DUTCH NURSING INTERN RELEASES FINDINGS ON ELDERLY RESEARCH PROJECT ON NEVIS

Charlestown-Nevis-A very important press briefing was held at the conference room of the Alexandra Hospital on Wednesday 15th June.

That was the day when Nursing Intern from Holland, Miss Elizabeth Oudshoom released her findings publicly on a research that she had conducted on the island of Nevis, with specific reference to the care of the elderly.

She indicated that her research entailed an assessment of formal and informal care of the elderly on Nevis and to what extent that care is relevant to the needs of the elderly.

Her overview included her findings; methodology of research; Results; conclusion; discussion/questions and acknowledgements.

She stated that she conducted the research as part of her Nursing requirements for her course of study back in Holland and made the point that the information, even though used mainly for her study, will be officially passed over the Ministries of Health and Social Development, so that it could help to guide future projects and activities as it relates to the seniors.

She was supervised during her research by her two Dutch Teachers, and locally, by Dr. Glenville Liburd.

Based on her findings, she stated the following:

  • Population ageing-the elderly population is growing very fast
  • There is a shift to non-communicable diseases including HIV. Hypertension and diabetes are the most common, which result in problems with seeing, walking and with the elderly generally unable to take care of themselves-especially women
  • Higher chance of dependent elderly population-families mostly take care of elderly but with working children, it poses great problems for the seniors

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