Chapters authored
Well-being in Old Age: A Question of Both Continuity and Change
In this chapter, we are concerned with the well-being of people in old age, living at a residential care home (RCH), and how well-being can be supported in gerontological social work and care at the RCH. Based on empirical data consisting of well-being narratives with elderly residents (average age of 91), a dialogical performance analysis was undertaken about their experiences of well-being at the RCH. The findings of importance are reported through three themes: (1) childhood memories as a source of well-being, (2) family and work as a source of well-being, and (3) opportunities for the well-being of the elderly at the RCH. To be an individual with others is a phenomenon of a personal sense of self and a phenomenon of sociality. Well-being is also found in the individual’s self-renewal. Well-being is about a sense of both individual continuity and change. Well-being is created in social situations with others (including caregivers) in daily interactions and in human contacts at the RCH. This kind of individual self-renewal is about human growth and is a human need regardless of age. Consequently, the human growth in (and despite) old age at RCH should be the main target of gerontological social work and care.
Part of the book: Well-being and Quality of Life