Understanding the social life of older men living in care homes
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding the social life of older men living in care homes and its impact on their wellbeing – an ethnographic study
IRAS ID
177009
Contact name
Adriano / AM Maluf
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of East Anglia
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 2 days
Research summary
Throughout their lives, men develop a pattern of social life often distinct from that of women. Men make up only 26.4% of the residents in care homes in England and Wales aged 65+ while male staff represent only 14% of the work force.
This research addresses a gap in the literature by answering these questions:
1. How do older men in care homes perceive their social lives?
2. How are social relationships and the delivery of care shaped in relation to residents’ gender?
3. How does the predominance of females in care home environments impact on male residents’ social experiences and their sense of wellbeing?This research uses ethnographic observations and interviews to explore the social lives of male residents in care homes, allowing the researcher to socially interact with individuals in the setting and observe them in communal areas of the care home. Ethnographic interviews will explore relevant topics picked up in the ethnographic observations. Care homes’ policies and care plans of selected residents will complement the data set.
Three care homes have been selected as prospective settings for the research. Each selected care home provide different level of care.
The sampling of participants will consist of selecting three cases studies for ethnographic observations and interviews within each of the three care homes. Each case study comprises a male resident, his visitors, key-care workers and closer peers who the resident has recurrent interactions with. Participants within case studies will undertake ethnographic observations and interviews. Non case study participants will be involved in the ethnographic observations only. Verbal consent will be gained on an on-going basis.
The data collection will sample different times of the day and different days of the week. Analyses will be simultaneously conducted alongside the data collection. Thematic analyses will be conducted across the different dataset.
REC name
Social Care REC
REC reference
15/IEC08/0039
Date of REC Opinion
16 Jul 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion