One hundred older people (75 females, 25 males), in nursing homes rated as above or below a combined criterion (based on Lieberman and Tobin's scales of physical attractiveness, affiliation fostering, and tolerance for deviancy), responded to questionnaires on cherished possessions and on adaptation to the nursing home. The main findings indicated: 1) relative to those residents without possessions, those with possessions were better adapted to the nursing home; 2) possessions served the major functions of historical continuity, comforter, and sense of belongingness; 3) relative to men, significantly more women had cherished possessions and were more likely to associate them with self-other relationships; and 4) relative to residents in nursing homes below the mean of the combined criterion, those in homes above the mean felt more in control, less helpless, more supported by staff, and were judged as more realistic in response to conflict. Interpretations regarding the role of possessions in adaptation and suggestions for institutional policies concerning possessions are discussed.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/GJPL-ATJY-KJA3-8C99 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Inessential objects: Cherished possessions in late life in Indian fiction.
J Aging Stud
December 2023
Department of English, University of Delhi, India; Honorary Associate, Sociology, La Trobe University, Australia. Electronic address:
Through close readings of three Indian short stories, this essay seeks to show how cherished possessions, such as a bed, a blanket and books, are not stable repositories of past memories but a means of materializing intergenerational relations within the family in the lived present and, perhaps even more interestingly, catalysts for new and hitherto unforeseen possibilities of self-discovery and connections with the world beyond. Part of the apparatus of self-care that older people can summon in the moment to supplement their selfhood, objects as presented in these stories appear to exceed their limited understanding as passive recipients of externally imposed meaning, with their complex and unstable signification finally shown to emerge through their mutually transformative entanglement with people.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRemembering beloved objects from early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence and the role of the five senses.
Memory
February 2023
Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany.
Beloved objects are cherished and valued possessions that we feel attached to. Previous research has demonstrated that the functions of beloved objects change across a lifespan. However, beloved objects may not only be appreciated because of their functions but also because of their sensory qualities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCarrying on life at home or moving to a nursing home: frail older people's experiences of at-homeness.
Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being
December 2022
Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen Faculty of Medicine, BERGEN, Norway.
Aims And Objectives: The aim was to explore frail older people's lived experiences of managing life at home on the verge of moving to a nursing home.
Background: As people age, their reserve capacity decreases, increasingthe risk of morbidity and frailty..
Material Citizenship: An ethnographic study exploring object-person relations in the context of people with dementia in care homes.
Sociol Health Illn
July 2021
School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
Materiality has become an increasingly important topic in sociological studies of health care. How objects support the identity of people with dementia in care homes is an emerging area. While early research has tended to focus on sentimental or cherished items (such as photographs or keepsakes), the present study focused on functional objects (such as curling tongs or a hairdryer) as a mechanism to actualise citizenship.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBeing With Objects of Meaning: Cherished Possessions and Opportunities to Maintain Aging in Place.
Gerontologist
January 2020
School of Population Health, Social and Community Health, The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Background And Objectives: Research regarding the role that cherished possessions play in experiences of aging and daily life has tended to focus on how possessions assist individuals in "looking back" and remembering important experiences, relationships, and identities. Here, we consider how the possessions that older adults keep at home inform their present experiences of aging and also facilitate the ongoing maintenance of aging in place.
Research Design And Methods: We employed an interpretive phenomenologically inspired research strategy that enabled an in-depth examination of older adult's experiences of cherished possessions.
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!