Personal decisionmaking styles and long-term care choices.
To learn more about how older people make decisions about long-term care (LTC), in-depth interviews were conducted with 63 elderly individuals and 56 of their relatives to obtain information on the decisionmaking process. This qualitative research showed that LTC decisionmaking does not always follow typical consumer decisionmaking models, in which a consumer seeks a product or service, selects among the alternatives, and assesses the choice. Further, the interviews yielded four long-term care decisionmaking styles among older adults related to their degree of planning or not planning. This study underscores the need to develop tailored communications for older people and their families aimed at encouraging appropriate and cost-effective use of LTC services.
Maloney
S K
SK
SPRY Foundation, Washington, DC 20006, USA.
Finn
J
J
Bloom
D L
DL
Andresen
J
J
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D016223:Advance Directives; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003142:Communication; D003657:Decision Making; D005190:Family; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods; D016852:Housing for the Elderly / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006278:Medicare; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011640:Public Policy; D014481:United States