Es ist nicht ganz wie zu Hause

This work is a post-structural investigation focusing on several seniors living in care homes in British Columbia, Canada, as well as their experiences based on the policies that govern their daily lives. The methods are grounded in the principles of institutional ethnography from an empowerment perspective. It is a qualitative study involving in-depth interviews with eight seniors over a period of three years. The findings of this study include several key paradoxes in which institutionalized seniors live, quoted as follows: being busy yet bored, feeling safe but silenced, rushing yet waiting, and finally, being at home but not at home. The recommendations call for a new approach to policy development regarding institutionalized seniors, a strong focus on what is left unsaid by seniors due to their daily experiences of oppression in their environment, and the consideration of holistic approaches to care instead of client-centered care, which remains a veiled term of oppression for these seniors.