‘What matters to me’: A qualitative study of residents’ experiences of how everyday life shapes quality of life in nursing homes
- 1Department of Nursing, ,
- 2Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Geriatric Medicine, Sunderby Research Unit, Umeå University, Sweden
Abstract
Quality of life (QoL) is a central outcome in nursing home care. Previous research has identified several threats to residents’ QoL; less attention has been paid to residents’ own understandings of what contributes to resident QoL. This study aimed to explore nursing home residents’ experiences of everyday life and what they considered important for their QoL. Seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted with residents in nursing homes. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. One overarching theme, What matters to me , comprising seven sub-themes, was generated. QoL was closely linked to maintaining a sense of self, influencing everyday life, engaging in meaningful relationships and activities and feeling understood and acknowledged. Residents described adjusting their expectations, requests and behaviour to institutional routines and resource limitations, sometimes leaving needs and preferences unexpressed. This suggests that acceptance or absence of requests may not necessarily indicate that residents’ needs and preferences are being met.
Related
- “The way I am being treated matters more to me than the TB itself”: experiences of stigma in healthcare settings among people with drug-resistant tuberculosis in Lagos, Nigeria: a qualitative study
- Navigating Intimate Physical Examination: A Qualitative Study of OBGYN Residents’ Experiences of Supervising Medical Students
- Lived experiences of psychosocial and quality of life outcomes for adults newly diagnosed with breast cancer in interior British Columbia: qualitative research
- Recovery experiences and perceptions of quality of life after percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-elevation myocardial infarction: An interpretive descriptive qualitative study
- Staff experiences of person-centred care and quality of life in nursing homes as influenced by leadership and work situation: a qualitative study.
BibTeX
@article{eldskott2026what,
title = {{‘What matters to me’: A qualitative study of residents’ experiences of how everyday life shapes quality of life in nursing homes}},
author = {Håkan Eldskott and Johan Niklasson and Annica Backman},
journal = {Nordic Journal of Nursing Research},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1177/20571585261503811},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/20571585261503811},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - ‘What matters to me’: A qualitative study of residents’ experiences of how everyday life shapes quality of life in nursing homes
AU - Håkan Eldskott
AU - Johan Niklasson
AU - Annica Backman
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/10
JO - Nordic Journal of Nursing Research
DO - 10.1177/20571585261503811
UR - https://doi.org/10.1177/20571585261503811
AB - Quality of life (QoL) is a central outcome in nursing home care. Previous research has identified several threats to residents’ QoL; less attention has been paid to residents’ own understandings of what contributes to resident QoL. This study aimed to explore nursing home residents’ experiences of everyday life and what they considered important for their QoL. Seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted with residents in nursing homes. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. One overarching theme, What matters to me , comprising seven sub-themes, was generated. QoL was closely linked to maintaining a sense of self, influencing everyday life, engaging in meaningful relationships and activities and feeling understood and acknowledged. Residents described adjusting their expectations, requests and behaviour to institutional routines and resource limitations, sometimes leaving needs and preferences unexpressed. This suggests that acceptance or absence of requests may not necessarily indicate that residents’ needs and preferences are being met.
SN - 2057-1593
SN - 2057-1585
ER -