Life Disruptions as Critical Situations in Health-Related Planning: Advance Care Planning and Home Adaption

Abstract

This article explores health-related planning among older people concerning advance care plans and accessibility in the home environment. These aspects of health-related planning require people to make decisions related to their care preferences and personal resources to pre-empt potential future risks. Pre-emptive planning related to health and aging has not been widely researched as most research on health-related behavior among older people in an active life phase has concentrated on continuous lifestyle behaviors such as exercise and eating habits. This research used thematic narrative analysis to study (1) what kind of life events contextualize planning related to advance care plans and home adaption and (2) what kinds of rationales people attach to advance care plans and home adaption based on these events. The data were composed from semi-structured interviews with people aged between 55 and 72 (N = 32). The results show that various kinds of life disruptions contextualize pre-emptive planning by providing a catalyzing situational context, which also renders planning meaningful by showing examples of potential future scenarios that provide rationales for planning. Reflections on advance care planning and home adaption shared certain similar characteristics, but rationales for the former were varied in terms of benefits sought from planning whereas rationales for the latter were more uniformly practically orientated. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.