College Honors Program

“Tell Your People I’m Coming to Your Funeral”: Older Adult Relationships as Contextualized by the Assisted Living Setting

Date of Creation

5-31-2023

Document Type

Campus Access Only

First Advisor

Renee L. Beard

Abstract

An aging population and an influx of older adults into assisted living (AL) facilities has influenced significant research that asks how the AL setting impacts older adults’ ability to pursue meaningful relationships that are crucial to their wellbeing. This ethnographic study aims to capture the culture of relationships at a small, private, assisted living facility in Central Massachusetts. Data collection was carried out in a concentrated, month-long study that included 30 hours of observation and informal conversation with 23 AL residents. Inductive data analysis produced unique themes along a continuum of resident experiences, which are reproduced in this study using their words. Findings reveal the variety of social approaches that different AL residents took as they established themselves at the AL while making, developing, and maintaining relationships. In tandem with relevant literature that suggests that old people carry core pieces of their identities for their entire lives, analysis suggests that friendships and partnerships provide an interesting lens for examining how old people in assisted living construct their identities. Overall, this study suggests that the key to improving the reality of AL social life may be to empower and exercise old people’s identities.

Comments

Reader: Ara Francis

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