Care Partner Confidence and Experiences in Legal Planning for People Living with Dementia: A Mixed Methods Study

This study used a parallel-mixed methods research design. We administered a web-based survey to 318 adults who self-identified as care partners of persons living with dementia. The survey contained Likert scale questions and open-ended questions about legal planning tasks. Multivariate linear regression was used to analyze quantitative data and inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data.RESULTS: Care partners were on average 53 years of age and 78% female. The three topics in which participants were least confident were: protecting oneself legally as a care partner; options when legal documents are not in place and a family member is not legally competent; and circumstances when legal documents should be updated or renewed. We observed significant differences in legal planning confidence between newer and more experienced care partners (p<.001); lower- and higher-income care partners (p=.01); and adult child versus spousal care partners (p<.001). Thematic analysis revealed that legal planning challenges include initiating a conversation with the person living with dementia, understanding and using legal materials, and accessing materials that accommodate individual differences.DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: It is vital to develop legal planning interventions that are tailored to specific subgroups of care partners, and to maximize the clarity, comprehensiveness, and accessibility of available legal planning education.PMID:37941389 | DOI:10.1093/geron...
Source: The Gerontologist - Category: Geriatrics Authors: Source Type: research