title: Older users' perspectives on the benefits of preventive home visits.
abstract: In this article we explore older people's perspectives on the benefits of preventive home visits (PHVs), after long-term follow-up. PHVs are health services intended to promote older people's health and independence, prevent disease, and postpone functional decline. We applied an explorative and descriptive design and analyzed qualitative research interviews of 10 PHV users who had received multiple visits for at least 6 years. We sought manifest and latent content in our analysis. The participants reported benefits falling within four main categories: to feel safe, to manage everyday life, to live well, and to be somebody. Two latent themes emerged: living with an underlying, realistic concern about an uncertain future, and striving to maintain oneself as a person. The perceived benefits of PHVs differed significantly from the outcome measures commonly used in randomized, controlled trials. PHV interventions should have a longitudinal approach and support each person's current needs and valued goals.
authors.affiliation: Buskerud and Vestfold University College, Drammen, Norway mette.toien@hbv.no.
authors.forename: Mette
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tøien
authors.affiliation: University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Ida Torunn
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Bjørk
authors.affiliation: Buskerud and Vestfold University College, Drammen, Norway.
authors.forename: Lisbeth
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fagerström
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006792:House Calls; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway; D009726:Nurses; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000379:methods*
keywords: community and public health; experiences; health care, users’; health promotion; nursing; older people; research, qualitative