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Enhancing person-centred care through older adults’ narratives of everyday life [PCC120]

Tuesday May 5, 2026 12:00 - 17:00 Poster Arena

Presenter: Kristin Voie

Track: People of Old Age, Poster session

Background: Older people who live alone and use home care may be in a vulnerable situation. However, they have often managed their everyday lives for a long time, often while dealing with health challenges. To provide person-centred care, care providers must engage with older home care service users' own perceptions of their strengths and vulnerabilities. In this study, we explored how nine older adults, who live alone, receive home care and are considered to be frail by home care professionals, managed their everyday lives by inquiring into their stories. Methods: We conducted a series of three qualitative interviews with each of the nine participants over a period of eight months, and we analysed the data using thematic analysis and a narrative positioning analysis. Results: Using the concept of resilience as our analytic lens, we identified three thematic threads: continuity, adaptation and resistance. The narrative positioning analysis of three participants' stories revealed that the participants used the processes of continuity, adaptation and resistance strategically and interchangeably. Conclusion: The study provides insight into how older people who live alone and use home care services balance strengths and vulnerabilities in their stories. The results of the study highlight the potential of storytelling in person-centred care. Encouraging storytelling and engaging with older people's narrations might support how older people enact resilience and, in turn, their management of everyday life. Authors: Kristin Voie, Janine Wiles, Bodil H. Blix, Margrethe Kristiansen, Ann Karin Helgesen og Kjersti Sunde Mæhre. Voie KS, Wiles J, Blix BH, Kristiansen M, Helgesen AK, Mæhre KS. Older people enacting resilience in stories about living alone and receiving home care. Ageing and Society. 2025;45(4) https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X23000880
Language

English

Conference

GCPCC

GCPCC Code

PCC120

Lecturers

Kristin Voie Presenter

Kristin Voie, Janine Wiles, Bodil H. Blix, Margrethe Kristiansen, Kjersti Sunde Mæhre, Ann Karin Helgesen