"I Didn't Even Make My Bed": Hospital Relocations and Resident Adjustment in Long-Term Care Over Time

This prospective longitudinal qualitative study sought to identify the conditions that help or hinder older adults' capacities to adjust to long-term care (LTC) when relocating from hospital.

Informed by the principles of constructivist grounded theory, this study employed semi-structured interviews with LTC home residents. Participants were interviewed 4 weeks after their initial relocation, and again every 6 months until they had either resided in their final LTC home for at least 3 months or been enrolled in the study for 2 years. Transcribed interviews were analyzed using the constant comparative method that employs the principle of comparison to guide the analytic process.

A total of nine residents participated in 24 interviews and most had undergone two or more moves. Analysis of the data revealed that multiple forced moves challenged residents' capacities to find home in LTC by contributing to anxiety and uncertainty, hindering resident-staff relations, and interfering with residents' desires to connect with one another. Analysis of the data further revealed that relocation frameworks may require adaptations to more accurately reflect older adults' experiences with relocation from hospital to LTC.

Hospital relocations pose many challenges to residents' capacities to find home in LTC, in part, because they initiate a process of multiple moves. Until the moving process from hospital truly acknowledges and explores residents' preferences, offers choices, and supports joint decision making, it will remain challenging for the LTC home sector to help residents find meaning, purpose, and home in LTC.