Daily life after moving into a care home--experiences from older people, relatives and contact persons.
OBJECTIVE
To describe older people's experiences of daily life at the care home after admittance with respect to their perceptions of participation in the decision to move. Furthermore, the aim was to study the experiences of their relatives and contact persons with respect to the daily life of the same residents.


BACKGROUND
When older persons move into a care home, the whole family often play an important part. Thus, it is interesting to study how newly admitted older people, their relatives and staff members experience daily life in a modern care home.


METHODS
Qualitative design. The participants comprised a purposive sample of 13 residents, recently admitted to a care home, 69-90 years old, both single living and married, both moving from their own homes and from different institutions. Interviews were carried out with the older people (n = 13), their relatives (n = 10) and contact persons (n = 11).


RESULTS
The majority of the residents reported satisfaction with care home living. The relatives were also satisfied, secure and appreciated the privacy and homely atmosphere of the flat. The disadvantage of one-room flats was that the residents might have felt lonely. The relatives felt that the residents were bored, but few residents desired more activities, even if some of them longed for people to socialize with. For many older people, perhaps talking is the most important 'activity' at care homes. Concerning self-determination, some residents did not find it satisfactory.


CONCLUSIONS
Staff members must pay attention to residents' need to talk with people. For many older people, talking is perhaps the most important 'activity' at care homes. Nurses must safeguard residents' self-determination. When residents are in control of their lives, they may become satisfied with time.
Andersson
Ingegerd
I
Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Pettersson
Elisabet
E
Sidenvall
Birgitta
B
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001887:Boredom; D003657:Decision Making; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007374:Interior Design and Furnishings; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008132:Loneliness / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000458:organization & administration; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010343:Patient Admission; D010358:Patient Participation / Q000523:psychology*; D010362:Patients' Rooms; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D018907:Privacy / Q000523:psychology; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden