Older couples' decision making on health issues

The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine the process of spousal influence as it relates to health-promotion behaviors and the concept desire to change spousal health behaviors. Fifty-nine elderly couples in long-term marriages were recruited through three senior centers; participants were asked to respond to five open-ended questions. The majority of couples said that they made health decisions jointly; wives tended to be the primary deciders in the even that a health decision had to be made. Most people, but particularly wives, desired to change something about their spouses' health behavior; a variety of strategies were used in the attempt to change spousal behavior. Aging or illness in the self or spouse were identified as precipitants of increased desire to change the spouses' health behavior over time.