OLDER PERSONS’ EXPECTATIONS AND SATISFACTION WITH HOME CARE: THEORETICAL ORIGINS AND UNCHARTED REALMS

Abstract

Despite the long-term interest of medical sociologists in persons’ expectations of care, there is little known about older persons’ expectations of home care. Because satisfaction with home care is important to older persons, the construct of home-care satisfaction (H-CS) is an important concern of practitioners and researchers. Influenced by theories of expectations and satisfaction, researchers have characterized expectations of home care as pre-existing variables in relation to which persons appraise satisfaction. Although theorists have emphasized the importance of obtaining data about expectations when measuring satisfaction, there are few data about expectations of home care. This narrative review points out the gaps between the current research and related theories. The frameworks and methods of studies designed to measure HC-S are reviewed with particular attention to expectations. The need to add to the knowledge base about expectations (and thereby to increase the validity of the HC-S construct) is emphasized. Definitions and categories of expectations from various disciplines are presented as untapped realms for exploring expectancies and expectations in descriptive studies. An interface between the principle of individual differences and the parameter of personal importance of home-care issues is highlighted as a framework for descriptive research.

Citation

Porter, E.J. (2004), "OLDER PERSONS’ EXPECTATIONS AND SATISFACTION WITH HOME CARE: THEORETICAL ORIGINS AND UNCHARTED REALMS", Jacobs Kronenfeld, J. (Ed.) Chronic Care, Health Care Systems and Services Integration (Research in the Sociology of Health Care, Vol. 22), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 101-119. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0275-4959(04)22006-3