Becoming "at home" in assisted living residences: exploring place integration processes.
OBJECTIVE
This study explores the roles of place attachment, nonfamily social involvement, place valuation, and individual characteristics in the process of becoming at home in assisted living residences.


METHODS
Purposive sampling and cross-sectional data by means of a questionnaire completed by current assisted living residents in four states (N = 297) were used to estimate a structural equation model to explain becoming at home.


RESULTS
Place attachment to town and community is a necessary but not sufficient explainer of older adults' process of becoming at home. Nonfamily social involvement plays a pivotal role through which place attachment works to explain becoming at home. Both place valuation and nonfamily social involvement exhibit direct positive effects on the outcome.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings support a transactional interpretation of assisted living as home. The relationship between place attachment to one's community and full integration into assisted living is more complex than currently acknowledged.
Cutchin
Malcolm P
MP
School of Allied Health Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, 77551-1142, USA. mpcutchi@utmb.edu
Owen
Steven V
SV
Chang
Pei-Fen J
PF
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D040561:Assisted Living Facilities; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006276:Health Facility Size; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009511:New England; D009769:Object Attachment; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012919:Social Behavior; D012931:Social Environment