Community-Dwelling Older Adults’ Attitudes, Subjective Norm, Perceived Behavioural Control, and Intention to Make Living Wills
Keywords:
intention to make living wills, Theory of Planned Behaviour, attitudes, perceived behavioural control, community-dwelling older adultsAbstract
Objective: To investigate, amongst community-dwelling older adults, the relationships between their attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and intention to make their living wills (statements concerning their choice of end-of-life medical treatment and care).
Design: Descriptive correlation research.
Methodology: The study, using the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a framework, was conducted on a sample of 88 older adults who met the pre-set study criteria, namely, being 60 years old or above and being residents of Bangkok Noi district of Bangkok. Five interview forms were used to collect data pertaining to the participants’ (a) basic factors, (b) attitudes towards making their living wills, (c) compliance with subjective norm on their intention to make their living wills, (d) perceived behavioural control regarding making their living wills, and (e) intention to make their living wills. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Spearman’s rank correlation coeffcient.
Results:According to the fndings, the participants’ attitudes towards making living wills were generally moderate (52.3%), and so was their level of compliance with subjective norm (42%). They displayed a fairly high level of perceived behavioural control (61.4%), with a slightly lower livingwill intention level (56.9%). Furthermore, their attitudes and perceived behavioural control were found to have a signifcant positive relationship with their intention (r = .585, p < .01, r = .615, p <.01, respectively), whilst no signifcant relationship was found between their compliance with subjective norm and their intention (p < .05).
Recommendations: Thorough assessment of older adults’ attitudes and perceived behavioural control is highly recommended in the process of encouraging them to make their living wills.
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