Nurse-Led Goal Setting Activities to Enhance Older Adult Health Care and Self-Advocacy.
Francine Hebert Sheppard, Kae Rivers Livsey, J Danielle Martin
PMID 40765153WHAT IT FOUND
Older adults in low-income senior housing set goals around safe mobility, managing health, independence and relationships.
They identified barriers such as pain, transportation and busyness, and facilitators such as routine and regular check-ins.
Key findings
01Residents' self-identified goals fell into four themes: getting around, maintaining and regaining health, living as an independent adult, and relationships and purpose.
02Barriers to meeting these goals were grouped into physical factors, psychological factors, environmental factors, social determinants of health and busyness.
03Facilitators included developing a routine, engaging in healthy behaviours, adhering to medical recommendations, being mindful and aware, accountability and connecting with others.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study reports themes from residents' goals, rewards, barriers and facilitators, not a controlled comparison of whether nurse-led goal setting changed health outcomes. Participants were from low-income senior housing communities in one Southern United States state, so the findings may not transfer to other regions, housing types or populations. Specific resident demographic data were not collected, although the paper states most residents in these communities were over 65 and predominantly white. Data were collected by 35 student nurses during practicum visits, with only three faculty members overseeing and not all visits observed, so recording and interpretation may vary. The methods describe six communities, while the results report participants from five low-income communities. This discrepancy is not resolved in the text.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that nurse-led goal setting improves older adults' health. The paper is a qualitative content analysis of residents' self-identified goals, rewards, barriers and facilitators, and it does not compare these residents with a group that did not receive goal-setting visits.