Understanding Daily Care Experience Preferences Across the Lifespan of Older Adults: Application of Natural Language Processing.
Se Hee Min, Kyungmi Woo, Jiyoun Song and 4 others
PMID 39707813WHAT IT FOUND
Music and photographs were most often named as things that bring joy by older adults.
Oldest-old adults named photographs more often than music.
Key findings
01Music was the most common preference (41.32%), followed by photographs (28.47%) and entertainment (13.46%) among the 3134 analyzed preference statements.
02Oldest-old adults (age 85 years and over) named photographs (34.30%) more often than music (32.11%), unlike young-old and old-old adults.
03Most adults in each age group were willing to consider palliative care consultation (96.06%, 96.85%, and 97.81%) and preferred stopping all life-sustaining treatments for terminal illness (79.30%, 82.47%, and 83.94%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was self-selected: adults had to be using an advance care planning platform and wanted their preferences understood, so it may not represent older adults who did not share preferences. The question included examples such as photographs, music, pillows, night lights, and flowers, which may have shaped what people wrote. Older adults with low digital literacy may have been missed. The oldest-old group was small (137 participants), and the age groups were not matched. The study describes preferences only; it does not test whether any preference or comfort item improves outcomes. The participants were community-dwelling adults, so the findings do not show what nursing home residents wanted. The analysis counted category presence rather than explaining why preferences mattered.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not include a conflict-of-interest declaration. It says the data came from ADVault, Inc, a digital advance care planning platform, and the publication types list non-U.S. government and NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat these preferences as proof that adding music, photographs, or other items improves care outcomes. The study reports what a self-selected group of older adults wrote in advance care planning text, and the question included examples that may have shaped the answers.