Abstract
Purpose - The purpose of this article is to - within the specific Sri Lankan figures on ageing within South Asia (comparatively high longlevity and high figures on intergenerational family-living). is to look into the interpretations of social care and everyday social life in urban elder homes in Colombo. What does everyday social life look like and how are underlying meanings of care given shape ? To highlight the taken for granted quality of much of everyday care, comparisions are made on the basis of earlier ethnographic research by indian scholars on Dutch senior homes.Design/methodology/approach - The methodology relied on analysis of existing quantitative data on ageing in Sri Lanka and on research generated by the 4-year team-study of which the author was part. Specific data in this article were collected through qualitative research by the author: regular visiting and participating in activities within certain selected homes in Colombo, over a period of four months. In addition survey data were collected on 55 senior homes in Colombo. Findings - Against a background of available statistical data on ageing; family and institutional care, qualitative research findings are provided on everyday life within the Colombo homes, Sri Lanka. What kind of care (‘Araksha kerime’) is given and/or aimed for ? The concept of ‘social care’ (Daly and Lewis) is the starting point to understand how normative and social frameworks within which ‘care’ is understood and undertaken. Cross cultural comparison with every-day life in Dutch senior homes articulates the impact of taken for granted socio-cultural similarities and differences embedded in the concept of ‘senior home’ and its everyday life.Research limitations/implications - the 4 year research by 3 main researcher ( of which the author was one) resulted in a substantial data base and several publications. these specific qualitative section of research is based in an additional perioid of 4 months of regular visiting of 5 selected Colombo elder homes. Survey data were collected on another 55 senior homes.Practical implications - Practical implications pursued, advised in the article – is to give room in analysis to the specific socio-cultural norms within which cross-cultural concepts of ‘care’; ‘social care’; ‘senior home’; ‘intergenerational care’ are conceived; practiced and performed in an everyday setting. In each socio-cultural setting much everyday performed social life is taken for granted and therefore not always consciously taken in to account in the analysis.Originality/value - The article attempts to combine data from different disciplines and compare different socio-cultural settings for old-age care. This can shed a different light on the taken-for-granted elements in the shaping the social life in senior homes. For example it becomes clear why the causes of loneliness and isolation among elders in a certain setting seem so ‘natural’ within and so strange from beyond.
Purpose - The purpose of this article is to - within the specific Sri Lankan figures on ageing within South Asia (comparatively high longlevity and high figures on intergenerational family-living). is to look into the interpretations of social care and everyday social life in urban elder homes in Colombo. What does everyday social life look like and how are underlying meanings of care given shape ? To highlight the taken for granted quality of much of everyday care, comparisions are made on the basis of earlier ethnographic research by indian scholars on Dutch senior homes.Design/methodology/approach - The methodology relied on analysis of existing quantitative data on ageing in Sri Lanka and on research generated by the 4-year team-study of which the author was part. Specific data in this article were collected through qualitative research by the author: regular visiting and participating in activities within certain selected homes in Colombo, over a period of four months. In addition survey data were collected on 55 senior homes in Colombo. Findings - Against a background of available statistical data on ageing; family and institutional care, qualitative research findings are provided on everyday life within the Colombo homes, Sri Lanka. What kind of care (‘Araksha kerime’) is given and/or aimed for ? The concept of ‘social care’ (Daly and Lewis) is the starting point to understand how normative and social frameworks within which ‘care’ is understood and undertaken. Cross cultural comparison with every-day life in Dutch senior homes articulates the impact of taken for granted socio-cultural similarities and differences embedded in the concept of ‘senior home’ and its everyday life.Research limitations/implications - the 4 year research by 3 main researcher ( of which the author was one) resulted in a substantial data base and several publications. these specific qualitative section of research is based in an additional perioid of 4 months of regular visiting of 5 selected Colombo elder homes. Survey data were collected on another 55 senior homes.Practical implications - Practical implications pursued, advised in the article – is to give room in analysis to the specific socio-cultural norms within which cross-cultural concepts of ‘care’; ‘social care’; ‘senior home’; ‘intergenerational care’ are conceived; practiced and performed in an everyday setting. In each socio-cultural setting much everyday performed social life is taken for granted and therefore not always consciously taken in to account in the analysis.Originality/value - The article attempts to combine data from different disciplines and compare different socio-cultural settings for old-age care. This can shed a different light on the taken-for-granted elements in the shaping the social life in senior homes. For example it becomes clear why the causes of loneliness and isolation among elders in a certain setting seem so ‘natural’ within and so strange from beyond.