Doing the Unknown: Spa Activities in Nursing Homes

• Authors: Tove Harnett
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

An ethnomethodological point of departure is that people rely on shared knowledge when mutually accomplishing everyday situations. Whereas most residents in a nursing home have a reasonable previous knowledge of events such as bingo or Christmas dinners, other activities such as pub evenings and spa activities are unfamiliar. Using ethnographic data from a Swedish nursing home with a “sport and spa” profile, this article investigates the challenges of arranging spa activities, an activity often unknown among residents. The findings show how residents’ lack of spa knowledge was found to cause problems, especially when they did not interpret the indexical expressions as intended. Where Garfinkel’s indexicality is predicated on actors being able to use shared knowledge, this study demonstrates that a lack of shared knowledge enables some actors to reshape the activity they wish to accomplish.

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Łódzki. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
• Journal: Qualitative Sociology Review
• Year: 2018
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 86-104

Dates

published

2018-08-28

Contributors

author

Tove Harnett

• Lund University, Sweden

References

• Carlstedt, Elisabeth. forthcoming. “A Fun, Active and Sociable Life on Display – Nursing Home Presentations on Instagram. Ageing & Society.
• Cheng, Sheung-Tak et al. 2012. “Leisure Activities Alleviate Depressive Symptoms in Nursing Home Residents with Very Mild or Mild Dementia.” American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 20(10):904-908.
• Cheung, Kam-Fong Monit. 1999. “Effectiveness of Social Work Treatment and Massage Therapy for Nursing Home Clients.” Research on Social Work Practice 9(2):229-247.
• Custers, Annette et al. 2011. “Need Support and Wellbeing during Morning Care Activities: An Observational Study on Resident-Staff Interaction in Nursing Homes.” Ageing & Society 31(8):1425-1442.
• Duffin, Christian. 2012. “Creating Activities in Care Homes.” Nursing Older People 24(2):30-31.
• Emerson, Robert M., Rachel I. Fretz, and Linda L. Shaw. 2011. Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Franklin, Lise-Lotte, Britt-Marie Ternestedt, and Lennart Nordenfelt. 2006. “Views on Dignity of Elderly Nursing Home Residents.” Nursing Ethics 13(2):130-146.
• Garfinkel, Harold. 1967. Studies in Ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Polity Press.
• Goffman, Erving. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
• Goffman, Erving. 1961. Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
• Gubrium, Jaber F. 1975. Living and Dying at Murray Manor. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press.
• Harnett, Tove. 2010. “Seeking Exemptions from Nursing Home Routines. Residents’ Everyday Influence Attempts in Relation to Institutional Order. Journal of Aging Studies 24(4):292-301.
• Harnett, Tove. 2014. “Framing Spaces in Places: Creating ‘Respite Spaces’ in Dementia Care Settings.” Dementia 13(3): 396-411.
• Harnett, Tove and Håkan Jönson. 2016. “Shaping Nursing Home Mealtimes.” Ageing & Society 37(4):823-844.
• Harnett, Tove and Håkan Jönson. 2017. “‘They Are Different Now.’ Biographical Continuity and Disruption in Nursing Home Settings.” Journal of Aging Studies 42:1-8.
• Heritage, John. 1984. Garfinkel and Ethnomethodology. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
• Hicks, T.J. 2000. “What Is Your Life Like Now? Loneliness and Elderly Individuals Residing in Nursing Homes.” Journal of Gerontological Nursing 26(8):15-19.
• Holstein, James. A. and Jaber F. Gubrium. 1995. The Active Interview. London: Sage.
• Klepp, Ingun Grimstad. 2009. “Does Beauty Come from Within? Beauty and Well-Being in Norwegian Spas.” Medische Antropologie 21(1):39-51.
• Kracker, Jacqueline et al. 2011. “Activity Preferences and Satisfaction among Older Adults in a Veterans Administration Long-Term Care Facility.” Clinical Gerontologist 34(2):103-116.
• Kulturrådet. 2013. Kultur för äldre. Värt att leva för. Kulturrådets skriftserie 2013:4. Retrieved July 15, 2018 (http://www.kulturradet.se/sv/publikationer_/Kultur-for-aldre-Vart-att-leva-for/).
• Little, Jo. 2013. “Pampering, Well-Being and Women’s Bodies in the Therapeutic Spaces of the Spa.” Social & Cultural Geography 14(1):41-58.
• Michel, Tatiane et al. 2012. “Meaning Assigned by the Elderly to the Experience at a Long Stay Institution: Contributions for the Nursing Care.” Text Context Nursing 21(3):495-504.
• Moss, Sidney Z. and Miriam S. Moss. 2007. “Being a Man in Long-Term Care.” Journal of Aging Studies 21(1):43-54.
• National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) and SKL (Sveriges kommuner och landsting). 2013. Öppna jämförelser: Vård och omsorg om äldre 2012. Stockholm: Socialstyrelsen.
• National Board of Health and Welfare. 2016. Statistik om särskilt boende. Art 2016-12-5. Retrieved June 15, 2018 (http://www.socialstyrelsen.se/ Lists/Artikelkatalog/Attachments/20404/2016-12-5.pdf).
• Nilsson, Gunilla. 2009. Trädgårdsterapi. Lund: Studentlitteratur.
• Nilsson, Magnus et al. 2018. “Nursing Homes with Lifestyle Profiles – Part of the Marketisation of Swedish Eldercare.” International Journal of Care and Caring 2(1):49-63.
• Palo-Bengtsson, Liisa, Bengt Winblad, and Susanne Ekman. 1998. “Social Dancing: A Way to Support Intellectual, Emotional and Motor Functions in Persons with Dementia.” Journal of Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing 5(6):545-554.
• Phinney, Alison, Habib Chaudhury, and Deborah L. O’Connor. 2007. “Doing as Much as I Can Do: The Meaning of Activity for People with Dementia.” Aging & Mental Health 11(4):384-393.
• Quirk, Alan, Paul Lelliott, and Clive Seale. 2006. “The Permeable Institution: An Ethnographic Study of Three Acute Psychiatric Wards in London.” Social Science & Medicine 63(8):2105-2117.
• Saarnio, Lotta et al. 2016. “Meanings of At-Homeness at Endof-Life among Older People.” Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences 30(2):312-319.
• Schreiner, A. S., E. Yamamoto, and H. Shiotani. 2005. “Positive Affect among Nursing Home Residents with Alzheimer’s Dementia: The Effect of Recreational Activity.” Aging & Mental Health 9(2):129-134.
• Scott, Marvin B. and Stanford M. Lyman. 1968. “Accounts.” American Sociological Review 33(1):46-62.
• Smith, Marianne et al. 2009. “Beyond Bingo: Meaningful Activities for Persons with Dementia in Nursing Homes.” Annals of Long Term Care 17(7):22-30.
• Stranz, Anneli and Renita Sörensdotter. 2016. “Interpretations of Person-Centered Dementia Care: Same Rhetoric, Different Practices? A Comparative Study of Nursing Homes in England and Sweden.” Journal of Aging Studies 38:70-80.
• Subaşı, Feryal and Osman Hayran. 2005. “Evaluation of Life Satisfaction Index of the Elderly People Living in Nursing Homes.” Archives of Gerontology & Geriatrics 41(1):23-29.
• Svidén, Gunilla, Britt-Maj Wikström, and Marianne Hjortsjö-Norberg. 2002. “Elderly Persons’ Reflections on Relocating to Living at Sheltered Housing.” Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy 9(1):10-16.
• Thomas, Jessica E., Beverly O’Connell, and Cadeyrn J. Gaskin. 2013. “Residents’ Perceptions and Experiences of Social Interaction and Participation in Leisure Activities in Residential Aged Care.” Contemporary Nurse: A Journal for the Australian Nursing Profession 45(2):244-254.
• Thorsell, Kajsa et al. 2010. “Time in Care for Older People Living in Nursing Homes.” Nursing Research & Practice. Retrieved June 15, 2018 (https://www.hindawi.com/journals/nrp/2010/148435/).
• Tse, Mimi M. Y. 2010. “Therapeutic Effects of an Indoor Gardening Programme for Older People Living in Nursing Homes.” Journal of Clinical Nursing 19(7-8):949-958.
• Vankova, Hana et al. 2014. “The Effect of Dance on Depressive Symptoms in Nursing Home Residents.” Journal of the American Medical Directors Association 15(8):582-587.
• Wästerfors, David. 2011. “Disputes and Going Concerns in an Institution for ‘Troublesome’ Boys.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 40(1):39-70.
• Whitaker, Anna. 2004. Livets sista boning: anhörigskap, åldrande och död på sjukhem. Stockholm: Institutionen för socialt arbete.
• Yaman, Rostam, Zarina Alias, and Norishahaini Mohamed Ishak. 2012. “Beauty Treatment and Spa Design from Islamic Perspective.” Procedia-Social & Behavioral Sciences 50:492-501.

Identifiers

DOI

10.18778/1733-8077.14.3.05