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Sussman, T., Cormier, E., Serrano, D., Bordeleau, M., & Canham, S. L. (2025, October). Older homeless persons’ experiences of identity loss while living in long-term care (LTC) [paper presentation]. Canadian Association on Gerontology 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting, Montréal, QC, Canada.

Abstract

Older homeless persons are at heightened risk of relocation to long-term care (LTC) due to their elevated rates of chronic diseases and functional impairments, and lack of access to physical spaces that can support aging in place. Yet, the personal accounts of older homeless persons residing in LTC are sparce. This interpretative phenomenological study attended to this gap by exploring nine older homeless persons’ experiences of relocating to and living within a LTC home charged with supporting older persons with precarities related to housing and substance use.  Their accounts were supplemented by six stakeholder interviews and on site observations that served to contextualize everyday practices. Analysis of the combined qualitative data revealed that daily routines and practices exacerbated a series of identity-related losses that impeded residents’ capacities to experience self-continuity within the walls of LTC. Analysis further revealed that without opportunities to mourn older homeless persons managed their experiences of discontinuity by distorting reality, resisting rules and regulations that threatened identity  and expressing resignation and hopelessness. Our findings suggest that helping older homeless persons thrive rather than merely survive in LTC will require relational practices that acknowledge and attend to grief and identity loss alongside the current foci on harm reduction and behavioral management.