https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/massey/oai:mro.massey.ac.nz:10179/16931
type: CreativeWork
name: A place to call home? : an ethnography of the retirement village as a heterotopic place : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for Master Business Studies, Massey Business School, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
description: People over 65 in New Zealand often enter long-term care conditional to their levels of health, family and community support. New Zealand has a growing ageing population, and people are living longer because of lifestyle choices and advances in medical technology. In response the residential care landscape has transformed, resulting in the emergence of the corporate, resort-style retirement village sector that provides several aged care living options dependent upon the older person’s health, physical and economic circumstances. These villages deliver communities that aim to offer safety, reassurance, care and security. Many older people remain living at home either as they prefer to stay in their own environment or because they cannot afford other options. Most older people at the later stage of life must consider the option of either staying at home or finding a new ‘home’ in a facility. Often this decision is beyond their control if they are no longer safe and accessing adequate care at home, for instance, if they have a health crisis. This study consists of an ethnographic, naturalistic observation of a retirement village as a home away from home. The methodology I employ involved close observation and reflections upon daily life in an elderly care institution. I spent 155 hours in a retirement village and was afforded access to life behind the scenes to help me understand the practices and customs of the staff, residents and relatives. This allowed me the opportunity to develop an awareness of how various spaces are deciphered, lived in or endured from the perspectives of the important retirement village stakeholders – residents, family and staff. Inevitably my own experiences of looking after my parents, and their experiences of ageing, added an autoethnographic component to this study. I employ Foucault’s assertion that rest homes are heterotopias to frame, interpret and discuss my observations. I elaborate upon the feelings of dread and vulnerability that ol…
abstract: People over 65 in New Zealand often enter long-term care conditional to their levels of health, family and community support. New Zealand has a growing ageing population, and people are living longer because of lifestyle choices and advances in medical technology. In response the residential care landscape has transformed, resulting in the emergence of the corporate, resort-style retirement village sector that provides several aged care living options dependent upon the older person’s health, physical and economic circumstances. These villages deliver communities that aim to offer safety, reassurance, care and security. Many older people remain living at home either as they prefer to stay in their own environment or because they cannot afford other options. Most older people at the later stage of life must consider the option of either staying at home or finding a new ‘home’ in a facility. Often this decision is beyond their control if they are no longer safe and accessing adequate care at home, for instance, if they have a health crisis. This study consists of an ethnographic, naturalistic observation of a retirement village as a home away from home. The methodology I employ involved close observation and reflections upon daily life in an elderly care institution. I spent 155 hours in a retirement village and was afforded access to life behind the scenes to help me understand the practices and customs of the staff, residents and relatives. This allowed me the opportunity to develop an awareness of how various spaces are deciphered, lived in or endured from the perspectives of the important retirement village stakeholders – residents, family and staff. Inevitably my own experiences of looking after my parents, and their experiences of ageing, added an autoethnographic component to this study. I employ Foucault’s assertion that rest homes are heterotopias to frame, interpret and discuss my observations. I elaborate upon the feelings of dread and vulnerability that ol…
author: Colbert, Fiona
date published: 2021
date modified: 2026-07-27T20:18:30Z
provider: Massey University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Massey University