The Meaning of Everyday Meals in Living Units for Older People

Abstract

Even when frail older people become unable to live on their own and manage everyday activities, they can still experience a variety of meanings within meal‐related activities that contribute to quality of life. This article reports research findings that focused on the meal, from preparation to cleaning up. Data were collected through participant observation and by interviewing residents in a residential living unit in Denmark, and analysed using a comparative, interpretive approach. Living units are a new way of organising nursing homes. In each unit, 6–8 elderly people stay in individual flats, adjacent to which is a shared dining room and kitchen. If the residents choose to, and are capable, they are involved in everyday activities of the unit and eat together with staff. This way of organising meals seems to influence most of the everyday life in the unit by shaping a homely place. It also enables a living community that acts in and enlivens everyday existence. Meals themselves also make it possible to be somebody and be yourself in ordinary life and to provide a place for valued occupations, things that give substance to everyday life. In sum, the study found that as an occupation, meals give time and space for daily life and seem to be the heart of life in the unit.

Key Words:

• Meanings Meals
• Residential care
• Everyday life
• Elderly
• Qualitative methods