"Man får vara nöjd" : om brukarinflytande på äldreboenden

The purpose of this paper was to gain knowledge about how our senior citizens living in institutions manage their everyday life. Do they get a say on what should be done and how? Do they want to make their own decisions and is it possible for them to express needs and wishes? Is there a way to combine this sort of influence on your own way of living with the fact that many of these elderly people are not in a power position to make their own decisions? Are they overall satisfied with life in these institutions? This qualitative study is based on interviews with inhabitants of three different homes for the elderly and the management team that cares for them. The homes for the elderly that I have chosen are all in Malmö Kommun in Sweden. The analysis is based upon the interview material put in context with earlier research and the theoretical aspects I have chosen; the Engagement‐ and Disengagement Theory, Gerotranscendence Theory, the Social Breakdown Syndrome and the ExchangeTheory. Before I started working on this paper I had preconceived ideas about life in these homes for the elderly as rigid institutions where everything was predetermined by rules and regulations. I also thought that as an older and perhaps disabled person you hadn´t much say in anything really. My understanding was that if they were in an institution like this they must have a variety of activities to choose from every day so they won´t be bored and left alone. I had developed most of my views and opinions from the media who always expose the care for the elderly as inhuman and poor. While meeting and talking to the respondents I first learned that people placed in homes for the elderly are often very weak and disabled in some way. They need help with normal daily functions such as eating, cleaning themselves, preparing for bed, moving around etcetera. I also found most of them are in the age of 85 and up. Therefore they have great difficulty remaining active and additionally there seemed to be an acceptance for being old and disabled. This was how their lives had turned out and how it should be. I did not find any strong wishes to have lots to choose from and to live life any differently