How older adults with multimorbidity manage their own care within a formal care coordination program?

As the number of older adults with multimorbidity increases, care coordination programs are being designed to streamline the complex care older adults receive from multiple providers by improving health and reducing unnecessary costs. Well-coordinated care requires actions by both patients and providers. Yet little attention is paid to the what older adults do to manage their own care alongside a formal Care Coordination Program (CCP). This paper presents a qualitative descriptive study that explored what actions older adults took on their own to manage their care. Findings from this study identified that there were two actions older adults took to manage their care; they lived within their limits and they lived with grit. This study suggests that by recognizing what older adults do to self-manage their care within the context of a CCP, nurses can build on older adults' actions and provide person-centered strategies for care coordination.