Women in assisted living facilities : the social construction of identity in old age /
Society faces a huge challenge in addressing the issue of how to care for the growing population of physically frail yet mentally alert elderly. A new residential and care option for frail seniors, assisted living facilities, are non-medical residential settings which provide help with the tasks of...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
2002.
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic books |
| Summary: | Society faces a huge challenge in addressing the issue of how to care for the growing population of physically frail yet mentally alert elderly. A new residential and care option for frail seniors, assisted living facilities, are non-medical residential settings which provide help with the tasks of daily living. Despite the fact that almost a million Americans live in such facilities, little research has been done in these settings. Given that the typical resident of such facilities is an 85-year old widow, it is imperative that we understand what it means for women to move into, and reside in, such settings. This qualitative study was designed to increase understanding of women's experiences in assisted living facilities. Three research questions guided this study: 1) why do women move into assisted living facilities; 2) to what did they have to adjust upon this move; and 3) how do women construct their identities and their sense of aging here. To answer these questions, in-depth, unstructured interviews were conducted with 18 women in three assisted living facilities in southeastern Texas. Using the theoretical frame of symbolic interactionism, interview transcripts were analyzed and coded. It was found that women moved into assisted living through a confluence of factors, including failing health, a desire to maintain autonomy and privacy, the death of a husband or other significant person, not wanting or being able to live alone, not wanting to be a burden on relatives, and losing the ability to drive. The challenges women faced in becoming accustomed to such facilities included learning to live on a schedule and living apart from old friends and neighbors. While some friendships were formed in these facilities, they were often not very intimate. Resisting the category of "old" is difficult in an age-segregated community, but many of the women in this study were actively combating negative stereotypes of aging, especially as applied to themselves. A positive identity was maintained through the use of several strategies, including distancing oneself from mentally challenged residents and not considering oneself old. Recommendations were made to administrators and researchers based on these findings. |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Educational Human Resource Development". |
| Physical Description: | xi, 157 leaves ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilm Inc. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-150). |