https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0038-0483
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ABSTRACT
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to explore how everyday life was organized in a Danish nursing home for people living with advanced dementia and how relatives experienced their family members’ everyday lives.
Methods
Field notes from participant observations (approximately 160 hours) and transcripts from ethnographic interviews with relatives (9) were analysed thematically in accordance with ethnographic principles.
Results
The analysis revealed one main theme, ‘Enabling a meaningful everyday life in the nursing home’ with two corresponding sub-themes: (1) Structures of daily life: Balancing collective and individual activities and (2) Physical togetherness: Balancing being together and being alone.
Conclusions
The findings showed that everyday life in the nursing home was organized to support a meaningful life for the residents by providing activities and togetherness on a daily basis. While relatives generally appreciated the everyday life experienced in the nursing home, challenges were encountered in connection with the provision of an appropriate balance between levels and types of activities and togetherness for all residents.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank all participants who took part in this study.
Disclosure statement
To ensure scientific freedom, a legal contract between Aarhus University and the nursing home ‘Dagmarsminde’ was signed before the research project began. Thus, the findings presented in this study rely solely on interpretations made by the authors.
Authors’ contributions
The research project was designed by CHM-M, MK and BM. CHM-M collected the empirical data material, carried out the main analysis and wrote the manuscript. MK and BM discussed the findings and provided critical feedback throughout the research process.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Cathrine Hjorth Malta-Müller
Cathrine Hjorth Malta-Müller, RN, MSc in Nursing is a PhD student at Aarhus University, Denmark. She has been employed at the Research Unit of Nursing and Health Care in Copenhagen since September 2017 and her research primarily concerns dementia care and ethnographic principles.
Marit Kirkevold
Marit Kirkevold, RN, EdD is a professor of nursing science. Her research has primarily been in the area of long-term care of older people and improving rehabilitation and nursing care of persons suffering from chronic conditions. Kirkevold currently leads the National Research School for Research into the municipal health and care services, financed by the Norwegian Research Council. She has published extensively in the area of old age care.
Bente Martinsen
Bente Martinsen, RN, PhD is an associate professor in nursing at Aarhus University, Denmark. Her research concerns peoples’ experiences of physical impairment, the meaning of dependency, and ageing. Martinsen’s work is primarily informed by phenomenological research approaches and resulting methodological implications.