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Updated: Jul 6, 2025
Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Acceptability and use of an online health priorities self-identification tool for older adults: A qualitative
Emily L Mroz1, Kizzy Hernandez-Bigos1, Jessica Esterson1
1Section of Geriatrics, Department of Internal Medicine Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Objective:
To examine the use of a web-based, self-directed health priorities identification tool for older adults with multiple chronic conditions (MCCs).
Methods:
We recruited a gender- and racially-diverse, highly educated sample of older adults with MCCs to engage with our My Health Priorities tool, then complete a semi-structured interview. Thematic analysis was used to examine interview transcripts.
Results:
Twenty-one participants shared perspectives on the acceptability and use of the tool. Three themes (with eleven subthemes) were generated to describe: website user experience feedback, the content of the health priorities identification process, and the tool's capacity to empower communication and decision making.
Conclusion:
Participants found this tool acceptable and easy to use, describing a variety of benefits of the priorities self-identification process and offered suggestions for refinement and broader implementation. Older adults with limited internet navigation abilities or misconceptions about the self-directed process may benefit from clinicians clarifying the purpose of the process or initiating priorities-aligned discussions.
Innovation:
This novel tool can help older adults with MCCs define what matters most for their health and healthcare, informing a variety of health decisions. This tool may enable and motivate patients to lead health priorities decision-making discussions with clinicians and care partners.
