Long-term care consists of services that support optimal functionality and wellness as well as independence for older adults. This pilot research project will employ a telephone survey of 150 adults age 55-69 in Miami-Dade County, Florida in order to expand the limited information available regarding long-term care planning. The broad project goals of this project and planned follow-up research are: 1) to develop a model of long-term care planning with respect to potential facilitative and inhibiting factors, and 2) to inform policy-makers and service providers regarding culturally-congruent goals and intervention strategies for increasing long-term care planning behavior among adults in the middle and later years of life.
The specific aims are: 1) to determine current long-term care planning behaviors of adults age 55-69, 2) to explore relationships between selected population variables (age, race/ethnicity, educational attainment and family support) and response styles (as reflected in long-term care planning behavioral indicators), 3) to investigate the validity of the proposed response style constructs and develop scales for their measurement, and 4) to generate a prototype- model for long-term care planning. The framework for the proposed research was developed to operationalize the dynamic context in which long-term care planning occurs (or fails to occur). The three planning categories (financial, social/environmental, and wellness and functional ability) are adapted from McGrew's (2000) work. The acceptance and control response style constructs are derived from Friedemann's (1995) Framework of Systemic Organizations. The sample of 150 (completed surveys) will be selected using standard random-digit-dialed phone sampling techniques. Interviewers will use a CATI system for recording responses at the time the survey is administered. Measures include age cohort (55-69) as the controlled variable, randomized population variables (race/ ethnicity, educational attainment and family support), and deduced action indicator statements that integrate types of planning (financial, social/environmental, and wellness and functional ability) with response styles (acceptance and control). Analysis will occur in two phases. In phase one, the factor structure of the model regarding response styles will be tested via a confirmatory factor analysis. The comparative fit index (CFI) and the root mean square error adjusted (RMSEA) will be used to test the model. Each item will be trimmed, if needed, to maximize the CFI and to minimize the RMSEA; the item's influence on Cronbach's alpha will be considered as well. Phase two of the analysis will focus on describing the differences or similarities among subjects with regard to factor scores on the response style instrument when data are sorted by randomized variables. The research model will be refined as suggested by the data.
| Friedemann, Marie-Luise; Newman, Frederick L; Seff, Laura R et al. (2004) Planning for long-term care: concept, definition, and measurement. Gerontologist 44:520-30 |
