Keeping a good heart: The experience of Japanese elders in a health-care facility for the elderly

• Published in: Japan journal of nursing science : JJNS 2004-08, Vol.1 (1), p.27-34
• Main Authors: HAMAHATA, Akiko, MAGILVY, Kathy, HOSHINO, Junko, KOMATSU, Misa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: elderly; experience; health-care facility; Older people; qualitative descriptive study; relocation
• ISSN: 1742-7932; 1742-7924
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1742-7924.2004.00007.x

Aim:  To clarify the experience of elderly people admitted to a health‐care facility for the elderly. Methods:  An ethnographic approach and qualitative descriptive design was used to understand and describe the viewpoints of the elderly living in a health‐care facility. A semistructured interview was conducted in the resident's room. One at a time, the transcript of each participant's interview was read repeatedly and the parts corresponding to the participant's experience were extracted and analysed qualitatively. Results:  The participants were seven elderly residents of a health‐care facility for the elderly who were over 65 years of age and able to converse. The current experience of the seven elderly participants were divided into seven categories based upon the qualitative descriptive analysis: family ties, emotional response to entering the facility, rehabilitation to support independence, principles for living and getting along with others, life after leaving the facility, relationships with facility staff, and memories. An over‐arching theme was also identified, ‘keeping a good heart’ described as following the category descriptions. Conclusions:  Keeping a good heart symbolized the resilience and positive acceptance of life in the health‐care facility for the elderly.