The older person’s narrative can hold a wealth of valuable information, which can in turn be incorporated into

safety promotion practice. Sarvimäki (2006) encourages health researchers to seek alternative ways of describing well-being. Our re-description of well-being in safety promotion illustrates the importance of recalling memories and the sense experience of mental time travel. Memories can provide comfort (Elo, Saarnio, & Isola, 2011). Remembering how to balance on a boat or on a beam in a shipyard can help frail bodies GSK1349572 cell line remember and remind them of their strength. Narrating these episodes can give the older person a sense of well-being and of place and continuity. A trip from the bed to the table can require the same prowess as balancing on a boat in a storm in

the North Sea or the exertion of harvesting five acres of grass with a scythe. A familiar place can offer itself as a starting point for literal and metaphorical journeys (Galvin & Todres, 2011). Forgetting their present plight NSC 683864 clinical trial by telling stories from their past can also give a sense of identity and the mental strength necessary to participate in nursing home activities. Keeping their independence was important for the participants. Boredom and pessimism were evident in their stories but they were orientated towards

the future. The women soldiered on and had a “grin and bear it” attitude. All had strategies and aids they used to “stay on their feet” and prevent falls. The older persons showed continued strength and they perceived struggling with illnesses to be a part of life to be endured. The residents’ acceptance and orientation towards the future can be indicative of well-being, though not well-being at its fullest. “At homeness” is characterized by acceptance and rootedness (Galvin & Todres, 2011). It can be questioned if the participants felt at home in the institution. Rootedness can be interpreted as passivity and their “grin and bear it” attitude interpreted as a form of forced adjustment also and resignation. True well-being incorporates both “at homeness” and adventure, a sense of rootedness and flow, movement as well as stillness (Galvin & Todres, 2011). The observations showed passivity in the nursing home sitting rooms. This can be due to the necessity of a calm atmosphere that caters for very ill residents. It does, however, not seem to be a stimulating home environment for all the residents considering their past lives and interests. Picking up threads from their past life can facilitate meaningful exercises and activities and show that health professionals have more to offer patients than knitting.