A 31-day programme to strengthen the practice of presence in older person care

Dr Petro Benadé’s love for older persons, and her perseverance in completing a highly valuable PhD study, resulted in a 31-day programme that can be used by managers, nurses and caregivers, to help strengthen how they practice presence.

Practicing presence when providing care to older persons is extremely valuable, as it strengthens the relationship between the caregiver and the older person, and leads to ‘good care’, where the older person feels cherished and dignified, and the manager, nurse and caregiver (presence practitioners) experience that they provide meaningful care.

Petro at the 17^th IFA Global Conference on Ageing, 9-12 September 2025

The 31-day programme entails daily reflections on specific presence practices, such as establishing professional relationships with older persons and being open to the viewpoints of the older persons. These daily reflections are supported by weekly meetings with a facilitator to reflect on how the presence practitioners practised presence during that week.

The 31-day programme is concluded with a relational assessment on ‘what went well’ in terms of practicing presence. The programme is packaged as a PowerPoint presentation that provides an overview, benefits and support provided in the application of the programme, a facilitator manual, the 31-day presence practices and a reflective journal. Petro will provide training and facilitation to institutions to implement the programme.

Petro used the Design and Development model (Rothman & Thomas, 1994) to design, develop, and evaluate the 31-day programme for managers, nurses, and caregivers. She first asked managers, nurses, caregivers and older persons to write naïve sketches on how they perceive ‘good care to older persons’. Their viewpoints could be summarised as follows: “Good care to older persons includes providing holistic care to older persons; recognising their individuality and autonomy; upholding values associated with good care; building good relationships with older persons; challenges in providing good care; and opportunities to address these challenges” (Benadé, 2025:x).

In a following phase of the research, Petro consulted best literature on what are presence practices that promote good care to older persons. Petro used this information and the findings from the naïve sketches to design and develop the programme, which was evaluated by a panel of experts.

Since completing her PhD, Petro has submitted two articles about her research to international journals, and she presented her findings at the 17th Global Conference on Ageing presented by the International Federation on Ageing (IFA) in partnership with the North-West University (NWU) from 9-12 September 2025. She has built significant national networks with institutions who provide care to older persons, and she is in conversation with them to pilot the 31-day programme.

To contact Petro, please email: Petro.Benade@nwu.ac.za

Sources:

Benadé, P. 2025. Exploring good care to older persons through presence practices: design, development and evaluation of an intervention. Potchefstroom: North-West University. (Thesis – PhD) (held in embargo until 2027).

Rothman, J. & Thomas, E.J. 1994. Intervention research: design and development for human service. London: The Haworth Press.