Title and Abstract
The article under consideration is titled The Meaning for Elders of Receiving Family Care. The title reflects the study’s primary goal: to examine how elderly patients feel about receiving family care (Crist, 2005). The provided abstract represents the article and briefly overviews the research’s aim, methods, findings, and conclusions.
Introduction and Research Question
The introduction clarifies the purpose, emphasizing the need for nurses to understand patients’ perspectives on family care (Crist, 2005). The problem is clearly stated with Crist (2005) offering the reason for conducting the study by noting that the number of people who receive care at home is projected to increase. Although the aim and problem are clarified, no explicit research question is provided. However, the article does not require its inclusion as the aim is clear.
Literature Review
The background section of the article gives a brief literature review on the topic of family care. The selected works are relevant to the study and support its need as they do not explore the concept of family care (Crist, 2005). Only one of the articles was recent and published within the two years of the study under review, with most papers chosen being 9-16 years old (Crist, 2005). The literature review provides a theoretical framework for the study. However, the article would benefit from a more comprehensive exploration of the framework and related terms.
Methods and Analysis
The author selected the hermeneutic interpretive phenomenological approach with in-depth interviews and observations as data collection instruments. However, the sample size is relatively small, with nine people recruited (Crist, 2005). It is not stated how reliability and validity were accounted for. The employed interpretive analysis is consistent with the methodology and allows the author to address the study question thoroughly.
Results
The results are presented in text, with subsections dedicated to each central theme discovered in the interviews (Crist, 2005). The provided evidence can be appraised as level VII evidence due to the qualitative nature of the study. Excerpts from the interviews support the findings, and their significance to nursing is explained. Crist (2005) notes that the study’s main limitation lies in its sampling, as only patients who experienced family care and professional home care were approached.
Recommendations for Nursing Practice
In conclusion, the article provides direction for future research and nurses. Overall, the study results can be implemented in the nursing practice as they allow nurses to better understand the needs of their patients and family caregivers.
Reference
Crist, J. D. (2005). The meaning for elders of receiving family care. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 49(5), 485–493. Web.