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Preparation for future care needs: Styles of preparation used by older Eastern German, United States, and Canadian women

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Abstract

Many older persons have chronic conditions and limitations intheir everyday functioning. While some individuals prepare fortheir future care needs, many others do not. Usingsemi-structured, qualitative interviews, discourse about dealingwith the risk for needing help or care in the future wasinvestigated in 23 East German, 10 U.S., and 12 Canadian elderlycommunity-dwelling women (≥65 years). Eighty percent hadthought about future care needs; 64% had made general plans fortheir future care. Four preparation styles were identified inthe three social-structural contexts: Avoidance of preparation,thinking without planning, short-term planning, and long-termplanning. Individuals using these styles differed in theirsubjective assessment of preparation as well as in objectivepersonal conditions. More similarities than differences werefound between German, U.S. and Canadian women in the use of thesestyles. Results suggest that limited resources, systeminstability, and personal characteristics contribute to thechoice of planning style.

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Authors
  1. Silvia Sörensen
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  2. Martin Pinquart
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Sörensen, S., Pinquart, M. Preparation for future care needs: Styles of preparation used by older Eastern German, United States, and Canadian women. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 15, 349–381 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006778627518

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