Background Most older adults prefer to age at home rather than in residential care, regardless of their health status. Yet this policy‐supported wish increases demand for home care services at a time when many Western countries already face substantial workforce shortages. To balance the supply and demand of care, governments are encouraging self‐management in both care tasks and daily activities. This policy presents issues for care professionals, including balancing client demands, professional standards and organisational boundaries. The aim of this scoping review is to identify factors that promote and impede the implementation of responsible self‐management in home care, both from the perspective of older adults and health professionals. Method We conducted a scoping review following Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines to guide the search, selection and structure of the review. We included studies that examined older adults receiving home care, addressed self‐management in daily activities and explored interactions between health professionals and clients. A literature search (in PubMed, CINAHL and Scopus) was performed from inception up to 10, February 2025, in collaboration with an information specialist. The search yielded 9910 unique titles. After two authors screened titles, abstracts and full texts, a total of 14 articles were included. Included studies spanned eight countries and employed qualitative and mixed‐methods designs. Results The extracted data showed three themes: (1) A dynamic shift in roles and expectations: professionals move towards coaching and activation, while older adults must articulate their needs more clearly, increasing client ownership and reducing professional control. (2) Partnership between professionals and older adults as central to self‐management, calling on professionals to focus on potential and to trust and treat older adults as equal partners. (3) Balancing individual care needs with limited time and resources. When professionals are stretched thin, delivering flexible care becomes significantly harder. Conclusion The willingness to engage in self‐management hinges on the individual’s capacity and their perceptions of home care, shaped by how well care needs can be balanced with limited time and resources. Both sides of the dyad rely on a flexible care system, making a balanced, collaborative approach essential to strengthen self‐management and overall care quality for older adults.
Slots et al. (Thu,) studied this question.