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Ethnographic Research Project Proposal

In the coming weeks I would like to observe and interact with the culture of the elderly in full-time care nursing homes. I have several facilities that I am looking into: 1) Northern Dutchess RHCF Inc. in Rhinebeck, a non profit, government funded facility catering to the needs of Medicaid/Medicare patients whose families might not be able otherwise to afford a nursing home. 2) Golden Hill Health Care Center in Kingston, a government run and government funded facility 3) The Mountain View Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in New Paltz, a high cost, for-profit facility 4) The Victory Lake Nursing Center, a non-profit, but non affiliated facility in Hyde Park. More than likely I will pick only one center to do my research in based on how willing the management is in letting me do my research there and the environment itself.
For the purposes of this project I think I will focus less on the inner workings of the nursing home itself, but more on the individual physical, emotional, and spiritual experience of the completely dependent senior. In formulating my discussions and interviews with my informants, I will keep in mind these basic questions: How satisfied are the members of this community with themselves? their community dynamic? their relationship with family? their status in the outside community? How do they relate or feel attached to their personal history? Do they cherish and glorify the past, or resent it? In general do the informants view the nursing home community conducive to aging with grace or do they feel that it imprisons them