In the research data was collected through an interview method were by respondents were asked questions as interviewer writes the provided information. Data collection was done by visiting respondents’ homes. The information collected in the research was qualitative in nature as respondents were asked to describe all what they understand about mealtime tasks and whether they can do it independently. Most of the respondents understood fully about the mealtime tasks and their independence and whether the memory loss had impact on their mealtime tasks. The research revealed that according to the informant they wish is to be independent in choosing their mealtime tasks as the memory lapse have no great impact to their lives (Munro, 2005, pp. 32). The results also indicated that modern strategies and old routines and habits contribute a lot in assisting them to manage their meal tasks in spite of the fact that they have memory lapse. The results on the other hand revealed that informants were comfortable with their current situations although to some extent it changes the way they manage their mealtime as the situation makes them to take food in wheels. The results were totally different compared to the research objective which was “To capture the self-description of managing mealtime tasks by persons with dementia,” which is not clearly stated in the inferences. According to the research the researchers inferred that people with dementia are relatively able to manage mealtime tasks an activity which is mostly affected by the old habits and routines. He also put forward that independence is highly appreciated and managing mealtime tasks is one way of granting the persons with dementia independence; though the conclusion was beyond the stipulated brackets. The research was to study people between 69 and 86 years which are not properly stated in the results or conclusion. Kerstin, et al, (2010) in their research in determining “cultural meaning of accomplishing food related work by old women when diseases threatens their ability making them to be dependent” revealed that older women like independence and fear being dependent when the diseases poses threat to their ability to manage their meal tasks. They also put forward that old people belief that being dependent involves not being a burden to other people, self management and maintaining order in life. Hence older women tend to value independence in their life. Maas et al., in their article on family involvement in assisting people with dementia concluded that older people with dementia prefer being independent as they are ever uncomfortable when they find that they depend fully on other people. Therefore they put forward that independent is highly valued by old people especially those with dementia. Aselage, Amella and Watson (2004) in their research on “State of the science: alleviating mealtime difficulties in nursing home residents with dementia” concluded that dependence among the people with dementia is very extreme though they tend to reciprocate by doing other tasks which they are not supposed to. Old people with dementia are highly dependent especially when the condition increases which makes other people to manage their mealtime. Johansson, Christensson, and Sidenvall, (2011) study is relevant to the caregivers as they will be able to cater for the people with dementia without fear of infringing their independence and also in enhancing trust relationship especially when issues arise. Thy also put forward that much requires to be done to enhance better understanding of people with dementia and enhance the way care givers offer services to them. Maas et al, 2010 puts forward that the research will improve the way old people with dementia are attended by care givers and claimed that more should be done to improve the way people with dementia are attended to especially those with memory lapse. Kerstin et al 2010 stated that their research will help the care givers in providing care services to the old people with dementia. The research study was limited as the numbers of participants were very low to make clear conclusion. Taking a sample of 15 people in a large population is inconsistent with statistical analysis techniques as the sample size is supposed to be large enough to avoid bias, hence we can conclude that the research was biased. The sample size should be the true representative with very small sampling error. The method used in designing the research was prone to errors as the results could have been biased by the participants family influence as conducting research at participants home posed threat to their privacy hence the results obtained could not be realistic. There was generalization in the research as the researchers conclusion was beyond their study objective. The study was conducted on old people and in their inference they indicated that people with dementia and dependent but are longing for being independent in mealtime tasks and never mentioned about the old people who are within the research frame work. Definitions are clearly defined and there is use of understandable language within the study. The title of the study is reflects the study design, topics and findings though the inference is questionable due to generalization. References Kerstin G. Older women's perceptions of independence versus dependence in food-related work: Public health nursing (Boston, Mass.). 20(3):237-47. Maas ML, et al. Outcomes of family involvement in care intervention for caregivers of individuals with dementia. Nurs Res 2004;53(2):76-86. Aselage MB, Amella EJ, Watson R State of the science: alleviating mealtime difficulties in nursing home residents with dementia. Journal of nursing, 2010 Jan;19(1-2):33-41. Johansson, L, Christensson L & Sidenvall, and B 2011, managing mealtime tasks: told by persons with dementia: Journal of Clinical Nursing, vol. 20, no. 17-18, pp. 2552-2562. Armitage, P., Berry, G., Matthews, J.N.S. 2001. Statistical Methods in Medical Research, 4th ed. Boston, MA, Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications. Munro, B.H. 2005. Statistical Methods for Health Care Research: Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Read More