Older people's recommendations for treating symptoms: repertoires of lay knowledge about disease

This paper explores the content of older people's repertoires of lay knowledge regarding treatment strategies for commonly occurring symptoms. Data were collected through in-depth personal interviews in a sample of people 65 years and older living in community settings and managing their own health. Respondents mentioned a total of 657 specific treatment recommendations for 15 symptoms. Although very few mentioned treatments that were uniformly harmful, over two-thirds recommended treatments that could be harmful under certain conditions. Most respondents also identified treatments considered palliative or therapeutic. Implications of the results for patient education are discussed.