Crucial aspects promoting meaning and purpose in life: perceptions of nursing home residents

BMC Geriatrics

Research Article

Jorunn Drageset¹  Oscar Tranvåg²  Gørill Haugan³ 

[1] Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Inndalsveien 28, N-5005, Bergen, Norway;Centre for Elderly and Nursing Home Medicine, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway;Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Inndalsveien 28, N-5005, Bergen, Norway;Centre for Elderly and Nursing Home Medicine, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway;Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Women’s Health, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway;Department of Public Health and Nursing, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway;Center for Health Promotion Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway;

关键词: Meaning;    Purpose in life;    Nursing home residents;    Well-being;    Belonging;    Treasured activities;    Spiritual connectedness;    Nursing;    Quality of life;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12877-017-0650-x

 received in 2017-04-10, accepted in 2017-10-19,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMeaning and purpose in life are fundamental to human beings. In changing times, with an aging population and increased life expectancy, the need for health care services and long-term care is likely to grow. More deeply understanding how older long-term care residents perceive meaning and purpose in life is critical for improving the quality of care and the residents’ quality of life. The purpose of this study was to explore crucial aspects promoting nursing home residents’ experience of meaning and purpose in everyday life.MethodAn exploratory hermeneutical design with qualitative interviews for collecting data.ResultsFour key experiences were found to promote meaning and purpose in life: 1) physical and mental well-being, 2) belonging and recognition, 3) personally treasured activities and 4) spiritual closeness and connectedness.ConclusionIn supporting meaning and purpose in life of nursing home residents, the residents’ everyday well-being should be a central focus of care and facilitate personally treasured activities. Focused attention should also be given to the meaning-making power of experiencing belonging, recognition and spiritual connectedness.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017