Becoming institutional bodies: Socialization into a long-term care home

Abstract

This paper reports the findings from a phenomenological study examining the lived experience of moving to a long-term care facility and the process of socialization for new residents into the nursing home culture and environment. Three residents were followed over the first six months after moving to a long-term care facility using a series of in depth interviews and participant observation with residents themselves, staff members and family members. This paper focuses on the five institutional level processes related to socialization into the long-term care environment as they were experienced by the new residents. These included: placing the body, defining the body, focusing on the body, managing the body, and relating to the body. The findings point to the importance of place in the construction of institutional bodies in the long-term care context.