title: When your patient can no longer live independently: a guide to supporting the patient and family.
abstract: This article uses a case study format to illustrate the Expanded Family Life Cycle Theory of Carter and McGoldrick (1999). This theory provides nurses and other health care providers with tools for assessing and planning care for older adults facing stressful life transitions. The individual and family are assessed as a unit embedded within their community. This multicontextual framework is applied to an elderly woman's transition from independent living to supervised living in a facility and illustrates the ease of use for practicing nurses. Suggestions are also offered to assist health care providers in supporting older adults and their families in making this significant transition.
authors.affiliation: Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Baldwin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shaul
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011788:Quality of Life; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological