The Dignity of Elders in an Acute Care Hospital

In a grounded theory study of the social processes engaged in by elderly individuals while hospitalized, dignity arose as one central focus of their strategies. Dignity was found to have two attributes: self-dignity, the individual's sense of self-worth; and interpersonal dignity, that attributed to the elder by others and manifested by the respect they received. Privacy was conceptualized as an interface between the hospitalized elders and staff, visitors, and roommates. The author presents an in-depth discussion of the meaning of dignity for five hospitalized elderly participants for each of three phases of hospitalization. Strategies used by the elders to affect their dignity included making meaning out of interactions with others, adjusting attitude, managing image, managing information, and life reviewing.