Table 1.

Strategies residents use to ‘Have a Life’ and their influence on relationship development.

Strategy	Definition	Purpose	Connection to Relationship Development	Study Examples
Being Self
Continuing to Be the Same Person	Maintaining lifelong traits, demeanor, or other characteristics & preferences	Continue behaving/engaging in life in ways consistent with lifelong patterns	1. Influence daily activity preferences below	History of avoiding gossip influences resident decision not to engage with peers when they gossip.
			2. Support or impede friendly relationships	Friendly resident reaches out to peers. Solitary resident unable to make friends.
Continuing to Do the Same Things	Partaking in, or talking about, same routines, hobbies, commitments, rituals, or traditions of past	Continue behaving/engaging in life in ways consistent with lifelong patterns	Influence daily activity preferences below	Resident with a lifelong hobby of cross-stitching prefers to do for meaning which keeps her in her room & inhibits opportunities to develop friendly relationships with others.
Creating a Positive Atmosphere
Being Friendly	Acting friendly and/or neighborly to persons in the facility	Deal with living & existing with strangers	1. Interaction goal: Test how peers &/or staff will respond to interaction & relationship advances	Resident acts friendly and waits for staff/peer response. Judges relationship based on response.
			2. Support ongoing friendly peer &/or staff relationships	Taking candy to a familiar resident whose room is nearby.
Having Fun	Joking, assigning nicknames, teasing, & using humor	Deal with negative aspects of living in a facility, asking for care, & receiving care	1. Interaction goal: Make interactions more comfortable	Singing songs or being silly with staff in the bathroom during toileting.
			2. Support ongoing friendly peer &/or staff relationships	Nickname assigned after a shared experience and used regularly to make the person feel special.
Not Complaining	Not voicing disdain for infractions in expectations	Demonstrate respect for others	1. Interaction goal: Prevent negative interactions	Not speaking up because it would create friction and not change the situation.
			2. Support ongoing friendly &/or prevent unfriendly peer &/or staff relationships	Feeling staff work hard; do not complain when needs delayed. Treated with respect in return.
Avoiding Conflict	‘Staying away’ from individuals 1. one experienced or expected to experience conflict with 2. who would not reciprocate attempts to make atmosphere positive	1. Prevent threats to a positive environment 2. Prevent sustained negative interactions with others	1. Interaction goal: Prevent uncomfortable interactions where possible 2. Prevent unfriendly relationships with peers &/or staff	Staying away from another resident who has dementia, or cannot hear/see/speak clearly, does not follow conversation or keep up in a conversation making the experience of interaction difficult. Ignoring a roommate that one does not get along with.
Passing Time
Doing for the Sake of Doing	Engaging in activities that do not have inherent value	1. Make days go by; fill time 2. Have something to look forward to	1. Impede friendly peer relationships	Attending structured activities that leave little time for socialization.
			2. Support friendly peer relationships	Talking with peers between activities.
Doing for Meaning	Engaging in activities that have meaning	Continue activities consistent with past practices that were personally important	1. Support friendly peer relationships	Playing favorite games with another peer.
			2. Impede friendly peer relationships	Preferring solitary activities.
			3. Support unfriendly peer relationships	Preferring an activity disliked by a roommate.
Getting Needs Met
Active Approaches	Explicit strategies used to make needs known and get them met	1. Make a need known 2. Specific requests to make care consistent with preferences	1. Impede friendly staff relationships	Transactional exchange of care with little opportunity for talking or getting to know one another.
			2. Support unfriendly staff relationships	Staff respond poorly to care requests.
Passive Approaches	Assumption that needs will be known and met without direction	1. Allow staff to direct care 2. No need to use active approaches because staff are already aware of needs & can address them without direction	1. Support friendly staff relationships	Staff appreciate passive approaches & respond positively to residents when delivering care.
			2. Support unfriendly staff relationships	Care not accomplished; resident & staff get upset with each other.