Facilitators and Barriers to Accepting Long Term Care at Home: An Analysis of Licensed Home Care Service Agency Websites

Most people prefer to age in place. However, there is a growing body of literature to suggest a reluctance to accept supportive services in the home due to concerns about trust, privacy, cost, and fear of being a burden. The purpose of this study was to examine potential facilitators and barriers to accepting home care services in the website content of Licensed Home Care Service Agencies (LHSCA). In this linguistic analysis study, the written content from 88 randomly selected LHCSA websites was examined. We used LIWC2015 and Microsoft® Word software to analyze websites for relevant word categories that reflect older adult identified facilitators and barriers to the acceptance of home care services. Results revealed that the summary score for clout (i.e., confidence and leadership reflected in the writing) was high. Some of the most commonly used word categories were positive emotions, present focused, and affiliation. The word category money was included, but to a lesser degree. However, Burden and related words were highly prevalent in the writing sample. In summary, LHCSA website content contains both facilitators and barriers to the acceptance of home care services. Given the importance of home care services in promoting the ability of older adults to age in place, greater attention may be needed regarding the way services are presented and advertised to consumers.