Arthritis is a highly debilitating physical ailment that puts a limit to a person’s capability to work, travel, and enjoy physical activities such as swimming, running etc and other social activities. This malady affects a large number of people worldwide and elders have been seen to be more susceptible to it. Not only does it limit the functions of a person physically it may cripple him psychologically too. Arthritis has hundred different variants, the most common being osteoarthritis which is characterized by degeneration of the joints. Inflammatory arthritis is also quite rampant and is characterized by inflammation of the joint tissues.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a variant of inflammatory of arthritis and is a highly chronic disease that can affect several organs simultaneously. Even though the disease has no cure, there exist treatments that prevent long-term disablement in the patients. Orthopaedics and rheumatologists have established that apart from the conventional medical practices, education about the disease and awareness about self management and self care processes among the patients is also very important and it is imperative that the skills of such patients in dealing with the disease is also improved.
RATIONALE FOR QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS AND METHODOLOGY Sunghee Tak is an associate professor with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and is a renowned professional in the field of community and public health. Her research paper titled “An insider perspective of daily stress and coping in elders with arthritis” was aimed at trying to establish the various stressors in an elderly patient’s life and trying to understand what the core causes of such daily stress were.
It has been observed that elderly patients afflicted with the disease, suffered from significant stress in their lives due to the loss of vital physical functions and a restriction on their movements. This led to the setting in of depression in these patients and decreased levels of happiness or satisfaction in one’s life. Even though these facts were established and known, the core factors for such stress were not known. Therefore, a qualitative analysis of the situation was needed to ascertain these factors.
It was necessary to study an individual’s personal point of view of one’s life after having contacted the disease to ascertain the stressors and thus provide coping strategies and social support to these elderly people. (TA, 2006) OBJECTIVES The specific objectives of this research paper were: 1. Identify the stressors, and the impact the malady had on the lives of elders. 2. Develop strategies for coping and provide resources for social support. 3. Provide self-management and self-care methods.
Arthritis is a highly debilitating physical ailment that puts a limit to a person’s capability to work, travel, and enjoy physical activities such as swimming, running etc and other social activities. This malady affects a large number of people worldwide and elders have been seen to be more susceptible to it. Not only does it limit the functions of a person physically it may cripple him psychologically too. Arthritis has hundred different variants, the most common being osteoarthritis which is characterized by degeneration of the joints. Inflammatory arthritis is also quite rampant and is characterized by inflammation of the joint tissues.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a variant of inflammatory of arthritis and is a highly chronic disease that can affect several organs simultaneously. Even though the disease has no cure, there exist treatments that prevent long-term disablement in the patients. Orthopaedics and rheumatologists have established that apart from the conventional medical practices, education about the disease and awareness about self management and self care processes among the patients is also very important and it is imperative that the skills of such patients in dealing with the disease is also improved.
RATIONALE FOR QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS AND METHODOLOGY Sunghee Tak is an associate professor with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and is a renowned professional in the field of community and public health. Her research paper titled “An insider perspective of daily stress and coping in elders with arthritis” was aimed at trying to establish the various stressors in an elderly patient’s life and trying to understand what the core causes of such daily stress were.
