It is important to evaluate how residents, their significant others, and professional caregivers experience life in a nursing home to improve quality of care based on their needs and wishes.... Show moreIt is important to evaluate how residents, their significant others, and professional caregivers experience life in a nursing home to improve quality of care based on their needs and wishes. Narratives are a promising method to assess this experienced quality of care as they enable a rich understanding, reflection, and learning. In the Netherlands, narratives are becoming a more substantial element within the quality improvement cycle of nursing homes. The added value of using narrative methods is that they provide space to share experiences, identify dilemmas in care provision, and provide rich information for quality improvements. The use of narratives in practice, however, can also be challenging as this requires effective guidance on how to learn from this data, incorporation of the narrative method in the organizational structure, and national recognition that narrative data can also be used for accountability. In this article, 5 Dutch research institutes reflect on the importance, value, and challenges of using narratives in nursing homes. Show less
Background and Objectives: In this study, we examine the experience of aging and subjective views of what it means to age well among older adults with a migrant background in the Netherlands. We... Show moreBackground and Objectives: In this study, we examine the experience of aging and subjective views of what it means to age well among older adults with a migrant background in the Netherlands. We embed the study within the successful aging debate and tackle two of its most persistent critiques: the failure to adequately include subjective views in the definition of aging well and the failure to recognize that the process of aging is culturally determined.Research Design and Methods: The research draws on qualitative data collected through eight focus-group discussions with the six largest migrant groups in the Netherlands, namely Indo-Dutch and Moluccans, and migrants with Western, Surinamese, Antillean, Turkish, and Moroccan background.Results: The study findings show that in general older migrants experience aging more positively than commonly assumed. Nevertheless, some negative aspects of aging were also mentioned. These together with fears about the future underpin participants' perceptions about aging well. Key aspects of successful aging include remaining healthy, independent, and engaged. Differences between and within groups exist in the meaning given to these concepts and the extent to which other specific aging-related wishes were mentioned. These differences are rooted in participants' experiences of the migration event, employment history, and their current socioeconomic conditions.Discussion and Implications: We conclude that the life course perspective is essential in understanding migrants' aging process and their views on successful aging, and suggest that policies and interventions which promote disease prevention and tackle social exclusion will be beneficial for older adults with a migration background. Show less
