The Lived Experiences of Nursing Home Residents in the Context of the Nursing Home as their ‘Home’. A Grounded Theory Study

Importance of home for older people Older people value their independence and want to be cared for at home (HSE, 2011; Moore & Ryan, 2014, 2017; IMO, 2016). Transition to a nursing home can be an emotional and stressful occasion for older people and their families (Ryan & McKenna, 2015; Phelan & McCormack, 2016; Hassan & O’Neill, 2017). Identifiable processes involved in the transition to residential care have been proposed as: ‘initial reaction’ or emotional responses to the move, ‘transitional influences’ such as life experience and the meaning attached to the relocation, ‘adjustment’, where the individual comes to terms with moving, and ‘acceptance’ whereby the transition period ends between six and 12 months after the move (Brandburg, 2007; Wilson, 1997). Conversely, a criticism of research in this area has been around the deliberation of transition shortly after moving, rather than as an ongoing, continuous adjustment process (Lee et al., 2002). Likewise, it has been argued that transitions are oversimplified by proposals that individuals follow conventional stages in adjustment, or by defining successful adjustment through measuring single aspects of functioning (Marshall & McKenzie, 2008), and that a disparity in the literature remains in exploring transitions qualitatively (Rossen & Knafl, 2003)