There's No Place Like Home

The notion of home in assisted living is intrinsically connected to aging—and dying—in place. Yet little is known about what makes a house a home, an interactive environment imprinted with individual choices, styles, relationships, and histories. This article presents meanings of home, from playground to prison, and theories of home and well-being. Intended to provoke thoughtful discussion about the meaning of home for assisted living residents and staff, the article includes the Experience of Home Scale that could be used for quality improvement purposes. Implications for assisted living nursing practice with regard to person–environment interactions that constitute home (for better or worse) are discussed.