%0 Book Section
%A Gilleard, C
%A Higgs, P
%B Care Home Stories: Aging, disability and long term residential care
%C Bielefeld, Germany
%D 2017
%E Chivers, S
%E Kriebernegg, U
%F discovery:10025224
%I Transcript
%K Fourth Age, Nursing Homes
%N An envel
%P 229-246
%T An Enveloping Shadow? The Role of the Nursing Home in the Social Imaginary of the Fourth Age
%U https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10025224/
%X In this chapter we consider the nursing home as both a site and a symbol that fashions  the  social  imaginary  of  a  fourth  age.  Before  exploring  the  nursing  home’s dual role, we will first outline the concept of a social imaginary, as well as  how  the  fourth  age  can  be  thought  of  as  such  a  social  imaginary.  Bearing  in mind this conceptual framework, we go on to address some of the ways in which the nursing home plays out its critical role in conferring meanings onto the fourth age, through its organizational culture, its practices of care, and its own  representation  in  the  media.  The  chapter  concludes  by  considering  the  extent  to  which  the  fourth  age  needs  to  be  acknowledged  as  a  powerful  and  coherent social representation of much that is feared about later life and how such representations can be challenged within the nursing home, as well as the cautions that need to be exercised when mounting such challenges. This latter point is important in highlighting the tensions that exist in determining what constitutes “good” care under conditions of compromised agency.
%Z This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.