Places, social relations and activities in the everyday lives of older adults with psychiatric disabilities: an interview study.
BACKGROUND
Knowledge about the daily life of older adults with psychiatric disabilities is extremely limited, especially from the standpoint of the individual. The overall aim of this study was to describe and analyze the ways in which older adults with a psychiatric disability experience places, social relations and activities in different arenas of their everyday lives.


METHODS
Twelve older adults (>55 years) with a psychiatric disability were interviewed either once or twice, using different interview techniques. The first interviews were semi-structured and the second were in-depth interviews guided by a site-map. The interview texts were analyzed using qualitative content analysis, proceeding from open to focused coding in several steps.


RESULTS
Although the respondents spent most of their time in their own homes, some also spent a lot of time at day-care centers and other similar places. The amount of time spent in places in the public arena varied a great deal. The interviewees' experiences of the places, relationships and activities in their everyday lives can be related to aspects of freedom and coercion, internal and external structure, and relationships and support.


CONCLUSIONS
The provision of a varied range of services and support in diverse settings in order to make these accessible to persons of different ages and needs is an important challenge for welfare politics.
Nordström
M
M
The Vårdal Institute, The Swedish Institute for Health Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden.
Dunér
A
A
Olin
E
E
Wijk
H
H
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D003068:Coercion; D015897:Comorbidity; D054541:Family Conflict / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008875:Middle Aged; D009788:Occupational Therapy; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012931:Social Environment; D012934:Social Isolation; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden
D011619:Psychotropic Drugs