title: Physician care in assisted living: a qualitative study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify patterns and emerging concepts used by assisted living (AL) residents, their families, and the facility staff to describe the care provided by physicians to the AL residents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative research and analysis based on audio-taped and transcribed ethnographic interviews with residents, family members, and staff of AL facilities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three AL facilities representing small and traditional AL facilities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-three in-depth interviews including 16 AL residents, 13 family members, three facility managers, and 11 staff members.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ethnographic, audio-taped interviews coded by consensus by a doctoral-level analysis team. Coding focused broadly on any references to physicians or doctors in the interviews.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Emergent themes included four major physician-related themes in AL including: magnification of physician authority; disagreements with physician care; physician communication; and continuity/discontinuity of physician care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Physicians caring for residents of AL facilities should consider how residents, families, and staff stakeholders may influence their patient care for AL residents in terms of their authority, decision-making, communication, and continuity of care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA. jschuma@umbc.edu
authors.forename: John Gerard
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Schumacher
authors.forename: J Kevin
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Eckert
authors.forename: Sheryl
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carder
authors.forename: Arnette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D040561:Assisted Living Facilities / Q000592:standards*; D003142:Communication; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D034462:Dissent and Disputes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008396:Maryland; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D010819:Physician's Role; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D036301:Qualitative Research