Document Type

Article

Abstract

To address the need for more information concerning hospital decision making, we conducted in-depth interviews among African Americans with heart failure and their family caregivers (n=11 dyads). Using a case scenario, we asked participants about their anticipated hospitalization decisions. Most patients indicated that they would seek care to avoid further deterioration or death from their worsening condition. Many family caregivers anticipated having an active influence on hospitalization decisions. Findings suggest that social workers should encourage the development of adequate home-based services, recognize diverse communication styles, and use this information to facilitate medical decision making by these patients and their caregivers.

Disciplines

Other Medicine and Health Sciences | Social Work

Comments

NOTICE IN COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLISHER POLICY: This is an Author’s Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Journal of Gerontological Social Work 57(1), 2014, pp 4-23, © Copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/01634372.2013.848966. It has been formatted for archiving; pagination has been added for this version.

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