To Örebro University

The aim of this observational study was to see how social interaction works in nursing homesdayroom. The focus was to study the staff and the residents during lunch, afternoon coffee,and during the eventual common activity. The observation persons were passive and they didnot communicate with either staff nor with the residents. The theoretical framework usedwas Georetrendens theory, KASAM and Communication theory. The results showedthat social interaction in the dayroom of the nursing home is rarely spontaneous, but mustinstead be planned by the staff. The results also showed differences in theinteraction regarding the treatment of the residents. The younger and older staff had differentapproaches. Staff who had a different cultural background than the Swedish had anotherway to respond to the residents. The residents were unhappy about the lack of activities. Theyexpressed that they felt lonely when the staff had several tasks outside the nursinghome. Another thing we observed was that the staff often urged the residents to go and rest intheir apartments. There was also a difference in the various nursing homes that wereobserved; the smaller nursing home had one staffgroup that some of the residents had for longknown each other because of the small community they live in.