Quality of life, loneliness and fear of death in elderly individuals receiving and not receiving home health care services

With the increase in the elderly population in our country, the rate of emergence of health problems that prevent people from self-care is also increasing. Loss of function due to chronic diseases affects all aspects of health and weakens the social adaptation of the individual. The elderly individual, whose productivity and power decreases, feels lonelier and closer to death than other people. Home health services provide professional health services to make life a little easier for elderly individuals who experience physiological and psychological distress in these feelings. This research was conducted to examine the quality of life, loneliness and fear of death of elderly individuals who receive and do not receive home health services. The study was conducted on 266 patients registered to the Home Health Services unit of Prof. Dr. Cemil Taşcıoğlu City Hospital and 242 individuals who applied to the outpatient clinic units of Prof. Dr. Cemil Taşcıoğlu City Hospital, lived in the six regions where the study was conducted and did not receive home health services from anywhere. The data were collected using the Personal Information Form prepared by the researcher, WHO Quality of Life Scale Elderly Module, Templerin Death Anxiety Scale and Loneliness Scale for the Elderly. Analyses were performed with SPSS 27 statistical program. Frequency tables and descriptive statistics were used to interpret the findings. Number, percentage, mean, standard deviation were used for descriptive tests, "Mann-Whitney U" test (Z-table value) was used to compare the measurement values of two independent groups, and "Spearman" correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between two quantitative variables that do not have normal distribution. In the study, it was found that 60.5% of the individuals who received home health care services and 59.1% of the individuals who did not receive services were women. There was no statistically significant relationship (p>0.05) between age classes, gender, marital status, education level, presence of children and place of residence, while there was a statistically significant relationship between cohabitants (χ2=14.025; p=0.003), having a care assistant (χ2=9.716; p=0.002) and income level (χ2=16.888; p<0.001). As a result of the study; individuals receiving home health care services scored higher in all sub-dimensions of the WHOQOL-OLD scale compared to individuals not receiving services. The quality of life of individuals who received home health care services was higher than those who did not receive services, and the loneliness and death anxiety scale values were lower in individuals who received home health care services than those who did not receive services. It was found that the status of receiving home health care services was higher in people living with someone (χ2=14.025; p=0.003), people who helped with their care received services predominantly (χ2=9.716; p=0.002), people who did not help with their care did not receive services predominantly, and those whose income was equal to or more than their expenses received more services than those whose income was less than their expenses (χ2=16.888; p<0.001). It was found that the quality of life levels of individuals who received home health care services were higher and their loneliness and fear of death were lower than those who did not receive services according to the region of residence, whether they had Covid-19 or not, and whether they lived with their spouse, children, caregivers or alone. Keywords: Home Health Care, Elderly, Loneliness, Fear of Death, Quality of Life