What Influences Older People’s Decisions about Care and Support?

Abstract

There are many factors that influence older people’s decision making about care and support they want or need in their daily lives. This paper investigates choices and decisions of people age 65 and older who receive paid and/or unpaid care on a daily basis with a focus in Scotland, drawing on a grounded theory framework. The literature review considered what is important to older people about care, support and resource utilisation and examined how decisions are made in relation to these applications. The review identified the ability and opportunity to make choices as a central theme. The key issues important to older people included control, independence and quality of life. Other factors that were found to influence how people make decisions included unmet needs, relationships and availability of informal care. The review found that older people wanted to stay in their homes for as long as possible. Findings suggest that additional research is required about what influences older people in care decisions.