RELATIONSHIPS AMONG NEEDS FOR PRIVACY STATES, GRATIFICATION OF NEEDS FOR PRIVACY STATES, PERCEIVED ABILITY TO CONTROL FOR MEETING NEEDS FOR PRIVACY STATES, AND PERSONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES IN ELDERLY RESIDENTS OF NURSING HOMES.
Contributors: University of Texas at Austin.
Published: 1986
Number of pages: 275
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Gerontology.
Description: The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to examine the relationships among needs for privacy states, gratifications of needs for privacy states, perceived ability to control for meeting needs for privacy states, and personal and environmental variables in elderly residents of nursing homes. Privacy states included the states of solitude, intimacy, and self-disclosure limits. Selected environmental and demographic variables were investigated to determine their relationship as predictors for the need for each of the privacy states, gratification of each privacy state, and perceived ability to control for meeting the need for each state.

Structured interviews were conducted by this investigator utilizing a Privacy Assessment Scale and Personal Data Sheet. Cronbach's Alpha internal consistency reliability coefficients ranged from 0.19 to 0.86 for the ten subscales in the Privacy Assessment Scale. Data were collected in 110 white elderly nursing home residents 66 years of age and older that were purposively selected from 10 different nursing homes in South Louisiana.

The data were analyzed utilizing descriptive statistics and Pearson's r correlation, and stepwise regression procedures. Three research hypotheses were supported: Subjects who perceived greater ability to control for meeting needs for each privacy state, received greater gratification of each need (p < 0.5); Subjects who perceived greater negative environmental stimuli received less gratification of needs (p = .001); and also perceived less ability to control for meeting the need for each privacy state (p < .05).

Environmental stimuli were significant predictors of needs for each of the privacy states (p < 0.01), for gratification of each state (p = 0.0001), and for the perceived ability to control for meeting the needs of solitude (p = 0.003) and for intimacy (p = 0.002). Significant demographic predictors included mobility status, age, months in room, type of agency, number of occupants in room, and sex.

Recommendations for nursing practice were directed toward the development of a milieu that would facilitate the residents in making choices about privacy options. Recommendations for nursing education were directed toward increasing the awareness of caregivers that privacy is an important need of nursing home residents. Recommendations for nursing research included replication of this study, a psychometric design for purposes of developing more sensitive and accurate instruments, and additional research in this area.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-12, Section: B, page: 4823.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, 1986.

School code: 0227.