THE FIVE SENSES OF HOME FRAMEWORK

Authors: Board, M.

Conference: IAGG Asia/Oceania 2015 Congress

Dates: 19-22 October 2015

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to present the findings from a PhD that explored the meaning of home for six baby boomers in the UK. Understanding what home means can help individuals, health and social care professionals make plans for the future that can enable an individual to age in place, wherever that place maybe.

■Material and methods Given the complexity of trying to understand the meaning of home a qualitative interpretative approach was adopted, an approach that has been influenced by hermeneutics, but with a focus on the various layers of interpretation to achieve an understanding of meaning. Using participant generated photographs of their ‘home’ a deep understanding of their meaning of home was revealed. This presentation will discuss the various layers of interpretation adopted in this study, from the participant generated photographs, photo elicitation interview , interpretative panels, and the last stage in the thesis of interpreting all the data collected to present the meaning of home for the six participants.

■Results The findings revealed the sensual nature of home. For example the participants shared how comforting the familiar sounds of home were, the texture of bed linen, smell of favourite food, feeling safe and secure, or views of the garden can be significant for their meaning of home. Given this evocative sense of home a new ‘Five Senses of Home Framework’ is proposed. ■Conclusions Using the qualitative approach used in this study could help health and social care staff explore the meaning of home with an individual who needs to articulate the taken for granted experience of home. This paper will conclude with how the senses of home framework could be used in a clinical setting to support an individual retain a sense of home.

Source: Manual