Tailored Personas for Self-Care in Older Adults With Intrinsic Capacity Decline: A Mixed-Methods Study

Strengthening self-care is critical to preventing older adults with declining intrinsic capacity (IC) from progressing to disability. However, self-care among older adults with IC decline demonstrates heterogeneity, and standardized interventions often fail to fully meet the needs of this heterogeneous group. This study aimed to examine the self-care characteristics and needs of older adults with IC decline and develop tailored personas. We conducted an explanatory sequential mixed-methods study. The quantitative phase collected numerical data from a sample of 350 community-dwelling older adults with IC decline to identify clusters of self-care. These findings informed the purposive sampling and interview guide for the subsequent qualitative phase, in which 36 participants were selected for in-depth, semi-structured interviews to explore the characteristics and needs within each cluster. This study identified four distinct self-care personas among older adults with IC decline: (I) The Proactive Collaborator; (II) The Symptom-Triggered Reactor; (III) The Social Mimic; and (IV) The Passively Compliant. Developing personalized intervention strategies tailored to these personas, such as enhancing health literacy, providing collaborative platforms, offering psychological support, and implementing positive incentives, is crucial for improving self-care of older adults with IC decline. These findings equip healthcare professionals with actionable insights to optimize support strategies for older adults with IC decline, thereby helping to prevent disability.