‘You can get in alright but you can't get out’: Social exclusion and men with dementia in nursing homes: insights from a single case study

Abstract

The social exclusion of people with dementia is a problem. Older men with dementia in nursing homes are at considerable risk of social exclusion due to factors associated with age, gender, mental health status and this setting. It is not known whether older men in this situation experience it as social exclusion or not. Drawing on a detailed case study from a male participant involved in a larger study on social exclusion, this paper highlights and explores masculine experiences of, and responses to, nursing home life. In this single case study it was found that social exclusion was experienced in an economic, spatial and emotional sense, and the participant aligned himself with other men in the home and masculine behaviours, perhaps to deal with that. Implications for care home practice and research are discussed. The paper concludes that more attention needs to be paid to the influence of gender and, in particular, to the different needs and experiences of older men with dementia in receipt of care generally.