Emerging theory of decision-making in residential care homes for older people, families and staff: Methodological issues in a constructivist grounded theory inquiry

Abstract

A constructivist grounded theory (con-GT) inquiry emerged to involve the researcher and the participants as experts in facilitating the co-construction of meaning towards an understanding of decision-making in the context of caring for Chinese older people in residential care homes. The inquiry resulted in a substantive (mid-range) theory of decision-making which was a relevant end-product to inform residential care home practices for older people, their family members and staff. With an increasing demand to provide residential care homes in Hong Kong, an understanding of the decision-making experiences and processes had illuminated how older people settled into the new home life and how their family members and staff supported them (or not) in making decisions about matters that concerned them.

This presentation will begin with an overview of the data collection procedure that interviewed 28 older residents, 22 family members and 31 staff in three homes, giving a total of 105 interviews. This will be followed by a discussion of the methodological processes that led to the construction of a decision-making theory, which is composed of four components: (1) influence of leadership styles and patterns of decision-making; (2) decision-making processes of residents; (3) influences of family and staff on residents decision-making; and, (4) decision-making patterns in the homes. Such processes led to an examination of various perspectives that drove decision-making and their subsequent outcomes in the homes. Lastly, methodological constraints and issues that considered the robustness of the results and the rigor of this inquiry will also be discussed.