Learning Objective #1: Describe a substantive theory explaining the processes related to living in a nursing home as a working-age adult

Learning Objective #2: Describe the relationship of institutional variables to working-age residents' ability to “make a life”

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Although working-age (22-64 years of age) nursing home residents represent 12% of the total nursing home beds (CDC, 2002), little research exists on what it is like to live in a nursing home as a working-age adult. The purpose of this study was to develop a substantive theory, using grounded theory analytic methods to describe and explain how working-age disabled nursing home residents perceive their everyday life in a nursing home. Theoretical sampling of 20 working-age adults currently living in nursing homes, yielded 80 hours of interviews transcribed verbatim and 60 hours of field study. “Making a Life” emerged as the core variable instead of the typical focus of “Making a Living” usually associated with working-age adults. Glaser's (1978) theoretical Six C coding family was used to conceptualize how the substantive codes related to each other. The Cause, institutional variance, and Covariant, bureaucratic indifference, contributed to the Consequence: the residents' perception of tension in their effort to “Make a Life.” These variables create an environment or Context in the nursing home that can either enhance or interfere with the working-age resident's ability to make a life. The contextual concepts include: mutual dehumanization, medicalization of social needs, lack of privacy, and disconnection and diversion. The concepts related to the residents' responses to this environment are categorized into two groups: Contingencies which included personal variables and Conditions such as sources of support and the resident's negotiation style. This presentation will focus on the institutional variables. Understanding the processes involved in living in a nursing home, as a working-age adult will contribute to the well being of this invisible population.