Nursing home residents' perspectives on their social relationships.
Bada Kang, Kezia Scales, Eleanor S McConnell and 3 others
PMID 31889360WHAT IT FOUND
Nursing home residents described peer relationships as their main source of belonging and purpose, while family ties maintained continuity with their past lives.
They identified state privacy rules and staffing shortages as barriers to forming meaningful connections and exercising autonomy.
Key findings
01Residents reported that peer relationships fostered a sense of belonging, purpose, and achievement, while family relationships supported a sense of continuity with their prior lives.
02Organisational factors, including state regulations preventing residents from knowing when peers had died or been discharged, and staffing shortages, were identified as barriers to forging meaningful relationships.
03Residents acted as advocates for more vulnerable peers, monitoring care quality and raising concerns about neglect or mistreatment.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The participants were screened to be cognitively intact, so the findings do not reflect the experiences of the majority of nursing home residents who have cognitive impairment. The average age of participants was 71 years, which is younger than the typical nursing home population where over half are 85 or older. The data was secondary, collected for a different study purpose, which may have limited the depth of information available on social relationships. The study was conducted in only two nursing homes in one US state, limiting generalisability.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume these findings apply to residents with significant cognitive impairment, as the study explicitly excluded them. The themes reflect the perspectives of relatively young, cognitively intact residents who may have more capacity to advocate for themselves and form peer relationships than the broader nursing home population.