Improving Quality of Life for Older People in Long-Stay Care ...

Anonymity and confidentiality are important in all studies, but because of thesize of Ireland there was a particular concern that sites could be identified if eachsite was reported on individually. It was essential, therefore, that the report waswritten in a way that minimised the likelihood of site identification. It was decided,therefore, not to portray any single one of the sites; the report synthesises thefindings from each facility type and the results are presented under the four themesthat emerged from an analysis of the qualitative data. The four themes are: careenvironment and ethos of care; personal identity; connectedness; and community,activities and therapies. Under each theme appropriate examples are drawn fromthe 12 study sites, thereby providing context and lived experience for the resultsthat emerge.4.5.3 Gaining Consent for InterviewEach selected study site was contacted by phone and invited to take part in thestudy. They were given assurances that their facility would not be named or berecognisable in the final publication. Permission to gather data within the studysite was granted in 8 out of the 12 facilities initially approached. Permission wasrefused for a variety of reasons, including one facility no longer functioning. Wherepermission was refused, the next facility on the list was approached. Followingagreement to participate, an information pack was sent to the facility detailingwhat participation involved. Each facility was asked to sign a consent form andwas contacted again by telephone to confirm participation. Table 4.4 shows thebreakdown of the study sites following the stratified random selection on thebasis of the criteria set out above.89Table 4.4: Study sitesFacility type Urban RuralVoluntary hospital 1 1Community/district hospital– 2Private nursing home 2 3Welfare home 1 –Geriatric hospital/home 1 1