Experienced barriers and facilitators of researchers and nursing staff regarding Function Focused Care. A qualitative approach.

Abstract

Abstract Title: Experienced barriers and facilitators of researchers and nursing staff regarding Function Focused Care. A qualitative approach. Background: The elderly are often physical inactive which can lead to a decrease in balance, muscle strength and quality of life. Nursing staff take over activities of elderly people most of the time leading to a decrease in activity and self-reliance. Function Focused Care is an approach to activate elderly and stimulate self-reliance. In the Netherlands various interventions have been developed according to Function Focused Care for different settings. For optimizing Function Focused Care it is important to gain insight into the barriers and facilitators, as experienced by researchers and nursing staff. Research question: What are the experienced barriers and facilitators of researchers and nursing staff regarding Function Focused Care in nursing homes, home care and hospitals? Method: A generic qualitative design was applied using focus group interviews with researchers and nursing staff guided by topic-lists. A thematic analysis was performed according to the six steps of Braun and Clarke. Results: Four main themes emerged: nursing staff related barriers and facilitators, client related barriers and facilitators, organization related barriers and education related barriers and facilitators. These themes contain various barriers and facilitators, such as a lack of uniform working methods, refusal of clients to participate, time pressure, lack of support by management and facilitating training components. Conclusions: This study has identified several barriers and facilitators related to Function Focused Care in the areas of nursing staff, clients, organization and education. Due to limitations, not all barriers and facilitators may have emerged in this study. Nevertheless, this study provides sufficient insights for optimizing Function Focused Care. Therefore, it is important to tackle emerged barriers and to deploy emerged facilitators when applying Function Focused Care.