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The Relationship of Patient's Age to the Perceptions of the Rehabilitation Environment
Author(s) -
Strasser Dale C.,
Falconer Judith F.,
MartinoSaltzman David
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1992.tb02008.x
Subject(s) - medicine , rehabilitation , multivariate analysis of variance , orientation (vector space) , perception , physical therapy , psychology , geometry , mathematics , machine learning , neuroscience , computer science
Objective To compare the perceptions of the rehabilitation environment among staff, younger (<65), and older patients (>65). Design The Ward Atmosphere Scale (WAS) was administered to 55 patients and 108 staff members in a rehabilitation hospital. Setting A large university‐associated free‐standing rehabilitation hospital. Subjects Patients and staff primarily associated with one of three treatment teams, each on a separate floor. The teams were selected to reflect a diversity of treatment styles and patients' diagnoses. Main Outcome Measure The WAS is a 100 true/false questionnaire with 10 subscales which combine to form three dimensions: relationship, program orientation, and system maintenance. These dimensions represent the principal constructs of the instrument. Main Results Multivariate analysis of variance was performed on three groups completing the WAS—staff, patients less than 65 years old, and patients 65 years and older. This analysis revealed significant differences among the three groups on the Relationship ( F = 14.3; P <0.01) and Program Dimensions ( F = 36.5; P < 0.01), and between staff and patients on the System Maintenance Dimension ( F = 11.4; P < 0.01). Compared to younger patients and staff, older patients had lower perceptions in the combined areas of involvement, support, spontaneity, autonomy, practical orientation, personal problem orientation, and anger and aggression. Likewise, older patients perceived more staff control than staff and younger patients. Younger patients scored between older patients and staff. Conclusions This study suggests that there may be a mismatch between current rehabilitation environments and the needs of elderly individuals.