Culture of Care in Nursing Homes, Iran: An Ethnographic Study

Abstract

Background: A large proportion of the world population is composed of elderly people. The aging of the population and its increase necessitates the need for long-term care and nursing homes, consequently. Identifying relevant cultural factors in nursing homes may represent care needs and whether such needs have been met or not. The aim of this article was to explore the culture of nursing care for elderly people in nursing homes in Iran.Methods: This study was undertaken using a focused ethnographic approach in two nursing homes in Iran. Data were collected through fieldwork, participant observations, field notes and semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted with 26 staff and 7 residents. The collected data were analyzed through content analysisResults: The findings demonstrate that the culture of care in our context revolves around 3 categories themes including "task-oriented care ", "care deficiency " and "enthusiastic care ". In addition, 8 subcategories were identified via our data analysis. Conclusion: The results emphasize the value of cultural atmosphere embedded in nursing homes. The provided care mostly met the physical aspect and immediate needs of elderly people (task-oriented care). In addition, an improvement concerning emotional relationship with elderly people can help them better accept care and may reduce illness and disability respectively. However, in order to improve the quality of elderly's life, there is a need for higher quality of care in nursing homes.