Making a “home” into a home: How design of aged-care homes impacts residents

BLACKLER, Alethea, CRAIG, Claire, BROPHY, Claire and KAMALI, Fatima (2023). Making a “home” into a home: How design of aged-care homes impacts residents. Journal of Aging Studies, 65: 101135.

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Abstract

The move into residential aged care is a difficult transition for many people. The place may be called an aged-care or nursing “home”, but for many residents it does not feel like a home at all. This paper explores issues experienced by older people who are trying to make themselves at home in aged care. The authors present two studies examining residents' perceptions of the aged-care environment. The findings suggest that residents experience significant challenges. Residents' identities are influenced by their ability to keep treasured objects and personalise their rooms, and the design and accessibility of communal areas influences residents' willingness to spend time in them. For many residents, their private spaces are more appealing than communal areas, resulting in extended time alone in their rooms. However, personal items have to be discarded due to space issues and/or private rooms can become cluttered with personal items and become difficult to use. The authors suggest that much can be done to improve the design of aged-care homes and enable residents to feel more at home. Of particular importance is providing ways for residents to personalise their living space and make it feel homelike.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	1103 Clinical Sciences; Gerontology; 3202 Clinical sciences
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2023.101135
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Elements
Depositing User:	Symplectic Elements
Date Deposited:	15 May 2023 14:24
Last Modified:	11 Oct 2023 15:00
URI:	https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/31891

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