미국 노인보호주택 거주자들의 ‘집’으로서의 속성에 관한 사례 연구

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify housing attributes that make residents feel 'at home' in ALFs in Southwest Virginia. For this purpose, residents' needs, experiences, and opinions of the physical environment, the social environment, and the organizational environments such as policies and programs of ALFs were identified. As a multi-case study, five ALFs in Southwest Virginia were studied using constant comparative methods of data analysis. In addition to face-to-face interviews with 25 residents and 5 administrators of five ALFs, observations were conducted with personal journal. Each facility was designed to be a single-family house or multi-family dwelling in outside appearance. Most of the respondents were satisfied with their current dwelling as a 'home' in terms of homelike attributes such as 'autonomy/privacy,' 'personalization,' 'safety and security,' 'services and care,' 'independence,' 'social interaction/friendship,' 'family support,' and 'rules and regulations.' In spite of high satisfaction with the facility, however, many people did not think of their current dwelling as a real 'home.' As the biggest difference between living in their own homes and living in the ALF, people pointed out a lack of independence and social interaction. Residents of ALFs may have reordered their priorities in their current life situation so that safety, security, and care were more important to them than feeling "at home."