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Well-being and Lack of Well-being among Nursing Home Residents

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Abstract

The aim of the present paper is to analyze the well-being of elderly people in institutions, particularly in relation to the use of space in the Nursing Home (NH). Little research has been done on how older people experience the environment of the NH. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 Nursing Home residents between the ages of 67 and 90. The findings indicate that the informants’ expressions of well-being belong to two main categories: “Well-being in public and private spaces” “Lack of Well-being in public and private spaces”. Two comprehensive themes were identified as relevant to a better understanding of the residents’ expressions of well-being: Emotional states, Own/Others’ behaviors and activities. From results emerged that in residents’ room, peacefulness is fundamental to relaxation and sleep; in lounge, being excluded from the group can be a source of negative feelings. Lack of well-being in the bathroom is related to feelings of incapacity and to violations of privacy. Practical implications of findings are discussed with regard to the role of health care assistants, nurses and activities co-ordinators in the promotion of residents’ well-being.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, Education, and Psychology, University of Verona, via San Francesco 22, 37129, Verona, Italy

    Arianna Motteran, Elena Trifiletti & Monica Pedrazza

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  1. Arianna Motteran
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  2. Elena Trifiletti
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  3. Monica Pedrazza
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Correspondence to Arianna Motteran.

Ethics declarations

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the Ethical Code of Psychological Italian Association, the Deontological Code of National Association of Italian Educationists and the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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This research did not receive any grant from organizations in the private or public sector.

Conflict of Interest

Arianna Motteran, Elena Trifiletti and Monica Pedrazza declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Informed consent was obtained from study participants after the purposes of the study and the procedures involved in participation were explained.

Ethical Treatment of Experimental Subjects (Animal and Human)

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the Ethical Code of Psychological Italian Association, the Deontological Code of National Association of Italian Educationists and the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Motteran, A., Trifiletti, E. & Pedrazza, M. Well-being and Lack of Well-being among Nursing Home Residents. Ageing Int 41, 150–166 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-016-9240-z

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