Critical Analysis of Two Articles

The high incidence of geriatric depression in this situation are a worry for nursing practices. The high rates have been ascribed to the fact that most older persons do not seek treatment and that most people ignore and disregard the medical condition as being a natural aspect of aging. Elderly people have lower rates of depression than other age groups, but they also have the highest mortality rate, with suicide being the most common cause of death. This situation necessitates a deeper comprehension of the problem and more intervention. In the past, a number of quantitative studies have been carried on the same topic but their findings provide little information about the experience of the older people in relation to depression. The limited in information has made it hard for nurses to be best placed to effectively respond to the needs of the older people so as to understand and help in managing health conditions related to depression (Holm, and Severinsson, 2014). This follows the fact that the nursing practice is humanistic and intuitive while at the same time evidence-based. The situation has forced researchers to employ better research methods in an effort to collect the relevant data.

The approaches include qualitative study and meta-synthesis approach. Qualitative method allows for the collection of data on the way the elderly experience depression hence the approach is a requirement of evidence-based nursing. Meta-synthesis is the latest approach that is used to systematically review as well as integrate primary data. This approach will allow studies to collect relevant information related to the experience and perceptions of the elderly suffering from depression (Corcoran, 2013).

Moore (1997) in his study, found out that the society has been structured on ageist biases and this has led to old people feeling alienated and isolated following the limited information provided by the existing studies. He called for the need to explore survival strategies for the elderly. (Ring et al., 2010) stated that the type and level of interpretation can be a key issue for a researcher synthesizing data from various primary studies. The study added that there are limited guidelines that are appropriate for qualitative evidence systematic review in areas of social care and health. Qualitative systematic review and Meta-synthesis will be used to offer a comprehensive report on literature synthesis of elderly with depression narratives in relation to the reasons they need for them to survive

Conceptual/theoretical

Sutcliffe et al., (2007), Wilson et al.,(2007) stated that qualitative research has described depression as a mortality risk that is facing the elderly. Sampson et al., (2009) found out that lack of social support and cognitive impairment are independent mortality factors for the elderly. Greenlee et al., (2010) showed ways in which anxiety impairs depression remission while treating the elderly. Pulska et al., (1997) determined that a previous depression diagnosis cannot be used to predict mortality among older people when other factors influencing survival are kept constant.

Methodological

Article i; the study used qualitative systematic review on qualitative studies that had been done previously on the topic of study. Conn et al, (2003) concluded that the aim of a systematic review is to put together studies conducted previously to come up with a basis for future studies.

Article ii: The study made use of a meta-synthesis methodology. Finfgeld (2003), Sandelowski (2004) defined meta-synthesis as being a recent research approach that has been designed to review and integrate data systematically from qualitative studies on the same topic.

Methods

Design

Article i. An electronic search was carried out related to the topic of study of the papers included in the study as well as a manual search of references that were significant to the study.

Article ii. The study design involved a database search on the basis of search terms and Boolean operatives that were appropriate to the study.

Settings

Article i. Electronic databases that included ProQuest, PubMed, and Academic Search Premier/ EBSCOhost (Holm, and Severinsson, 2014).

Article ii. Data base Ageline, Dissertation Abstracts, CINAHL, PubMed/Medline, Dissertations and Theses, Social Services, Social Work, and Psych Info (Corcoran, 2013).

Sample Inclusive

Article i. Qualitative type of study in English on respondents aged sixty and above,

Article ii. (a) Qualitative methods on respondents aged sixty and above,

Data collection inclusive

Article i. Variables included lived experiences, depression, and nursing, period between January 2000 and April 2012 and electronic search was conducted (Holm, and Severinsson, 2014).

Article ii. Respondents identified to be having depression through either clinical diagnosis or self-report; upto January 2010, and database search was conducted (Corcoran, 2013).

Rigor Inclusive Of Techniques Of Reliability And Validity

Article i. The study focused on the trustworthiness of the included studies and the credibility concept was used in the evaluation of confidence.

Article ii. Each primary data was coded two times and cases were discrepancies were dealt with by consensus

Data Analysis

Article 1. Systematic review was conducted using thematic synthesis according to the themes that had been identified in the data. Every study was read severally until themes came up and identified the natural coherence

Article ii. Tables and lists were made for the key findings from the studies and later they were examined across studies. A further check was done to ensure the results were further refined.

1. Take home message is that Qualitative systematic review and Meta-synthesis approaches have been able to collect the data that quantitative approaches were observed to miss out on experiences of the older people in relation to depression and the means they used to recover and coping effectively. Such information is important to nursing practices now that nursing is humanistic and intuitive while at the same time evidence-based.

2. As a result of critically apprising this body of evidence “my new nursing practice question is

Article i. Does the relevance of a review change with the coming of new evidence in relation to dependability of the data over time?

Article ii. Is the inclusion of different qualitative methods a limitation of meta-synthesis approach?

References

Corcoran, J., et al., (2013). Depression in Older Adults: A Meta-Synthesis. Journal of Gerontological Social Work. 56 (6): 509-534.

Holm, A. L., & Severinsson, E. (2014). Surviving depressive ill-health: a qualitative systematic review of older persons’ narratives. Nursing & Health Sciences: 16(1):131-40.