Characteristics of Decision-Making by Family Members When Older Adults Are Hospitalized in Emergency Cases with Life-Threatening Conditions

Abstract

Aim: This study aims to elucidate decision-making characteristics based on interviews with family members with experience in having to select treatments for older adult patients who have been hospitalized following emergency transport to the hospital. Design: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 individuals with experience in surrogate decision-making for an older adult family member. Methods: The recorded interview data were transcribed verbatim, divided into minimum semantic units, and coded. Next, categories and subcategories were abstracted. A comparison was made with the conceptual constructs of a previous study that examined decision-making by families in a life-threatening crisis. Results: Four categories were extracted from 489 antecedents, 370 attributes, and 388 consequences. One new category was abstracted for each of: 1) antecedents: observing abnormalities and responding, while being worried about death; 2) attributes: deliberating on the patient prognosis, the relationship with the patient, and what they believe the patient would want; and 3) consequences: continuing support during convalescence. It is desirable to provide support based on the characteristics of families of older adults, including considering the psychological burden on the families who make surrogate decisions, and also the burden of subsequent caregiving because it is not and in the present environment has not been common for patients to express their wishes beforehand.