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Ruptures of affiliation: social isolation in assisted living for older people

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2017

JARI PIRHONEN ,
ELISA TIILIKAINEN  and
ILKKA PIETILÄ
JARI PIRHONEN*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social Sciences and Gerontology Research Center, University of Tampere, Finland.
ELISA TIILIKAINEN
Affiliation:
Department of Social Sciences and Business Studies, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
ILKKA PIETILÄ
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social Sciences and Gerontology Research Center, University of Tampere, Finland.
*
Address for correspondence: Jari Pirhonen, Faculty of Social Sciences and Gerontology Research Center, 33014 University of Tampere, Finland E-mail: jari.pirhonen@staff.uta.fi
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Abstract

Transfer from a private home to an assisted living facility has been pictured as a major change in an older person's life. Older people themselves tend to perceive the change as something eventual that breaks the bonds and familiarities of previous life. The aim of this article is to shed light on residents’ chances to reach affiliation (as Nussbaum defines it) in their new living surroundings, and thus adjust to that social environment. Based on ethnographical data gathered in a Finnish sheltered home in 2013–14, we studied residents’ affiliations through ruptures, namely residents’ perceived social isolation. Social isolation was found to be connected with two separate social worlds: the one inside the facility and the one outside. Social isolation resulted from different factors connected to the quality of social interaction with co-residents and the staff, daily routines of the institution and residents’ personal life histories. Also, residents’ older friends seemed to avoid visiting care facilities which caused perceived social isolation. This article deepens the insights into the perceived social isolation of assisted living and thus helps care providers to create new strategies to enable due affiliation for their residents.

Keywords

social isolationaffiliationassisted livingolder peopleethnography
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 38 , Issue 9 , September 2018 , pp. 1868 - 1886
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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