Nurses' Knowledge of Home Health Care in Saudi Arabia
This literature review examines the extent to which nurses in Saudi Arabia possess sufficient knowledge and awareness of home health care (HHC). Drawing on survey-based studies conducted in Riyadh and comparisons with nursing perspectives in the United States and the Netherlands, the review finds that while nurses who actively practice home health generally hold positive attitudes toward it, a significant portion of nurses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) do not regard HHC as a practical means of delivering quality care. Barriers such as inadequate patient home environments and limited patient and family understanding of medical instructions are identified. The review concludes that expanded education for both nurses and patients is needed across the KSA and other nations to support the growing elderly population through effective home health services.
- Introduction: Home health's growing importance in Saudi Arabia
- Home Health Care in Saudi Arabia: Expansion of HHC services and nurse attitudes
- Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Home Health: Survey findings on knowledge gaps and barriers
- Comparison with Nurses in the U.S. and Other Countries: International nursing perspectives on home health
- Conclusion and Recommendations: Call for expanded nurse and patient education
- References: APA citations for all reviewed sources
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper directly grounds its claims in cited survey data, giving specific percentages (e.g., 86.5% of HHC members rating the service as effective) to support its arguments rather than relying on general assertions.
- It moves logically from a country-specific focus (Saudi Arabia) to an international comparison, contextualizing local findings within a broader global nursing landscape.
- The paper balances positive findings (good self-reported knowledge) against practical barriers (inadequate home environments, patient understanding gaps), producing a nuanced rather than one-sided assessment.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective use of a literature synthesis structure: each source is introduced, its key findings are quoted or paraphrased with page-level citations, and then critically evaluated for what it does and does not reveal. This layered reading of sources — noting both what a study shows and what it fails to address — is a hallmark of strong literature review writing at the undergraduate level.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with an abstract summarizing its scope and conclusions, followed by an introduction that establishes the demographic rationale for studying home health in Saudi Arabia. The literature review section forms the body, analyzing two studies by Almoajel (one co-authored) before broadening to international comparisons with U.S. and Dutch nursing research. The paper closes with an implicit recommendation for more education, reinforced by the cited sources. A properly formatted APA reference list anchors the academic credibility of the review.
Introduction
Home health has become an increasingly prominent feature of quality care in hospitals around the world as health care providers seek to offer patients better access to care in more personalized and comfortable settings. Home health care is an optimal solution for patients who cannot travel easily or who prefer not to receive care in hospitals, and it is especially helpful for elderly patients who have difficulty moving. As Almoajel (2016) points out, "home health care (HHC) services aim to help individuals to improve their function and live with greater independence and to assist the patient to remain at home, avoiding hospitalization or admission to long-term care institutions" (p. 106).
Providing home health care is especially important in Saudi Arabia, as the elderly population is projected to increase "from 1.6 million in 2015 to 10 million by the end of 2050, and people aged 80 or more is expected to reach 1.6 million by the same year" (Almoajel, 2016, p. 106). For this reason, it is essential that nurses in Saudi Arabia have adequate knowledge and awareness of home health practice. This literature review examines the evidence regarding the extent to which nurses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) possess this knowledge and awareness, and compares them with nurses in other parts of the world, including the United States.
Home Health Care in Saudi Arabia
Almoajel, Al-Salem, Al-Ghunaim, and Al-Amri (2016) note that "home healthcare services are expanding in Saudi Arabia at a rapid pace in order to meet the need of growing population of older adults and those with chronic illnesses, and the quality of this service varies from hospital to hospital" (p. 72). The researchers surveyed home health care members to gauge nurses' attitudes toward home health. They found that "86.5% of home health care members stated that the provided home health care service is an effective service that provides a noticeable improvement of patient's condition" (Almoajel et al., 2016, p. 72).
These findings indicate that there are positive attitudes among nurses in Saudi Arabia toward home health — at least among those who actively practice and support this type of care. However, the study does not address the question of how widely known and understood this type of care is among nurses in Saudi Arabia more broadly. A more targeted examination of that question is offered by Almoajel (2016) in a separate study.
Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Home Health
Almoajel (2016) conducted a survey of more than 100 nurses in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to gather information on their experience and knowledge of home health care, as well as their opinions toward this type of care as an alternative to traditional hospital-based care. The researcher found that "the majority of home health care members stated they had a good and excellent knowledge" regarding home health (Almoajel, 2016, p. 106). However, more than half of those surveyed also reported a "lack of understanding of patient and his family regarding treatment and other medical instructions, and patients' homes were inappropriate to provide the services" (Almoajel, 2016, p. 106).
These findings reveal a notable tension: while nurses in Saudi Arabia report good self-assessed knowledge of home health, they generally do not believe that many patients have appropriate home environments where adequate or quality care can be delivered. This may point to a poor practical attitude toward home health despite reasonably good theoretical knowledge of home health services. The researcher recommends that more education be provided to both patients and nurses regarding the practicality of home health — how it can be conducted and what it can mean for health care more broadly. Resources such as those available through the World Health Organization on ageing and health can support this educational effort.
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