Foot care awareness in a residential home for older people

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the foot health awareness to the actual foot condition in a residential home for older persons. The study investigated a sample of fifteen participants who made use of podiatry services, to another fifteen who never used the service. A basic foot examination was carried out after foot health awareness questionnaire was conducted. Although there were a number of limitations linked to the study, due to the sample size, this study provides the first objective indication on thirty individuals on basic foot health knowledge and practices. The two groups yielded differences that were not significant in the Two Independent T-test as the P-value exceeded the 0.05 level of significance. In the Pearson correlation, the relationship was significant in the two groups. The study also contributed to the collection of data from a residential home for older persons. It also provides a basis for podiatrists to work on introducing a basic foot health educational programme for residential homes, and also for the implementation of foot screening to all residents.