A very productive meeting with Robert Telfer, Development Officer in West Lothian has highlighted a really salient point: that care homes are really homes.
Ultimately, while residential care is a ‘service’, it has a different feel and different boundaries, because it is also home for its residents. Any changes to this setting need to carefully consider the impact on residents and their comfort. It must also involve them in design and decision making throughout…
After all:
“Home is existential and experiential. It is where domestic lives are played out. Home is a myriad of things: a set of relationships with others, a statement about self image and identity, a place of privacy, a set of memories, and a social and psychological space.” (Oldman 2002: 230)
* Oldman, Christine (2002) Understanding Care, Welfare and Community: A Reader edited by Bacigalupo, V., Bornat, J., Bytheway, B., Johnson, J., Spurr, S.