Care dependency

Abstract

During the later stages of dementia, most people will become increasingly frail, which is one of the most common reasons for admission in a nursing home. Life in nursing homes can be characterized by a high degree of patients' dependency. Especially, many physical, cognitive, and social disabilities of demented in-patients result in dependency on nursing care. Care dependency and similar terms are frequently used in literature to understand and to give form and content to the care for elderly people with dementia. This chapter describes three aspects regarding the concept of care dependency: its conceptualization, operationalization, and utilization. The first paragraph gives the reason about "why" this chapter is written. In the next three paragraphs, an answer will be given on "what" is care dependency. The second paragraph gives a review about the literature on care dependency in an attempt to conceptualize what care dependency means and how it can be defined. The third paragraph focuses on how the definition can be operationalized to measure care dependency in patients admitted in a nursing home. The fourth paragraph explores "how" the measurement instrument can be utilized in daily practice of a nursing home. This chapter ends with a conclusion paragraph.