Falling short of the mark: tales of life after hospital discharge

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the everyday issues, challenges, struggles, and needs of elderly, community-dwelling women in the first weeks posthospital discharge. Fourteen elderly women were interviewed in their homes 6 to 8 weeksfollowing hospitalization. In addition, using a process based on photo novella or photovoice, 4 of the women took photographs of their everyday lives. The photos were used as triggers during the interviews. The interviews were analyzed to identify the themes of the women's experiences. The overarching theme was that hospital discharge plans "fall short of the mark" because theyfailed to reflect the complexity of the posthospitalization experience by focusing primarily on very basic physical and medically related needs rather than on the reality of the women's recovery. These findings are alarming given the aging population. The implications for hospital discharge planners, home care service providers, and policy decision makers are discussed.