Active Ageing in Nursing homes.
This project was funded by a FWO fellowship (Lien Van Malderen).
This project focused on Active Ageing (AA) in the nursing home-setting. AA is defined as a process enhancing the quality of life (QoL) of older people by focusing on health, participation and security. AA was identified as important to optimise the QoL and participation of frail older people in residential care. Therefore, a theory on AA in the nursing home was developed, which served as the basis for the creation of an AA-strategy for this setting. The development of this strategy included different steps. First the current AA-status of nursing homes in Flanders was studied using surveys directed to the management and the residents. This indicated on which AA-aspects the nursing home is already working on. Afterwards, the different elements of the AA-strategy were identified, by qualitative research. Different stakeholders were involved to identify the components of an AA-strategy and to determine the underlying mechanisms and possible barriers for the implementation These studies were followed by the development of the strategy. A randomized controlled trial was performed to test the effectiveness of the strategy. This AA-strategy constitutes the base to form a theory on AA in nursing homes and on how it can enhance the QoL and participation of their residents.
Principal investigators:
Prof Dr Ellen Gorus (FRIA, VUB) - Ellen.Gorus@vub.be
Prof Dr T Mets (FRIA, VUB) - Tony.Mets@vub.be