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In promoting high physical activity and productive engagement as the motto of successful aging, society has cast individuals living in long-term care (LTC) homes as agingunsuccessfully[Holstein, M. B., and M. Minkler. 2003. “Self, Society and the ‘New Gerontology’.”The Gerontologist43: 787–796]. The purpose of this paper is to explore ways natural leisure spaces within an LTC home can challenge deficit-based assumptions of decline and dependence in later life. Interviews were conducted with 9 residents, 8 family members and 11 staff recruited from one mid-sized LTC home in Ontario, Canada. The study used a hermeneutic phenomenological method, as described by van Manen [1997.Researching Lived Experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy. London, ON: The Althouse Press]. Lived experiences of participants throughout the interviews revealed how natural leisure spaces sparked continued expressions of individuality, opportunities to nurture relationships and maintain family social roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the possibilities for transformation that exist when a diverse group of participants interested in working together to change the culture of dementia care in long-term care and community care settings use appreciative participatory action research to guide their culture change efforts. These transformations happened throughout the culture change process using appreciative participatory action research. For instance, using appreciative participatory action research to guide the culture change process provided participants with the opportunity to build stronger professional and personal relationships in their respective care communities. Culture change transformations also stemmed from the appreciative participatory action research process, as participants recognized the importance of finding ways to include persons with dementia/residents in the process and they developed an appreciation for the valuable contributions persons with dementia/residents can make to culture change work. These culture chance possibilities demonstrate the value in using appreciative participatory action research to guide culture change in long-term care and community care contexts. These possibilities also illustrate the importance of paying closer attention to the culture change process itself, rather than solely the outcomes of the process, given that the possibilities for transformation that can take place throughout the process can help to build momentum, propelling culture change efforts forward in healthcare contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participatory action research (PAR), with its focus on engagement and collaboration, is uniquely suited to enhancing culture change initiatives in dementia care. Yet, there is limited literature of its application to culture change approaches in care settings, and even less in dementia specific care contexts. To address these gaps in the literature, the purpose of this paper is to examine the complexities of a PAR project aimed at changing the culture of dementia care in two diverse dementia care settings, including a long term care (LTC) and community care setting. Drawing from data gathered throughout the PAR process, we unpack the challenges experienced by participants working together to guide culture change within their respective care settings. These challenges include: overextending selves through culture change participation; fluctuating group membership; feeling uncertainty, confusion and apprehension about the process; frustratingly slow process; and seeking diverse group representation in decision making. We also highlight the potential for appreciative inquiry (AI) to be integrated with PAR to guide a process whereby participants involved in culture change initiatives can develop strategies to mitigate challenges they experience. We view the challenges and strategies shared here as being constructive to would-be culture change agents and hope this paper will move others to consider the use of PAR when engaging in culture change initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we critically examine an alternative to the theoretical concepts of dividing practices (Foucault, M. (1982). The subject and power. Critical Inquiry, 8, 777-795) and total institutions (Goffman, E. (1961). Asylums: Essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books) by exploring the communitizing potential of long-term care facilities and prisons. In doing so, we highlight the possibility for meaningful leisure experiences to open these institutions to the broader community and foster a more inclusive vision of community. We believe that opportunities for leisure involvement can provide community members and those residing in institutions with the chance to come together in ways that are mutually enhancing; however, these opportunities have not yet been realized to an extent that will truly bring about authentic social change. We argue that a re-imagining of these spaces as sites for inclusive leisure experiences can foster much needed social support not only for citizens residing in institutions, but equally so for citizens living in the broader community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]