Factors in daily life leading to the need for moving to a nursing home : Experiences from nursing home applicants

• Background/Aim In Sweden, most people age in ordinary housing, called aging in place. To support aging in place, older people can apply for home-based care such as Meals on Wheels or response alarm .Despite this support, the municipalities receive applications to nursing homes on a daily basis, which indicates that aging in place does not fill everyone’s needs. The aim of this study was to describe what experiences in daily life that make older people aging in place apply for a nursing home.Method This study has a descriptive design. Face to face interviews were conducted with older people with declining physical health who had a granted application for a place in a nursing home and were waiting for a placement. Some waited in their homes with or without home-based care and some waited in a short-term facility run by the municipality. Interviews were analyzed by qualitative content analysis according to Elo and Kyngäs. Preliminary findings One main category emerged - “To move to a nursing home- a way to regain control over my life”. It was characterized by a feeling of decreasing level of independence which led to experiences of lack of social context or being in a state of dependence where someone else controlled decisions of their lives.  The participants had reached a point where they strongly felt that something has to be done to change their situation. This was usually associated with a critical event such as a hospitalization or after been informed of a cancer diagnosis. These experiences are described by three generic categories with seven subcategories.  The generic categories are “The opportunity to belong to a context”, “A state of dependence” and “Reaching a turning point”. Conclusions The findings show that a feeling of lost control due to perceived dependence, falling health or critical everyday life events may lead to a nursing home application. Therefore, in order to enhance aging in place it is important to enable older people to be socially involved, get support to stay as independent as possible in their daily activities and to handle critical events such as hospitalization.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Annan medicin och hälsovetenskap -- Gerontologi, medicinsk/hälsovetenskaplig inriktning (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Other Medical and Health Sciences -- Gerontology, specialising in Medical and Health Sciences (hsv//eng)

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