Old and Frail. Every day?
This initiative encompasses two doctoral studies, each focusing on older adults residing at home and utilizing home care services.
This project was conceived and developed through a collaborative dialogue between the Department of Health and Care Sciences at UiT The arctic university of Norway and health and care service representatives from Tromsø municipality. In response to an invitation to propose a topic for a doctoral study, Tromsø municipality highlighted a knowledge gap regarding the increasing population of home-dwelling older adults deemed “frail” by health and care professionals.
The study is funded by UiT The arctic university of Norway.
The project consists of two parallel PhD projects.
Living alone with frailty in rural northern Norway. A qualitative longitudinal study of older adults' and their significant others' experiences.
PhD student Lena Bjerkmo
Main supervisor: Professor Bodil H. Blix
Co-supervisor: Professor Ann Karin Helgesen
The project investigates the lived experiences of frailty among older adults in rural Arctic regions, as well as the perspectives of their significant others. It is grounded in a longitudinal qualitative approach, consisting of three sets of interviews conducted over eight months with eight older adults living at home and individual interviews with ten individuals identified as their significant others.
Publications:
Bjerkmo, L., Helgesen, A. K., Larsen, T. A., & Blix, B. H. (2021). “Falling off the wagon”: older adults’ experiences of living with frailty in rural arctic communities. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 80:1, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2021.1957569
Bjerkmo, L., Helgesen, A. K., & Blix, B. H. (2022). Experiences of Being Significant Others to Older Adults with Frailty Living Alone in Rural Arctic Norway: A Qualitative Study. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, 15, 1283-1292. https://doi.org/10.2147/RMHP.S367079
Bjerkmo, L., Helgesen, A. K., & Bodil, H. B. (2023). Being and becoming ‘a frail older adult’: Meaning-making and resistance through storytelling. Journal of Aging Studies, 65, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2023.101128
'Old. And frail?' Single-living older adults experiences of everyday life and home care, and home care professionals understandings of frailty
PhD student: Kristin S. Voie
Main supervisor: Associate professor Kjersti Sunde Mæhre
Co-supervisor: Margrethe Kristiansen (PhD)
The project explores the experiences of single-living older adults who utilize home care services and may face challenges associated with frailty. It focuses on their strategies for managing daily life and their personal experiences of frailty. Additionally, the project investigates how home care professionals understand and conceptualize frailty.
Publications:
Voie, K. S., Blix, B. H., Helgesen, A. K., Larsen, T. A., & Mæhre, K. S. (2022). Professional home care providers' conceptualisations of frailty in the context of home care: A focus group study. International Journal of Older People Nursing, 00, e12511. https://doi.org/10.1111/opn.12511
Voie K.S., Wiles J., Blix B.H., Kristiansen M., Helgesen A.K. & Mæhre KS. (2023). Older people enacting resilience in stories about living alone and receiving home care. Ageing and Society. 2024:1-20. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X23000880