Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in the Elderly: The Perspective of Nursing Students

Abstract

Health promotion and disease prevention are closely linked to health literacy. Therefore, intervention to increase individuals’ knowledge is essential if action is to be taken to promote a healthy lifestyle with support from health professionals for decision making on choices leading to behavioral change. Taking into account the growing aging population, nurses and nursing students have to develop interventions to promote health and prevent disease in these people, in order to keep them healthy and with quality of life. This study aims to understand how nursing students’ experiences in a clinical teaching context contributed to the development of their competencies in the promotion of health and prevention of disease in the elderly. Method: Qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive study carried out with ten students about to finish a graduate nursing course in a higher education institution in the South of Portugal. This study was carried out through narratives, one of the most common data collection procedures in social and health investigations. The content analysis technique, more specifically the thematic categorical analysis, was used for data analysis. The study received authorization from the Ethics Committee of the institution where it took place. Results: Three categories were found: “Strategies to promote health and prevent disease in the elderly”, “Health improvements from the implementation of the strategies to promote health and prevent disease in the elderly”, and “The impact your participation in these strategies to promote health and prevent disease in the elderly had on your formative process”. Conclusion: The students developed competencies during their clinical teaching experiences through the implementation of strategies of health promotion and disease prevention adapted to/focused on the needs of the elderly.