| Mr. 10 is over 90 years old when he is admitted to the nursing home, after a period of being in hospital because of a bacterial infection. He has travelled a lot, and therefore feels imprisoned in the nursing home. He has difficulties with living in a small room and sharing the bathroom. Furthermore, he misses liveliness, thinks his view from the window is boring, and wishes to converse more with other people (he has no children, most of his friends died, he cannot get along with other residents, and the nurses have not much time to talk). These factors violate his dignity. In between the 2nd and 3rd interview, Mr. 10 is relocated to another nursing home nearby, where he has his own living room, separate bedroom, kitchenette and bathroom for himself. Whereas the small room first seemed to violate his dignity, more space does not necessarily enhance his sense of dignity now. Although he is pleased with it, a restless feeling remains. This has to do with the structure in the nursing home, of which he feels he is ought to comply with, but at the same time he is tired of adjusting at his age: “Well, dignity… I really have to adjust again to everything that goes on here. No, I don’t feel that I’m my own person at all anymore. Because now I’m often forced to be somewhere at a certain time. I’m not in control of the appointments. The times here are determined by the dentist, the optician, everything has to be arranged… And all I can do is say whether I can manage to be there or not.” His restless feeling has also to do with all nurses coming in just like that so that his private life has disappeared, and the long waiting times for help; the same factors that threatened his dignity in the first interview. And these factors continue to threaten his dignity in the 4th interview as well.In short, Mr. 10 expected his dignity to be enhanced in a new living environment (nicer people, a bigger room), but the violation of his dignity appears to be more strongly influenced by his individual difficulties to cope with adjustments: “It [sense of dignity] has not much changed [since moving to another nursing home]. It’s just a question of… How should I put it… I’ve spent ten years living independently, alone, and now I’m amongst other people, so my dignity has gone.” |
