Effectiveness of Community-Based Nursing Intervention Package on Self-Care Self-Efficacy among Elderly Residing in Selected Rural Community

Abstract

Aging is a global issue that is currently posing a significant social burden. In comparison to other age groups, the elderly (those 60 years of age and over) have the fastest rate of population increase in the world today. This is because over the past few decades, advancements in medical research, improved nutrition, and the avoidance of numerous diseases have improved. The percentage of the world's senior population is expected to rise from approximately 12.3% in 2015 to approximately 21.5% in 2050, according to UN estimates. Thus, encouraging healthy aging is extremely important, especially in developing nations like India. Therefore, designing extensive programs on the participant of aging is very important.

Methdology 

The researcher used a quantitative research approach in the present study. The research design that is chosen for this study is a pre-experimental, one group pre-test post-test design the population was elderly people residing in selected areas of rural community. The sample consisted of 60 pre-menopausal women residing in a selected area of the rural community. The sampling technique used was the non-probability convenient sampling technique. The setting was a selected area of rural community. Self-rated self-care scale to assess self-care, Self-Rated Abilities for Health Practices Scale developed by Becker et al to assess self-efficacy. The intervention given to the selected samples was a community-based nursing intervention package.  In this study, community-based nursing intervention package typically includes three domain, health practice, physical activity, and psychological well-being.

The content validity of the tool was done and was found to be 0.98. The study was done for 27 days. Community based nursing intervention package was administered to the 40 experimental group elderly; The post-test was collected on the 27th day.

Result

The analysis of the study was done using descriptive and inferential statistics. The master sheet was prepared and coding of the responses was done. The data was presented in the form of tables and charts. Statistics were performed with the help of paired t-tests, and chi-square tests.

The percentage-wise distribution of respondents according to their pre-test and post-test levels of self-rated self-care reveals a significant improvement after the intervention. In the pre-test, 75% of respondents had poor self-care scores (53-23), while 25% had an average self-care score (84-54). Notably, none of the respondents were in the good self-care category (115-84).  In the post-test, 100% of respondents moved to the good self-care category, with no respondents remaining in the poor or average categories

The percentage-wise distribution of respondents according to their pre-test and post-test levels of self-efficacy reveals a remarkable improvement after the intervention.  In the pre-test, 100% of respondents had a moderate level of self-efficacy (8960), with none in the high (112-90) or low (59-30) categories. In the post-test, all 40 respondents (100%) shifted to the high self-efficacy category, with no respondents remaining in the moderate or low categories. This indicates a significant enhancement in self-efficacy levels following the intervention.

The paired t-test was conducted to compare the self-care levels before and after the implementation of community-based intervention packages among the elderly residing in the selected community. The results indicate that the mean pre-test self-care score was 52.9 (SD = 0.97), while the mean post-test self-care score increased to 103.68 (SD = 2.31).

The calculated t-value of 128.19 is much higher than the table value of 2.02 at df = 39 and p ≤ 0.05, with a p-value of 0.0001, which is highly significant.

Thus, the findings suggest that there is a statistically significant improvement in the self-care levels of elderly participants after the intervention. This indicates that the community-based intervention packages were effective in enhancing self-care among the elderly.

A paired t-test was performed to compare the self-care efficacy levels before and after the implementation of community-based intervention packages among elderly residents in the selected community. The results show that the mean pre-test self-care efficacy score was 66.25 (SD = 1.26), whereas the mean post-test self-care efficacy score increased to 100.48 (SD = 1.48).

The calculated t-value of 39.13 is significantly higher than the table value of 2.02 at df = 39 and p ≤ 0.05, with a p-value of 0.0001, which is highly significant.

These findings indicate a statistically significant improvement in self-care efficacy among elderly participants following the intervention. This confirms that the community-based intervention packages were effective in enhancing self-care efficacy in the target population.