title: Older persons' experiences and perspectives of receiving social care: a systematic review of the qualitative literature.
abstract: The topic of social care for older people has gained increasing attention from the part of academics, professionals, policy makers and media. However, we know little about this topic from the perspectives of older persons, which hinders future developments in terms of theory, empirical research, professional practice and social policy. This article presents and discusses a systematic review of relevant qualitative research-based evidence on the older persons' experiences and perspectives of receiving social care published between 1990 and September 2014. This review aimed to obtain answers to the following questions: How is the reception of social care experienced by the older persons? What are the negative and positive aspects of these experiences? What are the factors which influence the experiences? The synthesis of the findings of reviewed papers identified six analytical themes: asking for care as a major challenge; ambivalences; (dis)engagement in decisions concerning care; multiple losses as outcomes of receiving social care; multiple strategies to deal with losses originated by the ageing process; and properties of 'good care'. These themes are discussed from the point of view of their implications for theory, care practice and social policy, and future research.
authors: Faculty of Economics, University of Algarve, Research Centre for Spatial and Organizational Dynamics, Faro, Portugal.
authors: José
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8657-6443
authors: J
authors: de São José
authors: School of Education and Communication, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal.
authors: Rosanna
authors: R
authors: Barros
authors: Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors: Sanda
authors: S
authors: Samitca
authors: Faculty of Economics, University of Algarve, Research Centre for Spatial and Organizational Dynamics, Faro, Portugal.
authors: Ana
authors: A
authors: Teixeira
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D006801:Humans; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012947:Social Work / Q000592:standards
keywords: experiences and perspectives; older people; qualitative studies; receiving care; social care; systematic review