Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Care of the Elderly Patients among Health Workers in University of Calabar Teaching Hospital Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

With the global trend towards an increasing aging population, there is a corresponding increase in the health problems associated with elderly population especially in developing Countries including Nigeria. With this increase in the growth of the aging population, the number of people that will need health care will undoubtedly increase, which motivated this study. The study was aimed to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of care of the elderly patients among health workers in University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Cross River State. The specific objective were to (i) determine the level of knowledge of the physical, emotional and social care of the elderly in the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar (ii) determine the attitude of health workers in the care of the elderly, (iii) determine the health workers practices in the provision of care of the elderly, (iv) identify factors that influence the health workers attitude towards the elderly in University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar. The hypothesis for the study tested the association between years of experience of health workers and their attitude towards care of the elderly in UCTH. Calabar. The study adopted a cross sectional descriptive design. The population of the study was 1023 health workers, which was made up of 402 Doctors, 600 Nurses, 10 Dentists and 11 Physiotherapists that provided direct clinical care of elderly patients. The sample was calculated using Taro-Yamane (1967) simplified formula for finite population giving a sample of 461 health workers. The instrument for data collection was questionnaires, the reliability of the instrument was done using test retest method and a reliability co-efficient of 0.91 was obtained. The questionnaires had five sections, section A covered socio demographic data, section B, C, D consisted of items which explored level of knowledge. Attitude, practice and section E elicited information on factors influencing the care of the elderly. The completed questionnaire was coded and analyzed using E.P.I info-7. Descriptive statistics of percentage, mean, standard deviation were used for data analysis. The criterion mean of 2.5 was also used and results of the study revealed that 95% of the health workers had good knowledge of care of the elderly. Majority of the health workers had positive attitude above rating scale of 2.5. The health workers moderately practiced care of the elderly. The factors that positively influenced health workers attitude to the care of the elderly were years of experience, age and mental state of the elderly. There was significant association (P<0.05) between attitude of Health Workers and mean years of experience. Workers with less years of experience had negative attitude, while those with more years of experience had positive attitude, towards the care of the elderly. In conclusion, health care professionals need to have the right skills to manage a more demanding role in the future. In order to offer effective services for the elderly, a skilled workforce of health professionals is therefore very necessary. The study recommended that Geriatric Nursing content in the curriculum be strengthened and also geriatric wards be established in all general hospitals.