[Being a nursing home resident--a challenge for one's identity].

Abstract

When entering the nursing home, elderly people are afraid of losing their independence and identity. That is why the entry into a nursing home turns out be a critical experience for the people affected. A systematic literature research on this topic illustrates that the impacts of a nursing home entry on the identity of these people have only scarcely been investigated so far. In the present study, 20 problem-centred interviews with residents of three different nursing homes were conducted and analysed according to the summarizing content analysis developed by Mayring (2007). The result shows that moving into a nursing home is accompanied by a strong emotional burden as these people have to leave behind their friends, families, pets, long-time neighbours and property. Moreover, other residents of the nursing home create fear through their need of care. The test persons participating in the present study do not want to have their decisions and actions imposed from outside because of their need of nursing care. They protest against it. They draw enough strength from the social network they maintain, from conversations and from their faith in order to fight for their independence. They develop a new identity close to their former identity by maintaining autonomy and mobility, and they stay future-oriented.