Goal Setting for Aging Adults and Care Partners: A Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Health Services Research
• Family Studies

Background:

• Goal-setting and care partner support are known to improve health outcomes for older adults.
• Limited understanding exists regarding the collaborative dynamics between aging adults and care partners in health goal setting.
• This gap highlights potential inefficiencies in current care delivery processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the existing literature on collaborative goal setting between aging adults and their care partners.
• To identify common goals and the extent of care partner involvement in the goal-setting process.
• To highlight areas for future research in person- and family-centered care.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature search was conducted across multiple databases.
• 1,231 articles were screened for relevance.
• Inclusion criteria focused on aging adults (50+ years), care partners, goal setting, and English language publications.

Main Results:

• Aging adults prioritized goals such as independence, functional maintenance, symptom management, and social activity.
• Care partners shared similar goals but also emphasized accessing services and supports.
• Care partner involvement ranged from supportive roles to concurrent or independent goal setting.

Conclusions:

• Goal prioritization can be concordant or discordant between aging adults and care partners, indicating complexity in shared decision-making.
• Collaborative goal-setting and care partner-directed goals are notably infrequent, suggesting a need for further investigation.
• Implementing collaborative goal-setting aligns with person- and family-centered care, potentially leading to more effective care plans.