HOME: Hearing Out the Message of the Elderly: A Qualitative Study on the Perspectives of Elderly living in a Retirement Home

Abstract

Retirement homes in the Philippines, including residents living in these institutions, have been gradually increasing throughout the years. Nevertheless, Filipinos are still considered, and remain, to be family-oriented and God-fearing as the Philippines is a Catholic country. Because of this surge in retirement home and residents population, the researchers have been curious as to how the residents live inside the retirement home, their experiences living in the home, their perceptions of the way of life inside it, and the possible reasons behind their abandonment in the home. This study would greatly contribute to the narrow knowledge of society regarding the elderly living in institutions, and provide realisations for the society to ponder on how they interact with the elderly. Qualitative research was done with this study; in terms of design, Phenomenology was applied in order to understand the living experiences of the elderly. The researchers have gathered meaningful standpoints from the participants, and have categorised the collected data into groups. This was possible through the use of interview and observation. All things considered, this study has supplied recommendations for future researchers in this field.