Living in a care home for older adults: the family members' experience

Moving into a care home is a life changing event, not just for the resident but also for the family member who may have previously acted as carer. This paper looks at focus groups that explored their experiences of moving a relative into a care home: their feelings during the process; their opinion of the quality of care that their relative receives; and factors they viewed as crucial for ensuring a good quality of life for their relative.

These focus groups formed part of a wider study conducted by the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) on the quality of life of residents in care homes for older adults. Two rounds of focus groups were held in each participating care home in order to gain an understanding of the family members’ experiences. The first round gave family members the opportunity to discuss any issues arising from the care that their relative was receiving, or concerns about the home itself. It also enabled them to debate what they felt constitutes a good quality of life for a resident of a care home. The second round enabled deeper exploration of the key themes that arose from the first round. This paper will discuss these themes, while also reflecting upon the practical issues arising from discussion of such an emotionally charged topic.