The Meaning of Everyday Meals in Living Units for Older People

Even when frail older people become unable to live on their
own and manage everyday activities, they can still experience
a variety of meanings within meal-related activities that
contribute to quality of life. This article reports research
findings that focused on the meal, from preparation to
cleaning up. Data were collected through participant
observation and by interviewing residents in a residential
living unit in Denmark, and analysed using a comparative,
interpretive approach. Living units are a new way of
organising nursing homes. In each unit, 6-8 elderly people
stay in individual flats, adjacent to which is a shared dining
room and kitchen. If the residents choose to, and are capable,
they are involved in everyday activities of the unit and eat
together with staff. This way of organising meals seems to
influence most of the everyday life in the unit by shaping a
homely place. It also enables a living community that acts in
and enlivens everyday existence. Meals themselves also
make it possible to be somebody and be yourself in ordinary
life and to make a place for valued occupations, things that
give substance to everyday life. In sum, the study found that
as an occupation, meals give time and space for daily life
and seem to be the heart of life in the unit.