Et hjem er mer enn et hus  - en studie av hjemfølelse på et bokollektiv for eldre

Abstract

The main focus of this thesis is how an institution for elderly people provides a sense of home for those who live there. In the thesis I raise the following main research question; In what ways is the institution a home for the residents? Based in the main question, three subquestions were raised: What is a home for the residents? What is required for the residents to call the institution a home? Can a feeling of home be strengthened at the institution?

Fieldwork was undertaken during the summer of 2011, when I worked as an assistant caretaker at an institution. I undertook qualitative interviews with and participant observation of the residents while also being an employee at the institution. To be an employee gave me the opportunity to also be a researcher during work hours. This provided invaluable insights into the daily life and home making practices at the institution.

The theoretical framework consists of theories related to ideas about home, institutions as homes and how elderly people mobilize senses of home at an institution. Crucially, these needs to be seen as connected. To analytically answer the research questions, then, this study draws on of theories from critical geographies of home. Home is a complex concept, which contains different meanings and aspects for humans. The meaning of home is connected to more than a physical building. Home is a place filled with ideas, symbolism, and is often a place for gend er roles. Human’s ideas of home are not separate from the context in which they exist.

Empirically the study shows that to have a place to live is not the same as having a home. One of the most formidable challenges for the care sector is to provide the elderly with a place they identify as their home. Unfortunate some will not experience this because of their mental or physical condition, their longing for their former homes, and a lack of a lack of individuality within the structures of an institution.