A New Life History Tool
for Older Adults
By Richard Shank
Researchers in Australia adapted a new tool designed to collect important life history information from older adults. The Self-Discovery Tapestry (SDT), which was intended primarily for research use, appears to have much more practical implications for the delivery of person-centered care.
The culture change movement in long-term care has long advocated the use of person-centered care as a best practice model of care delivery. A central part of person-centered care involves the staff obtaining deep and meaningful knowledge about the individual personal histories of long-term care residents. The SDT is designed to be used with a broad range of age groups. For older adults, it proves particularly useful because it helps document their occupational careers, periods of transitions in their life, and the adaptations they made to changing circumstances over the life course. It’s a single page form comprising a grid, where each square represents common life events across four domains (interpersonal relationships, occupations, personal meaning, and disposition).
An evaluation of the tool found that reflecting on a long life and recalling significant events and relationships weren’t necessarily easy tasks for some older adults. Older adults who participated in the evaluation study, however, were able to gain valuable insights into their own lives and reflect on the journeys they had taken in life.
For more information, visit http://www.lifecoursepublishing.com.
Source: Feldman, S. and Howie, L. 2009. Looking back, looking forward: Reflections on using a life history review tool with older people. Journal of Applied Gerontology 28: 621-637.
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