Living with dementia in a care home: Capturing the experiences of residents

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to consider the experiences and perspectives of residents with dementia living in a care home. Design/methodology/approach - The paper reviews current sources of evidence about ''the care home experience'', including material drawn from: research instruments, interviews, observational methods and phenomenological research which aims to capture the lived experiences of residents. Findings - Research that is attempting to capture the lived experiences of residents further adds to the understanding of quality of life (QoL) and quality of care. Specifically, residents prioritise non-disease-related domains of QoL, which is somewhat different than those identified by relatives, care home staff and ''objective'' measures. Originality/value - Not only is it evident that residents are able to describe aspects of their situation but they appear to retain a sense of self and identity. There is a distinctive need for assessment of QoL amongst residents with dementia that places their subjective view of this concept at its core.