CONTRASTING PATTERNS OF HEALTH TALK BY ASSISTED LIVING RESIDENTS FAMILIES AND STAFF

摘要

Assisted living (AL) settings are a heterogeneous, supportive living environment for nearly 1 million older adults in the U.S. Declines in health and functional status are common and discussion of health related issues is ubiquitous in AL among residents, families, and AL staff. This analysis reports on qualitative, ethnographic data collected as part of an NIA funded study on transitions into and out of 6 assisted living settings. Ethnographic interviews of residents, families, and staff resulted in 878 document which were collected and team coded by an interdisciplinary group of researchers using Atlas.ti qualitative software. Analysis contrasted 1,274 health related code segments from the resident interviews and “self-talk on health” to the type of health talk used by families and staff in interviews including 2,102 code segments. Analysis was guided by stereotype embodiment theory which demonstrated patterns in language that differed substantially between the AL residents and their families and staff members. The overall use of health talk was much higher among families and staff and neutral explanatory models were common in these quotations. In contrast, residents talk on health was more negative in tone and content. The results suggest the need to explore patterns of negative self talk by residents and whether such negative self talk is modifiable in the AL environment based on the existence of neutral health talk by families and staff experiencing the same setting and over the same time periods.