A Bit(e) of the Everyday- The Meaning of Meals in the New Living Units for Elderly: En bid/en lille del af hverdagen- Måltiderendes betydning i et leve- og bomiljø

The aim of this qualitative study was to identity and interpret the experiences, values and meanings of the meals among a small group of elderly living in the new living units. Meals in this study include preparations and cleaning up besides the actual meal. Living units are a new way of organising nursing homes in Denmark. Data were collected through participant observation during mealtimes in one unit and by interviewing and analysed using a comparative and interpretative approach. The themes identified that meals gave time and space for: a homely place, a lived community, being somebody and being yourself and for having valued doings. The conclusion was that the way meals were arranged shaped most of everyday life in the unit. They gave room for everyday life by shaping a homely place and enabled a living community that acted in and put life to the everyday. Meals also made it possible to be somebody and to be yourself shaping your own reality in the everyday life and to have valued doings that gave substance to everyday life.