View/Open - ARAN - National University of Ireland, Galway

200
Chapter 5 Findings
is about the automatic right to live one’s life as one chooses based on the UN
Rights of Older People. The analysis of the data revealed that the participants
spoke about a person’s right to choice, right to have high expectations, right to
refuse treatment or care, right to one’s own clothes, and right to a voice.
The majority of care seemed to be applied to residents rather than them being
involved in accepting it or refusing it:
“I did her on my own, sometimes it takes two people but this
morning she kind of cooperated, you know.”
(S04)
“I think that some of the residents, they have to get showered at
least once a week.”
(S04)
“They’re all the same to me. There’s one now she put on the cream
on my legs a couple of nights ago and she’ll come and she’ll say
‘put up your leg there now on the chair now, I’m the boss’ she’ll
say, and she done it for three nights and she gave it a good going
over alright. But she can’t understand me sitting outside there. Then
the few days that I get her gone, I can be sitting outside in comfort.
She can’t understand me sitting outside.”
(R04) (Barthel 12)
Some did make big decisions, but it was observed that one resident
refused cataract surgery after initially agreeing to it:
“The female resident who was supposed to have the cataract
surgery returns after refusing to have the surgery. Her family did
not turn up at the hospital. It is unclear why she refused as it was a
procedure she had requested and had stated that she was ‘looking
forward to being able to read again’.”
(Obs – Day 2: 13.30-15.30hrs)
Staff participants discussed whether or not residentscan choose how they spend
their day, and this had a bit of a mixed response:
“Ahm, maybe one or two, the ones that are able to speak for
themselves, they certainly are able to do things the way that they
want it done but if they can’t they tend to fall into the routine,
basically.”
(H02)