The Sense of Security and Associated Factors Among Older Home Care Clients: A Register Study.
Mira Palonen, Tuuli Turja, Mari Aaltonen and 2 others
PMID 41540657WHAT IT FOUND
Among 5,759 older Finnish home care clients, 23% lacked a sense of security.
Younger age, male gender, no recent falls, no housing deficiencies and strong family support were linked to feeling more secure.
Key findings
01Of 5,759 older home care clients, 1,276 (23%) were coded as lacking a sense of security.
02Among those coded as lacking a sense of security, 1,182 (93%) reported anxiety, restlessness or distress, and 53 (4%) reported a lack of personal security.
03A higher subjective sense of security was significantly associated with younger age, male gender, no deficiencies in housing conditions, strong supportive family relationships, and no falls during the past 90 days.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that any factor caused a sense of security or insecurity. The data came from a single Finnish well-being services county, so they may not represent home care clients elsewhere. The sense of security measure used only lack of personal security and anxiety, restlessness or distress, and the compound variables had low Cronbach's alpha values. Some assessments were completed with a proxy rather than the client, which may introduce reporting bias. The data were collected by many home care professionals in different settings, which may affect consistency. The study used routine register assessments, not a tested intervention, so it cannot guide treatment effects.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, Finland. Ethics approval and permission from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare are reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that changing age, gender or adding support services will make older home care clients feel more secure. This was a cross-sectional register study, and support services did not reach the study's significance threshold.