title: Supporting a relative's move into long-term care: starting point shapes family members' experiences.
abstract: This grounded-theory study explored family members' experiences supporting a relative's move into a long-term care (LTC) home. Each stage in the transition process, and the role of starting point in shaping the experience, were examined. Twenty family members who moved a relative into an LTC home were interviewed within six weeks of the move. The findings revealed that the starting point had a profound effect on family members' experiences accepting the need for, and timing of, their relative's move into LTC (pre-move), and on believing that the selected LTC home was a positive environment for their relative (post-move). LTC home policies and processes were also important. However, when pre-move acceptance was compromised by circumstances attributed to the starting point, these policies and processes were not as effective in fostering post-move acceptance. Conditions that support positive transitions before, during, and after the move from each starting point are discussed.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, McGill University, Montreal QC. tamara.sussman@mcgill.ca
authors.forename: Tamara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sussman
authors.forename: Sherry
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dupuis
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005195:Family Relations; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies