Older Adults' participation in preventive health maintenance activities and perceived satisfaction with the healthcare provider

Objectives: As the number of community-dwelling older adults increases, assisting them to maintain health is an optimal goal of care. Adherence to treatment plans, medical follow-up, and the participation in preventive health maintenance activities (PHMA) are primary approaches to health maintenance. But the impetus for this group to request or assent to PHMA remains unclear. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine whether satisfaction with healthcare providers influenced community-dwelling older adults' participation in PHMA. Design: A descriptive design was used to investigate whether healthcare satisfaction influenced participation in PHMA in a population of community-dwelling older adults. Sample, Setting, Measures: Thirty-nine community-dwelling older adults completed two questionnaires, participation in PHMA and the patient satisfaction in healthcare providers scale. Results: The majority of participants were satisfied with their healthcare providers but that finding had little influence on PHMA participation. Conclusions: Healthcare provider satisfaction may play a limited part in influencing whether older adults participate in PHMA. The onus remains on the geriatric healthcare provider to educate, encourage, schedule, refer, and follow-up on the completion of PHMA to help safeguard the health of community-dwelling older adults.