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The Good Life in Care Homes–a Qualitative Investigation with Residents, Relatives, Care Workers and Managers

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Abstract

Western societies are aging, and many older adults need or will soon need care in care homes. Life quality and well-being are widely discussed also concerning older adult residents in care homes. However, no studies have attempted a comparative approach to investigate life quality from the perspective of all the central stakeholders in care homes – residents, care workers, relatives, and management. The present study seeks to illuminate and compare life quality perceptions among residents, care workers, relatives, and managers in care homes. 14 participants from the stakeholder groups were interviewed in semi-structured open-ended interviews. Data analysis was conducted in accordance with the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis framework. The study underlines the diversity of older adults. Rather than considering older adults as one homogeneous group, older adults hold diverse and sometimes conflicting ideas on life quality. Additionally, values on life quality and well-being are different between the four groups. Care workers and managers have the added difficulty of trying to balance values on good health and good health care while still incorporating the residents’ and relatives’ values in care work. These differences can lead to disagreements and potential conflicts. Care work should be considered a complex task where the personal values of each involved party can easily conflict with others.

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Notes

  1. […] marks a deletion of material. Usually repetitions, stutters etc. In some cases, interposed questions has been deleted to ease reading.

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Acknowledgements

We extend our thanks to the VELUX foundation for the full funding for the present project, to the OPEN, Odense Patient data exlorative Network, the involved Municipality, and all the participating institutions and individual participants for their collaboration.

Funding

The VELUX Foundation has funded this research under grant no. 00018143.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit for Clinical Alcohol Research, University of Southern, J.B. Winsløws Vej 18, Entrance 220B, 5000, Odense, Denmark

    Jakob Emiliussen & Regina Christiansen

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Region of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Jakob Emiliussen

  3. Department for the Study of Culture, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Jakob Emiliussen, Søren Engelsen, Regina Christiansen & Søren Harnow Klausen

  4. Odense Patient Data Explorative Network, OPEN, Odense University Hospital, J. B. Winsløws Vej 4, 5000, Odense C, Denmark

    Jakob Emiliussen

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  1. Jakob Emiliussen
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  2. Søren Engelsen
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  4. Søren Harnow Klausen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jakob Emiliussen.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicting interests.

Informed Consent

All participants gave written consent to participate after having received both verbal and written information about the study. Names given in the present article are all aliases to ensure anonymity.

Ethical Treatment of Experimental Subjects (Animal and Human)

The study was processed on 22 February 2018 by the Danish National Research Ethics Committee.

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Emiliussen, J., Engelsen, S., Christiansen, R. et al. The Good Life in Care Homes–a Qualitative Investigation with Residents, Relatives, Care Workers and Managers. Ageing Int 48, 16–40 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-021-09438-6

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