Towards a Multidimensional Understanding of “Being Relative” in Residential Long-Term Care: Findings From a Qualitative Multiperspective Study

Abstract

Relatives are constitutive to residential long-term care, yet are often conceptualised through a functional lens that focuses on tasks or burden. This qualitative multiperspective study explores the ontological condition of “being relative” beyond these functional categories. Analysing 30 “Integrated Encounter Analyses” from two Swiss facilities, which synthesised participant observations and interviews, we identified eight constitutive dimensions organised into Situational, Relational, and Spatial-Temporal meta-dimensions. Findings reveal “being relative” not as a static role but as a dynamic movement across continua – oscillating between alienation and resonance, and institutional subjection and strategic agency. We conclude that “being relative” is a distinct existential condition characterised by permanent liminality – dwelling in the in-between rather than transitioning through it. The institutional context fundamentally shapes this existential condition: agency manifests not as resistance against but as quiet negotiation within constraints. Institutions must therefore validate the existence of this threshold and support relatives’ navigational competencies rather than forcing binary categorisations of visitors or partners.