Date of Award

12-16-2022

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MScN)

First Advisor

Dr Rubina Barolia

Second Advisor

Ms Laila Akber Cassum

Third Advisor

Ms Khairunnisa Mansoor

Department

School of Nursing and Midwifery, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Pakistan’s health care system is ill-prepared to meet the preventive and interventive care needs of older adults. The health care of old-aged people is undefined having too few trained healthcare providers to meet this population’s unique care needs. The imperative is to shift from the generic approach to elder care in communities, (Khan, Toor, & Amjad, 2018), home-based, and acute settings to a geriatric specialty approach. One can see many extended families and seniors residing with them, but their health-related issues are not properly addressed, which can threaten the older adult’s quality of life. To meet the growing demand for older adults’ care, six weeks of vocational training (caregiving assistant course) was partnered between Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Nursing Homes (Old-age homes). This study plays an essential role for all the stakeholders, which includes service users (older adults’ people), service providers (CGA trainees), and key informants of NGOs.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of stakeholders, service users, service providers (CGA), and Key Informants of NGOs, regarding the Caregiving Assistant Program (CGA) for older adults care in Karachi, Pakistan.
Method: The study was conducted using the qualitative methodology, with a descriptive exploratory design. The interviews and FGDs both were conducted. Three different semi structured interview guides were used to collect the data from ten service users (Older adults) and three key informants (Stakeholders of NGOs), and two Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were carried out, consisting of 7 and 4 participants each (n=11), who had attended the vocational training and provided consent to participate. The interviews and FGDs were conducted until saturation were achieved. Data were analyzed using the content analysis method.
Findings: A total of six broad themes emerged: two from the responses of key informants, two from Service users, and two from service providers (CGAs). The themes were: theory-practice gap, communication and development skills, post-training employment, mentorship and supervision, provision of capable support, and lastly responsiveness and engagement. The participants shared their perspectives regarding the planning and execution of the CGA training course. They also highlighted the factors that either promoted or impeded their learning while planning, giving, or receiving care. Lastly, they proposed some recommendations to improve the CGA training held for upcoming future learners.
Conclusion: This study has been contributing towards a trained human resource/nursing workforce specifically for the domain of older people. It explored the experiences of CGAs who were trained through a specially designed curriculum. The new knowledge which has been generate, has led to reliable and valid evidence about the impact of a training program for CGAs for home[1]based or institution-based older adults care. This program could also be replicated by other NGOs who are working for improving the health and well-being of the older adult population. The researcher aimed to extend the benefits of the study, not only limited to the Nursing Home but also other older adults care institutions across the country, including private and public setups.

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