Restoring: How older adults manage their recovery from hip fracture

To generate a substantive theory that explained recovery from hip fracture from the perspective of older adults and find out how they managed it.

Hip fracture is a well-researched phenomenon. The perspective of how older adults recover from hip fracture has been examined least of all. Patients spend less time in hospital following injury and generally recover in their home setting.

A Glaserian grounded theory approach was used for this study.

Semi-structured interviews (n-21) were conducted with older adult's post discharge following hip fracture. Data were collected, analysed and theorised using the grounded theory methodology.

Older adults recovering from hip fracture were restored back to normal through a process in which they continuously balanced regaining of physical and social functioning against reasserting usual psycho-social behaviours within different contexts. Importantly, the older adult's personal recovery process starts within the acute setting once the person regains physical functioning, especially regaining mobility. From this point onwards, older adults will respond to health professionals, instructions and interventions in many ways. The responses will be based on their developmental life stage to enable them to counter the diverse expectations placed on them by health professionals, social networks and their self-beliefs.

Nurses need to understand that older adults will recover in their own way following discharge, often re-interpreting health information to fit their own situations.