A recent study from the University of Eastern Finland shows that older adults receiving care still consider themselves to be capable individuals despite needing assistance with activities of daily living. The study goes on to say that social and healthcare professionals do not always recognize the need of their clients to maintain some agency and control in their lives.
“Older individuals’ efforts to be in control of their life were evident,” stated Senior Researcher, Marjo Ring, of the University of Eastern Finland.
The study defined three types of agency: resistant, adaptive and supported.
Resistant – where the client resists the changes arising from their need for assistance and strives to maintain the same lifestyle even if it conflicts with what the care workers need to do help them.
Adaptive – where the client accepts that they need assistance due to declining capabilities and adjusts their personal expectations to meet the situation. In this way, they still feel as if they are maintaining some control over their life.
Supported – where the client relies on assistance from friends and family to achieve important goals in their daily life, but still strives toward those goals.
Research shows that older adults want to maintain some type of control over their lives despite increasing need for assistance. It is important that care clients are seen as individuals with unique life histories, values and the need to live a life of their own.
The study emphasizes the importance of care workers in recognizing their clients’ needs and opinions on how services should be provided to best support them.
