Healthy aging of frail older adults in the community: A hybrid concept analysis

Abstract

Purpose: Although a stream of ‘healthy aging’ has been created, there is no consensus on defining healthy aging perceived by frail older adults. This study was conducted to investigate the concept of healthy aging perceived by frail older adults. Methods: The hybrid model consisted of three phases. In the theoretical phase, defining characteristics of healthy aging among frail older adults were identified through a literature review. A total of 1,166 articles were screened, and 32 relative articles were included. During the field phase, in-depth interviews were conducted with nine frail older adults who met the frailty criteria, and the data were analyzed through content analysis. In the final phase, based on the analysis of the literature review and qualitative interviews, a final definition of healthy aging in frail older adults was extracted. Results: The concept of healthy aging perceived by frail older adults was found in cognitive, behavioral, psychological, social and independent domains. For the frail older adults, healthy aging refers to the ability to maintain one’s own health through self-management, accept aging and natural death with a positive outlook, and be independent without relying on others. Conclusion: In frail older adults, healthy aging consists of a number of multidimensional domains and 10 attributes, including maintaining health, accepting the process of aging, being positive, and being independent. Using this final definition, health promotion strategies could be developed to achieve the optimal goal. To provide effective interventions to frail older adults, further research is needed to develop a reliable and valid assessment scale.