Defining Life Stages and Mapping Care Trajectories: A Narrative Review of Life-Course Theories, Models and Frameworks

To review how life-course theories, models and frameworks define and classify life stages and transitions; how they characterise trajectories of care needs and care provision; and to consider how these insights might inform future developments of care-focused life-course frameworks.

Narrative review using a theory synthesis approach.

The review synthesised 56 theories, models and frameworks, drawn from 90 articles published up to 2024, using a three-stage process: extraction and summarisation of conceptual content; comparison to identify convergence and divergence; and interpretive synthesis to generate an overarching account of how frameworks conceptualise life-course development, care transitions and care trajectories.

Earlier life-course perspectives emphasise normative, age-graded stages, while more recent approaches highlight transitional junctures, relational contexts and structural influences on care trajectories. Life stages were defined variably, encompassing developmental phases, chronological age bands, major life transitions, historical and cultural perspectives and diverse lived experiences. Trajectories of care needs and provision were shaped by social networks, socioeconomic conditions, timing of transitions, transgenerational relationships and interdependencies, and intersectionality. Findings suggest that care needs and care provision fluctuate across time and are best understood as interrelated, dynamic processes influenced by life-course biographies, as well as broader social, economic and policy environments at individual (micro), relational (meso) and structural (macro) levels.

Life-course frameworks are shifting from age-based models towards personalised, context-sensitive perspectives that better capture the complexity and diversity of care trajectories.

Care planning should incorporate not only developmental stage but also individual, relational and structural factors influencing care needs, care provision and care trajectories over time.

Applying a personalised, multilevel life-course perspective may improve assessment accuracy, coordination of resources and equity in care delivery.

This narrative review did not involve patients or the public.