Preferences for Every Day Living: Developing an Instrument to Inventory Lifestyle Choices |
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Co-Principal Investigator: Kimberly Van Haitsma |
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Abstract: Past studies have documented that control over the details of one's everyday life and the provision of preference congruent care is related to better quality of life for elders. The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to assess psychosocial preferences for everyday living. Related work by this group shows that psychosocial preferences can be conceptually mapped into six domains, indicating that people think about categories of psychosocial preferences in similar ways. In contrast, the expression of preferences is inherently idiosyncratic presenting a challenge to traditional, factor-analytic approaches to categorization. The current study assessed preferences for everyday living in a group of 580 community dwelling elders. The sample has been stratified to reflect differing levels of experience in the home health service delivery system. A factor analysis identified 9 clusters of individuals who expressed distinct combinations of psychosocial preferences, providing a preliminary typology of expressed preference. These factors are characterized by specific patterns of demographic, functional, and physical and mental health variables. Implications for individualization of care are discussed. |
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