Biomedical subjects

J K Magilvy

Publications and source records attributed to J K Magilvy.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Rural nursing homes: a housing option for older adults.

Rural conditions and circumstances contribute to different perspectives on institutional long-term care. A rural ethnographic study revealed issues of transition into and out of nursing homes as identified and illustrated by older adults, their families, and care providers. Findings included the use of rural nursing homes as an alternate housing option because of limited assisted-living options, appropriate and inappropriate referrals to nursing homes, and strained family caregivers. Helping olders adults and families evaluate and access appropriate community resources, including housing, is essential to providing continuity of care.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The crisis nature of health care transitions for rural older adults.

The complex health, socioeconomic, and environmental problems experienced by many American elders often place them at high risk for disease and disability. Over time, acutely or chronically ill older persons experience numerous transitions across various health care settings. Although availability of health services is improving in rural areas, barriers such as distance, geography, and poor distribution often limit access to health care. In a longitudinal rural ethnography, the health care transition experiences of older adults, families, and health care providers were examined. A major ethnographic theme emerged from analysis data from interviews, participant observations, and photographs: the crisis nature of health care transitions experienced by rural older adults and their families and observed by rural nurses and other health care providers. Several patterns were observed including the crisis was compounded by surprise; limited knowledge of local resources exacerbated the crisis; inconsistent discharge planning disrupted transitions; changing family support necessitated admission to nursing homes; continuity of care in nursing home discharge lessened transition crisis; and rural home health care was identified as a strength. Recommendations were made for community-based interventions to improve the transition experience. Comprehensive care management services provided by public health nurses (PHNs) in the local rural community were recommended.

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PubMedDate not supplied

Nursing doctoral program evaluation: Alumni outcomes.

Meaningful examination of program outcomes is one of the most challenging tasks facing faculty and administrators involved in the design and delivery of educational programs. This article reports the outcomes for one doctoral program in nursing and elucidates salient conceptual and methodologic issues in educational outcomes research for this discipline. Career development, scholarly productivity, and professional leadership were the foci of this outcomes study. Three instruments were used; data were provided by alumni, graduate faculty, and alumni supervisors. Data analysis techniques included content analysis and descriptive and correlational statistics. Results showed that graduates embarked on diverse career paths with the majority employed in academic institutions. Most graduates reported active involvement in research, publications, presentations, and professional leadership. Employment pattern differences were noted between academic year and summer-only program graduates with associated divergence in career emphasis, research productivity, and job satisfaction. A positive correlation of time since degree conferral with scholarly productivity and professional leadership was noted. Recommendations for future research include refining outcomes, linking process to outcome, using longitudinal designs, and attending to unique nursing student and doctoral program characteristics.

Achievement↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Themes of rural health and aging from a program of research.

The culture and diversity of rural life and limitations of rural health systems to meet the changing health needs of an aging population lead to problems of obtaining appropriate care in rural America. In a program of nursing research involving three ethnographic studies in rural Colorado, transitions of older adults across differing levels of heath care were explored. The sample totaled 425 participants, of whom 25% were Hispanic. Five major themes emerged: circles of formal and informal care; integration of faith, spirituality, and family with health status; crisis nature of health care transitions; nursing homes as a housing option; and changing spirit of traditional rural nursing. Recommendations for providers included making their practices congruent with rural culture, being fully informed of available resources, facilitating acceptable health care decisions, and integrating physical, mental, and spiritual health care for elders and their families.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Quality of life of hearing-impaired older women.

A survey of 66 hearing-impaired older women aged 54 to 96 years interviewed at home examined major influences on quality of life experienced by 27 prevocationally deaf and 39 later onset subjects. A causal model was specified; the predictors of quality of life included age, age at onset of hearing loss, financial adequacy, social hearing handicap, perceived health, and functional social support. The model proposed that health, social support, hearing handicap, and financial adequacy would directly affect quality of life as well as mediate the effect of the demographic variables, age and age at onset of loss, on this outcome. Later onset subjects were hypothesized to have lower quality of life due to increased social hearing handicap, decreased health, and decreased functional social support. Results of the path analysis showed the best predictors of quality of life to be social hearing handicap, functional social support, and perceived health. The later onset group had an overall lower perception of quality of life, this relationship being mediated as predicted. Generally, the hypothesized causal model was supported with 34% of variance explained. Descriptive findings also supported a difference in social hearing handicap between the two groups, yielding several implications for nursing interventions.

Adaptation, Psychological↗