The aim of this thesis was to increase the knowledge and understanding of how older people with varying needs of care perceive and experience sense of security in ordinary homes and in nursing homes.
This thesis comprised four studies, which are to be found at the end of this manuscript. The first two studies were based on the same data material, collected using focus group interviews with 45 elderly individuals living in senior housing with minimal care needs. The interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis (I, II). The third study was based on secondary analysis of a user survey of 350 older individuals in ordinary housing with some kind of elder care/service and 145 older individuals with around-the-clock care needs living in nursing homes. The material was processed using descriptive and analytical statistics (III). The fourth study followed three older individuals for 12-16 weeks, using four in-depth interviews and observations to examine the move from ordinary into nursing homes. This material was also analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The use of a personal emergency response system (PERS) was perceived as limiting the lives of elderly people, because the alarm only functions within a person’s apartment. The limited range of the PERS was perceived as reducing elders’ freedom and increasing insecurity, anxiety, and fear (I). Increased reliance on care interventions using monitoring technology, with which the individual and their position is monitored on a larger scale, was not considered a problem, as long as it led to increased security and allowed older individuals to maintain control and a sense of self (II). Perceived health, secure relationships, knowledge, and control were factors that were related to perceived sense of security in the daily lives of older individuals with care, both in ordinary homes and in nursing homes (III).
Moving to a nursing home and gradually transferring the control of one’s belongings and daily routines to care staff led to a feeling of greater safety for the older person, but not necessarily a sense of security (IV). In summary, older individuals value, prioritize, and perceive sense of security as very important in their life, but do not always experience a sense of security in ordinary housing and nursing homes. Security is perceived as something so important in life that older people will consider sacrificing their privacy and integrity in lieu of security. Because the sense of security is not always perceived and experienced as good, older individuals search for strategies that contribute to their sense of security through material objects and through relationships with other people. These results indicate that it is essential to support older individuals’ everyday life, regardless of care type, to promote a sense of security on their terms.