Publications by authors named "Andrea Fitzroy"

Article Synopsis
  • This study explores how older adults in assisted living experience intimacy, highlighting its importance in their social relationships even as they face health decline.
  • Researchers analyzed a large amount of qualitative data from residents and their care partners, uncovering four key dimensions of intimacy: emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and physical.
  • The findings emphasize the need for long-term care models that consider and accommodate the intimacy needs of older adults to enhance their overall quality of life.*
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Objectives: Assisted living (AL) residents often manage multiple chronic conditions, functional and/or cognitive decline along with their individual needs and preferences for a full life. Although residents participate in their own care, little is known about their self-care activities and how to support them. This analysis focuses on residents' self-care and theorizing the dynamic, socially embedded process of negotiating self-care.

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Background And Objectives: Frail and disabled individuals, including assisted living (AL) residents, are embedded in care convoys composed of dynamic networks of formal and informal care partners. Yet, little is known about how care convoys operate over time, especially when health changes occur. Thus, our aim was to provide an in-depth understanding of care convoy communication during times of residents' health changes in AL.

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In this article, we analyze the research experiences associated with a longitudinal qualitative study of residents' care networks in assisted living. Using data from researcher meetings, field notes, and memos, we critically examine our design and decision making and accompanying methodological implications. We focus on one complete wave of data collection involving 28 residents and 114 care network members in four diverse settings followed for 2 years.

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