What Does Joy in Living Mean to Elderly Residents of Nursing Homes in Singapore?

Abstract

The rapid ageing of Singapore’s population has led to the phenomenon of more elderly spending more total years in nursing homes. This study aimed to explore the meaning of Joy in Living to elderly residents of nursing homes in Singapore, the enabling and disenabling conditions to Joy in Living in nursing homes and how Person-centered Care can support Joy in Living in nursing homes. The concept of Joy in Living is used in this study as it is unique to an individual elderly’s experience; The study employed hermeneutical phenomenological research methodology to allow for the exploration of Joy in Living in lived experiences of elderly residents through in-depth sixteen semi-structured interviews with elderly residents and six participant observations of three nursing homes (pre and post interviews) between July 2021 and November 2021; Seven themes for Joy in Living experiences to flourish were identified, including “supportive nursing home environment and practices”, “connectedness through meaningful relationships”, “meaningful daily living”, “fulfil the need for spiritual care”, “personal control”, “desire to be free from worries”, and “adapting to changes”, each of which explains a facet of Joy in Living experiences of the elderly residing in nursing homes. These themes include the enabling and disenabling conditions to Joy in Living in nursing homes; Focusing efforts and resources on enabling the seven themes, including fulfilling the need for spiritual care will allow Joy in Living experiences of elderly to flourish in nursing homes. This in turn promotes better psychosocial well-being of the elderly and better living environments where nursing home residents may enjoy satisfactory accommodation while spending their remaining years in joy.