Rhetoric and reality of daily life in English care homes: the role of organised activities

Main Article Content

Ingrid Eyers
Sara Arber
Rebekah Luff
Emma Young
Theresa Ellmers

Abstract

In divergent ways, both government policy and care home practices influence the everyday life of older people living in English care homes. The rhetoric of choice for care home residents may be in conflict with the reality of government policy-driven service delivery. The aim of the article is to examine the role of organised activities in facilitating choice and active ageing among care home residents. Findings from a study of ten care homes in South East England exemplify the conflict between government policy rhetoric and the reality of care home life. The indication is that the formality of the ’’activities of daily living’’ support procedures restricts residents’ involvement in the organised social activities.Within the general provision of services, the organised ’’social activities’’ offered failed to meet the interest, cognitive and physical abilities of residents. The reality of ’’choice’’ is therefore questionable. Policy needs to support a transformation in the delivery of care to ensure it addresses the actual needs and expectations of older people experiencing care home life.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Article Details

Section
Articles

References

Agahi, N. & Parker, M. (2005). Are today’s older people more active than their predecessors? Participation in leisure-time activities in Sweden in 1992 and 2002. Ageing and Society 25(6): 925–941. [Read this article]

Arber, S., Price, D., Davidson, K. & Perrin, K. (2003). Re-examining Gender and Marital Status: Material Wellbeing and Social Involvement. In S. Arber, K. Davidson & J. Ginn (eds.), Gender and Ageing. Changing Roles and Relationships (pp. 148–167). Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Biley, F. C. (2000). The effect on patient well-being of music listening as a nursing intervention: A review of the literature. Journal of Clinical Nursing 9: 668–77. [Read this article]

Care Quality Commission (CQC). (2009). Guidance About Compliance: Judgment Framework. London: Care Quality Commission.

Clarke, A. & Warren, L. (2007). Hopes, fears and expectations about the future: What do older people’s stories tell us about active ageing? Ageing & Society 27(4): 465–488. [Read this article]

Davidson, K., Daly, T. & Arber, S. (2003). Exploring the Social Worlds of Older Men. In S. Arber, K. Davidson & J. Ginn (eds.), Gender and Ageing. Changing Roles and Relationships (pp. 168–185). Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Department of Health (DH). (2001). National Service Framework for Older People. London: HMSO.

Department of Health (DH). (2003). Care Homes for Older People, National Minimum Standards. London: HMSO.

Department of Health (DH). (2006). Our Health, Our Care, Our Say: A New Direction for Community Services. London: Crown Copyright.

Department of Health (DH). (2007). Putting People First: A Shared Vision and Commitment to the Transformation of Adult Social Care. Available on http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_081118 (Accessed: May 8, 2009)

Eyers, I. (2000). Education and training. Do they really, really want it? A comparative study of care home staff in England and Germany. Education and Ageing 15(2): 159–175.

Eyers, I. (2007). Extracting the essence of formal caregiving: A comparative study of formal care givers in English and German care homes. In I. Paoletti (ed.), Family Caregiving to Older Disabled People: Relational and Institutional Issues (pp. 273–294). New York, NY: Novascience.

Eyers, I. & Bryan, K. (2006). Professionalizing the care of older people: Transforming the workforce. Quality in Ageing 7(4): 37–45. [Read this article]

Fielding, N. (2009). Going out on a limb: Postmodernism and multiple method research. Current Sociology 57(3): 427–447. [Read this article]

Glendenning, C., Coleman, A. & Rummery, K. (2002). Partnerships, performance and primary care: Developing integrated services for older people in England. Ageing and Society 22(2): 185–208.

Goffman, E. (1961). Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates. New York, NY: Anchor.

Gunnarson, E. (2009). ’I think I have a good life’: The everyday lives of older women and men from a lifecourse perspective. Ageing and Society 29(1): 33–48. [Read this article]

Havighurst, R. J. & Albrecht, R. (1953). Older People. New York, NY: Longmam, Green and Company.

Innes, A., Macpherson, S. & McCabe, L. (2006). Promoting Person-centred Care at the Front Line. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Johnson, J., Rolph, S. & Smith, R. (2010). Residential Care Transformed: Revisiting ’The Last Refuge’. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Kaleche, A., Barreto, S. M. & Keller, I. (2005). Global ageing: The demographic revolution in all cultures and societies. In M. Johnson, V. L. Bengtson, P. Coleman & T. B. L. Kirkwood (eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Age and Ageing (pp. 30–46). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Katz, S., Ford, A., Moskowitz, R., Jackson, B. & Jaffee, M. (1963). Studies of illness in the aged: The Index of ADL, a standardized measure of biological and psychological function. JAMA 185: 94–99. [Read this article]

Lawton, M. P. & Brody, E. M. (1969). Assessment of older people selfmaintaining and instrumental activities of daily living. Gerontologist 9: 179–185. [Read this article] PMid:5349366

Lee-Treweek, G. (1997). Women, resistance and care: An ethnographic study of nursing auxiliary work. Work, Employment and Society 11(1): 47–63.

Lhussier, M., Watson, B., Reed, J. & Clarke, C.L. (2005). The SEIQoL and functional status: How do they relate? Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences 19: 403–409. [Read this article] PMid:16324066

Litwin, H. & Shiovitz-Ezra, S. (2006). The association between activity and wellbeing in later life: What really matters? Ageing & Society 26(2): 225–242. [Read this article]

Luff, R., Ellmers, T., Eyers, I., Young, E. & Arber, S. (2011). Time spent in bed at night by care homes residents. Ageing and Society 31(7): 1229–1250. [Read this article]

Markle-Ried, M. & Browne, G. (2003). Conceptualization of frailty in relation to older adults. Journal of Advanced Nursing 44(1): 58–68. [Read this article] PMid:12956670

Morton, T. & Morgan, M. (2009). Examining how personalized care planning can help patients with long term conditions. Nursing times. net. Available on http://www.nursingtimes.net/nursing-practice-clinical-research/primary-care/ (Accessed: May 21, 2010).

Paillard-Borg, S., Wang, H., Winblad, B. & Fratiglioni, L. (2009). Pattern of participation in leisure activities among older people in relation to their health conditions and contextual factors: A survey in a Swedish urban area. Ageing and Society 29(5): 803–821. [Read this article]

Reilly, S., Abendstern, M., Huges, J., Challis, V. & Pedersen, I. (2006). Quality in Long-term care homes for people with dementia: An assessment of specialist provision. Ageing and Society 26(4): 649–668. [Read this article]

Roper, N., Logan, W. W. & Tierney, A. J. (2000). The Roper-Logan-Tierney Model of Nursing: Based on Activities of Living. Edinburgh: Elsevier Health Sciences.

Rowe, J. W. & Kahn, R. L. (1997). Successful Aging. The Gerontologist 37: 433–440. [Read this article] PMid:9279031

Townsend, P. (1962). The Last Refuge: A Survey of Residential Institutions and Homes for the Aged in England and Wales. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Ungerson, C. (2000). Thinking about the production and consumption of long-term care in Britain: Does gender still matter. Journal of Social Policy 29(4): 623–643. [Read this article]

Warner Schaie, K., Boron, J. B. & Willis, S. L. (2005). Everyday Competence in older adults. In M. Johnson, V. L. Bengson, P. Coleman& T. B. L. Kirkwood (eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Age and Ageing (pp. 216–228). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

WHO (2002). Active Ageing a Policy Framework. Geneva, World Health Organisation Non Communicable Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Organisation.