Occupational Therapists’ Experiences in Providing Training to Caregivers of Hospitalized Older Adults: A Way Forward for Occupational Therapy Practice

Abstract

Aims

This study explores the experiences of occupational therapists in training caregivers of hospitalized older adults, with the aim of identifying strategies to enhance this practice.

Methods

Six occupational therapists participated.

Results

Two major themes were generated: (1) challenges in providing training to caregivers and (2) ways to improve caregiver training services. Seven sub-themes were also identified. The findings highlighted several challenges regarding the provision of training to caregivers that need to be taken into consideration by occupational therapists, as well as valuable suggestions regarding the need for effective guidelines, appropriate content, and the utilization of technology to support occupational therapists in the provision of quality caregiver training services

Conclusions

Integrating healthcare professionals’ experiences is vital for improving services, recognizing the need for ­caregiver-centric approaches, emphasizing communication improvement within healthcare teams, and advocating for deeper insights into older adults’ needs, while highlighting the importance of technology integration in caregiver training.

Keywords:

• Caregiver training
• occupational therapy
• older adult
• hospitalized

Acknowledgments

We express our gratitude to the participants for their valuable contribution, time and effort to our study on the training of caregivers of hospitalized older adults. Their clinical insights have been crucial in advancing our understanding of this matter.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia for funding the study under research grant FRGS/1/2019/SS06/UKM/02/8.