Elderly care and spirituality in the modernization process: Istanbul Unal Private Huzurevi example

The main objective of the research is to understand the transformation of the spiritual orientation of the individuals in the elderly care and nursing home during the modernization process. This change is based on a conceptual and theoretical framework explained with the data obtained from the participants' statements. Participants' understanding of the nursing home and spirituality, their thoughts about the nursing home and their experiences of spirituality were evaluated in the context of the individualization approach, which is an indicator of modernization on the views of elderly care and spirituality. At the same time, the theory discussed with secularization theory was criticized and the conceptual-theoretical framework of the study was based on this way. Within the scope of the field research, among the 169 elderly individuals living in Unal Private Nursing Home in Maltepe district of Istanbul city, in-depth interviews were conducted with a total of 35 elderly participants, 16 of whom were women and 19 being men were in good health. For the purpose of the research, categories were determined by examining the data collected. In the interpretation of the data, content analysis technique was used. As a conclusion, the research has been construed with six main categories and sub-headings: meaning of nursing home, decision-making process in nursing home, communication in nursing home, thoughts about spirituality in nursing home, spiritual status of the family members of the participants and opinions about spirituality from past to present.