Lived Experiences Of The Elderly Under Institutional Care. A Case Of Batanai Old Age Home, Gweru, Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to explore the lived experiences of the elderly under institutional

care at Batanai Old Age Home in Gweru, Zimbabwe. The research explored the lives of the

residents taking note of the reasons behind their admission into the institution, the positive and

negative aspects of staying in an institution. The study also looked at the coping strategies that

they adopted and the support systems required in nursing homes to ensure the wellbeing of the

residents.The target population consisted of 10 residents at Batanai Old Age Home. Purposive

sampling procedure was used and thus, 7 residents were found to be eligible for the

interviews. The sample consisted of both males and females. Data was collected through the

use of in-depth semi-structured interviews with 7 participants. The researcher used Thematic

Analysis to analyze the data. The data was processed in the following 6 phases:

i. Familiarizing with data

ii. Coding

iii. Searching for themes

iv. Reviewing themes

v. Defining and naming themes

vi. Writing up

On the lived experiences, 8 themes were identified. The first 6 themes covered the negative

aspects then the other 2 themes covered the positive aspects. The themes included:

background information, relations with caregivers and other residents, security, dignity,

longing for familial relations, “this is not our home,” autonomy and feeling optimistic about

living in a nursing home. 4 coping strategies adopted by the inmates were: acceptance,

rationalization, avoidance and passive coping strategies. The researcher observed that the

inmates received more of physical, spiritual and social support than psychological support.

Conclusion: The residents do face some benefits and challenges by staying in a nursing home.

In order for them to cope, the elderly invent some coping strategies as supported by

Goffman’s Total Institutions theory. Psychological services are very important at an institution

so that whenever the residents feel distressed, psychological help is made available to them.

Recommendations: There is need to ensure that psychological services are made available at

the institution so that the elderly can be helped when they face challenges. The Caregivers

should get some more training to enhance the upkeep of the residents.