The Consistency of Self-Reported Preferences for Everyday Living: Implications for Person-Centered Care Delivery

Preferences are the expression of an individual’s basic psychosocial needs and are related to care outcomes. The current study tested the consistency of 87 individuals’ everyday preferences over 1 week, comparing responses of nursing home residents (n = 37; mean age = 82) and university students (n = 50; mean age = 20). Participants completed the Preferences for Everyday Living Inventory at baseline and 5 to 7 days later. Preference consistency was calculated three ways: (a) correlations (range = 0.11 to 0.90); (b) overall percent of exact agreement (e.g., response was “very important” at both time points) (66.1%); and (c) responses collapsed as “important” or “not important” (increase in percent agreement to 86.6%). Personal care preferences were more stable, whereas leisure activities were less stable. The groups did not have significant differences in consistency. Some preferences are more consistent than others; age and frailty do not appear to be related to preference instability. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 40(10), 34–46.] Dr. Van Haitsma is Associate Professor, College of Nursing, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania; Dr. Abbott is Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Gerontology, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio; Dr. Van Haitsma is Adjunct Senior Research Scientist, Dr. Heid is Post Doctoral Fellow, Dr. Kleban is Director of Psychometrics, Ms. Eshraghi is Project Manager, and Ms. Duntzee is Research Specialist, The Polisher Research Institute, The Madlyn and Leonard Abramson Center for Jewish Life, North Wales, Pennsylvania; Dr. Carpenter is Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri; Dr. Curyto is Psychologist and Research Scientist, VA Western NY Healthcare System, Batavia, New York; and Ms. Spector is Consultant, Spector Consulting, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. The authors have disclosed no potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise. This work was made possible by funding from the Harry Stern Family Center for Innovations in Alzheimer’s Care and a National Institute of Nursing Research grant (1R21NR011334: Principal investigator, K. Van Haitsma). The authors thank the older adults and the university students who made this project possible by generously volunteering their time to help explore these important research questions. Address correspondence to Kimberly Van Haitsma, PhD, Adjunct Senior Research Scientist, The Polisher Research Institute, The Madlyn and Leonard Abramson Center for Jewish Life, 1425 Horsham Road, North Wales, PA 19454; e-mail: kvanhaitsma@abramsoncenter.org. Received: May 01, 2014 Accepted: June 20, 2014 Posted Online: September 8, 2014