Abstract:
Abstract
Background:. Aging of the population is among the phenomena of greatest
impact globally during the 21st century. The increase of people 60 years old and
above is partly due to birth control and increased life expectancy at birth.
Projections indicate that by 2050, one in every five inhabitants in the planet will
be an older adult. Accepting the changes that appears during aging implies a
series of adaptations by the older adult, such as modifications of health
behaviors and at the same time staying socially connected. Nursing can help
older adults to face aging well, particularly those enduring chronic diseases.
Methodology: This is an intervention quasi study (pre-/ post test design) ,
attempts to establish cause – effect relationship between health education
program and older adults’s health awareness and practices level regarding
activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). Was
conducted among older people's in Al-Gardood area ,White Nile state. (2017).
The sample size consisted of (103) (pre-educational program) and 88 (posteducational program), during the period from April to July 2017. Data was
collected using, Katz , Lawton and spices models used for activities of daily
living . The collected data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social
Sciences (SPSS).
Results: Results showed highly significant statistical association between
activities dependent level and the study group (p value= 0.00). The Instrumental
Activities of Daily Living (IADL) after educational program showed high
statistical significant improvement (P ≤ 0.010) on overall score. Results found a
significant statistical association between Sleep Disorders, Problems with eating
or feeding and the study group with high (p value= 0.01, 0.02) respectively. The
study found that no significant statistical association between Incontinence,
confusion and the study group (p value= 0.98, 0.63) respectively.
The study found that the most common diseases among respondents were
cataracts (66%), Osteoarthritis (60.2%), diabetes (43.7%), Benign prostatic
hyperplasia (58.3%) and Alzheimer disease and other dementias (15.5%).IV
Conclusion:
The current findings strongly support the view that a educational programs
applied to elderly people and their family members seems to improve their
performance on their ADLs and IADLs ,thereby improving the elderly
functional independence.
Accordingly the researcher recommended that Ministry of health, social affairs
and medical and nursing colleges should conduct community campaign
concerning with raising health awareness about aging and elderly care
