Abstract
Objectives
To explore older care home residents’ experiences of maintaining a sense of purpose in life: a core component of psychological wellbeing.
Methods
Fifteen residents (9 female; 6 male), aged 60-95 years, from four care homes, were interviewed about their sense of purpose. Interview transcripts were analysed using inductive thematic analysis.
Results
Theme 1 (‘Experiencing Loss’) comprises two sub-themes that describe the impact of age-related losses on residents’ sense of purpose (sub-theme 1) and the different responses that participants had to these losses (sub-theme 2). Theme 2 (‘The Protective Effects of Social Connections’) describes how social relationships could provide a sense of purpose, as well as the difficulties participants experienced in forming these relationships. Finally, theme 3 (‘The Roles of Activities’) describes the types of activities that could help residents to maintain a sense of purpose.
Conclusion
Care home residents experience losses and barriers that make it more difficult to maintain a sense of purpose. However, with appropriate support and opportunities, residents are able to engage in activities and relationships that provide a sense of purpose. To support residents’ mental health and wellbeing, care homes should offer varied opportunities for residents to engage in purposeful activities.
Acknowledgements
We thanks all of the residents and staff who gave up their time to participate in, or support, this study
Dsiclosure statement
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare
Funding
The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.
Data availability statement
The data that support this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.