The construction of a meaningful life depends upon satisfying ‘fundamental human needs’. These are broadly categorised as: physical, social and self-actualisation needs that every human experiences. Some fundamental human needs satisfiers, such as ‘home’, are synergic, addressing more than one need. For an older person, the move to a care home compromises their ontological security (through disruption of identification with place and control over environment) that one's own ‘home’ provides. This paper explores the complex issues surrounding the residential status of care home residents in terms of fundamental human needs. The methodology utilised was hermeneutic phenomenology. Eight older residents participated in the study, and each resident was interviewed up to eight times over a period of six months. Narrative analysis was used to interpret how participants viewed their experiences and environment. Five themes emerged from the narratives that collectively demonstrate that residents wanted their residential status to involve ‘living with care’ rather than ‘existing in care’. The five themes were: ‘caring for oneself/being cared for’; ‘being in control/losing control’; ‘relating to others/putting up with others’; ‘active choosers and users of space/occupying space’ and ‘engaging in meaningful activity/lacking meaningful activity’. This study indicates that if care homes are to achieve synergic qualities so residents are able to regard care homes as ‘home’, then care home staff may need to be more focused on recognising, acknowledging and supporting residents' aspirations regarding their future lives, and their status as residents.

Background: This study aimed to examine the levels and rates of depression in Chinese residents living in ethno-specific nursing homes (NHs), and Chinese residents living in mainstream NHs in Sydney. Australia has a growing aging migrant population and rates of depression in NHs are high, but the prevalence of depression in culturally and linguistically diverse residents has received little attention in the research literature.

Methods: Older persons from a Chinese background residing in either Chinese-specific or mainstream NHs located in Sydney were invited to participate in a cross-sectional survey. Assessments included the Mini-mental State Examination, the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD), and interviews with family carers and staff.

Results: Fifty-eight Chinese residents were recruited from three Chinese-specific NHs (n = 31) and 13 mainstream NHs (n = 27). There were no significant differences in resident depression levels or rates between the facility types. Mean CSDD scores were 9.4 (SD = 6.0) and 11.2 (SD = 6.1) in Chinese-specific and mainstream NHs, respectively. Chinese-specific NH residents had lower prescription levels of antipsychotics and more of them received effective antidepressant therapy in comparison to those in mainstream NHs.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that in comparison to mainstream care Chinese ethno-specific care does not impact on levels or rates of depression but is associated with less antipsychotic use and higher numbers of residents treated effectively with antidepressant therapy. Longitudinal research with larger samples and a range of outcome measures including quality-of-life and social engagement is required to explore further the effects of ethno-specific care.