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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Advance directives and the role of health beliefs | | Author(s) | Elizabeth H Bradley, Leslie C Walker, Terrie T Wetle |
| Journal title | Journal of Mental Health and Aging, vol 4, no 3, Fall 1998 |
| Pages | pp 379-392 |
| Keywords | Medical care ; Terminal care ; Rights [elderly] ; Wills ; Patients [nursing homes] ; Health [elderly] ; Attitude ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | The role of health beliefs in determining individuals' decisions to complete advance directives, such as living wills or health care proxies, were examined in this study. Using both quantitative and qualitative data from face-to-face interviews with 35 alert and oriented nursing home residents, the study demonstrates that health beliefs are important factors in residents' completion of advance directives. Residents reporting more versus less trust in the medical system were 5.38 times more likely to complete advance directives. Residents reporting a desire for more versus less control in medical decision-making were 8.42 times more likely to complete advance directives. Qualitative data analyses revealed four unique resident "voices" which help define individual approaches to advance directive completion: "taking charge", "delegating autonomy", "denial", and "wanting to die". The results suggest that better understanding of individual health beliefs related to personal autonomy and underlying trust of the medical system is required for not only explaining but also supporting individuals' decisions regarding advance directives. (AKM). |
| Accession Number | CPA-981202408 A |
| Classmark | LK: LV: IKR: VTH: LHB:LF: CC: DP: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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