This ethnographic nursing home study explores the meaning which residents make of being old and in care. Its primary focus is on the role of social and communicative interactions in maintaining residents’ sense of self. Throughout the thesis I argue that the self is socially constructed, narratively communicated and is continuous throughout the life span. This narrative, relational self is diminished in old age by bereavement and the loss of social networks, and threatened by the loneliness and isolation of the institutional environment. Nonetheless, despite the stripping of relational layers entailed in the loss of the people with whom the younger self was constructed, there is a continuing core of self which, while bending, does not break. I argue that the nursing home can be a site of recovery for this vulnerable, diminished self, offering support and the opportunity to take on new roles and form new relationships, and through these relationships, new layers of self. / Staff are key players in the healing process, and staff-resident relationships important new sources of meaning for the relational self. The ageing, marginalised self is strengthened through empathetic communication which recognises the individual person and the importance of that individual’s life, acknowledges residents’ adult status, and enhances self-esteem by enhancing personal control. For residents, telling their stories and remembering their past lives provides a means of making sense of where and who they are in the present, and of envisaging a future. Consequently, it is vital that residents have opportunities to speak and be heard, and to be recognised and spoken to. These opportunities are sometimes adequately provided by families, friends, church and other visitors and volunteers, but frequently they are not. Staff then become the main source of resident support. / The capacity of individual staff to meet residents’ communication needs is dependent on many factors including the legislative framework and funding of the aged care system, the philosophy of the individual provider organisation (translated into work routines, staffing practices, and the training, mentoring and support available to staff) and the individual personalities and communication skills of staff themselves. Continuity of staffing is a vital factor, with “Know your resident” identified by staff in this study as the most important element in understanding and recognising the needs of residents withcognitive and communicative impairment, and in building relationships which support residents and enhance their autonomy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/245489 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Tinney, Dorothy Jean |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
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