Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Worldwide, the population is aging. With increasing numbers of seniors, healthcare systems depend more and more on the help of caregivers to assist and provide care to seniors. However, little is known about the role of caregivers in helping seniors make decisions about their care, especially when many kinds of healthcare professional are involved. One of the most difficult decisions is about moving home. An earlier study showed that caregivers lack information and support for helping seniors make this decision, and can feel guilty or regretful afterwards. This decision is not only influenced by the needs and preferences of seniors, their caregivers and the different healthcare professionals looking after them, but also by national and regional policies. To explore decision-making about where the senior should live, we propose to assess the decision-making experiences of everyone involved in this decision, i.e. the seniors, their caregivers and various health professionals, in two different countries and four regions, each with different healthcare systems and policies about senior housing. For this, we propose a mixed-methods study using interviews and questionnaires with all who are involved in decision-making to explore, quantify and compare their experiences. This study will increase our understanding of the experience of decision-making in Canada and the Netherlands of all who involved with these difficult decisions. We can then design tools and training that will help caregivers and healthcare professionals to be more effective in helping seniors make the decision about moving.