Four Qualities Necessary to Make a Home Feel Like Home
““A theme emerging from the literature is that creating a home-like environment is important for enhancing residents’ Quality of Life.” (189)”
Moving to a new city can be pretty tough as it is. Could you imagine leaving the home that you lived in most of your life? A home that symbolizes the legacy you built up and the memories of the life you built?
Without even tackling some of the emotions behind leaving, then you have to tackle the emotions of moving to a new home, with what you know may be the final years of your life. In the case of such a situation, what becomes necessary in establishing that place as home?
The research by Adeline Cooney states this:
“Four categories emerged as critical to ‘finding home’: ‘continuity’, ‘preserving personal identity’, ‘belonging’ and ‘being active and working’. (191)”
To help out you skimmers, those four categories are:
Continuity
Preserving personal identity
Belonging
Being Active and working
What do each of these mean? We’re going to tackle these today as something you should look for but also something you should nurture when a friend or family member enters a new home.
Continuity
Continuity might be defined as the degree to which we are able to continue business as usual. When I moved into a new home, I wanted to get an idea of my new routine -- which was really an investigation of how to maintain my old routine -- things like where would I work out, where would I do my groceries, how would I get to work. I had to do all of those things, so I just wanted to know how I’d be maintaining my current way of life.
The researchers say that :
The degree to which participants could maintain personal routines mirrored the degree to which they were able to exert control over their day-to-day life. (191)
I believe that this sense of control and autonomy helps one’s overall quality of life. We don’t lose a need for autonomy and personal volition as we age. Maintaining control over a personal routine, establishing continuity, helps us exercise that.
Preserving Personal Identity
In many ways, it seems that the research saw that maintaining personal identity seemed to be done with space. Having a room of your own, personalizing that room -- these things seemed to be essential to preserving personal identity.
Participants who had a room of their own had greatest opportunity to create a personal space. (192)
Participants who ‘created’ their own space usually considered the facility their home. (192)
This includes anything from having your own furniture or just feeling like you have your things that help you feel like the space has your mark on it. We certainly do this with our cubicles, our desks, and definitely with our homes, our offices, our bedrooms. Again, this need doesn’t expire with age -- it needs to be maintained by helping someone maintain their sense of their own personalized space. The researchers found the opposite to be true as well:
In contrast, participants living in large open-plan wards often experienced a sense of homelessness, expressed as a feeling of transience or impermanence. (192)
When the home lacks some of your personal furnishings and a sense of your affectations, it can feel like a hotel or just something you’re passing through. You never take ownership in the home. It is important then that as our loved ones transition, we find the items from their home that help them feel like the space is truly theirs. Perhaps it’s some paintings they did. Perhaps it’s a favorite chair. Maybe it’s photos of loved ones, or a bookshelf of favorite books. All of these things help a home really begin to feel like home.
Belonging
The researchers defined belonging in this way:
‘Belonging’ was defined as being part of the group and experienced as a sense of solidarity, companionship, relaxation, and fun. (192)
Residents who felt connected to each other, who felt like they looked out for each other or that they were part of a group, felt a better sense of home.
Staff in these facilities created opportunities for residents to interact. (192)
As someone who “hosts” one of our weekly activities, Movie Day, residents can sometimes fall asleep during the movie, and that can feel a little bit like “Why are we even doing this then?” That said, I think movie day brings the residents together in a more meaningful way, and it helps them gather in a non-competitive environment (unlike Bingo) and in something where they just feel a sense of “togetherness” just by sitting not by doing (unlike exercise).
On Being Active and Working
Many assisted livings provide this feeling with activities like gardening or coloring or games:
All facilities provided activities for residents, for example, gardening, painting, and card games. (192)
I think one of the biggest things though is for residents to remain active in the world at large.
...some participants retained an interest in what was happening in what was happening in the world, were animated and held strong opinions. (192)
We have a resident here whose wife brings in the newspaper for myself and one of the other residents. Just reading the newspaper between the three of us helps us feel connected to each other but also to the outside world. Our resident who reads the paper stays up on sports and current events, and I think in doing so that helps her feel like she preserves her sense of self, maintains continuity, connects to us as well as the outside world.
Conclusion
So as you look around for a home or if someone you know is already in a home, look for or help them find these parts:
Continuity - a feeling like they maintain their way of life
Sense of Self - a way to personalize their surroundings or still feel like they exercise personal expression
Belonging - a connection to the group
Action or Working - activities and events that engage them or ways to feel connected to the outside world
One last thought that’s worth noting is the role of the staff in this chain of events.
...staff do not always recognize their role in supporting residents to form relationships. Friendships have been found to influence an individual’s psychological well-being morale, and overall QoL. This emotion-focused work is as important as physical-orientated care. (195)
It was important to participants that staff were physically and emotionally accessible to them. (194)
... Staff continuity was vital if participants were to build this ‘special’ relationship. (194)
The research clearly highlights that the effects of staff on quality of life is huge. They provide those connection points. They facilitate continuity and preservation of sense of self. Staff that can build relationships with residents help along the feeling of a place being more than just a house but a community or a home.
I leave with this last quote from the researchers:
“This study highlights the importance of moving beyond a focus on technical and procedural aspects of care to meeting the holistic and relationship needs of the individual.” (196)
It’s important then that as we move forward with finding out the best for aging and seniors that we continue to look at the whole picture -- not just medication or immunology, but also how to foster lively community even to the end.
Sources Cited:
Cooney, A. (2010). ‘Finding home’: a grounded theory on how older people ‘find home’ in long-term care settings. International Journal of Older People Nursing, 7, 188-199. Doi: 10.1111/j.1748-3743.2011.00278.x