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‘Pathways to choice’ of care setting

Sarah Hillcoat-Nalletamby

Ageing and Society, Volume: 39, Issue: 2, Pages: 277 - 306

Swansea University Author: Sarah Hillcoat-Nalletamby

Abstract

This article offers critical reflections of the "rational choice" approach as an explanatory framework for understanding choices made by older citizens regarding their health and social care requirements. The author develops an interpretive framework to help analyse older people's cho...

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Published in: Ageing and Society
ISSN: 0144-686X 1469-1779
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2019
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa27104
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Abstract: This article offers critical reflections of the "rational choice" approach as an explanatory framework for understanding choices made by older citizens regarding their health and social care requirements. The author develops an interpretive framework to help analyse older people's choice-making process about which care option they would prefer. The framework considers choice as a temporal process, influenced by others and reflective of individual life course experiences. The framework is tested using qualitative data from Wales gathered from 29 older adults who chose to move to an extra care setting. Through an inductive approach, data were analysed to produce a 6 category typology of different "pathways" to choice of care setting. Findings are interpreted using the concept of "independence" and pro-active coping theory, and demonstrate those choice of care setting in later life is a diverse, interactive and time-bound social phenomenon. The rational choice approach inadequately captures this social phenomenon. Service providers need to recognise choice as a temporal process so that they can be better placed to offer opportunities for more preventative-focused interventions which empower older consumers to make informed choices appropriate for their requirements.
Keywords: choice, consumer-directed care, rational choice, extra-care, care options
College: Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
Issue: 2
Start Page: 277
End Page: 306