ABSTRACT
One of the aging contexts is the nursing home, but little attention has been dedicated to the institutionalization process, particularly from a developmental and ecological perspective. Thus, we designed a qualitative study to explore the experience of transition and adaptation of 15 elderly who were institutionalized in a nursing home for more than a year. Participants were interviewed and content analysis identified a common theme - Experience of Institutionalization, which integrates three domains: Decision making, Process of institutionalization, and Positioning to institutionalization. The results suggest that institutionalization is a transition that does not always result in adaptation, and that the elderly participation in the decision making and the environmental characteristics are fundamental in this process.
Keywords:
aging; transition; adaptation; institutionalization in nursing home; social gerontology