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Chapter 5 Findings
Staff participants felt that those who could speak up for themselves were
able to spend their day as they wished:
“Well I wouldn’t call her headstrong but she knows what she wants
and she is determined that she is going to get it.”
(S04)
“And as well as that I think that those who can voice their opinions
are happy enough, they are sort of left.”
(S07)
However, one resident participant stated that they did not always feel
comfortable verbalising their wishes:
“I feel very vulnerable.”
(R01) (Barthel 13)
Many of the participants talked about the resident person’s clothing as a personal
right and stated that:
“All the patients would have their own clothes for a start,…I think
that’s a very basic right.”
(S03)
This sub-theme explored “The Person” as it relates to autonomy. It is a complex
theme as it describes the resident person’s rights and capacities, which are often
in conflict with the staff person’s capacity to encourage those rights and
capacities. The resident’s rights as a person, including the right to self-determine
and to make decisions, were explored by the participants. However, the
difficulties staff experienced with achieving this were also described and it was
acknowledged that an older person’s capacity to self-determine may be altered
by physical or mental health impairments. Resident and staff participants
explored the possibility that staff persons also need to have the capacity to
encourage and maintain an older person’s right to self-determine.