“Home is where the heart is…or is it?” : A phenomenological exploration of the meaning of home for older women in congregate housing

This qualitative study explored the meaning of home for older women living in a congregate housing complex in a Southeastern city of the United States who have been more or less successful in making it a home. Through in-depth interviews, 20 older women shared detailed descriptions of their thoughts, feelings, and ideas of home and of their current environment as a home. All but one of the women were emotionally attached to their new environment and considered it home. Common themes were that for the women, the meaning of home was manifested in (1) the autonomous decision to find a place somewhere, (2) the deliberate resolve to feel in place anywhere, and (3) the ongoing effort to stay placed there. A successful late-life move depends less on concrete and/or external factors and more on social and/or intrinsic factors. U.S. housing policy must become more reflective of the processes older adults use to be “at home”.