Liminal homes: Older people, loss of capacities, and the present future of living spaces.

Abstract

There are many studies that have examined the meaning of home for older people. In this article, our aim is to add the concept of 'liminal homes' to the existing discussion: While the concept of liminal homes can be applied to a number of 'interim spaces', we focus in our study, on those older people who have to consider, or are concretely confronted with, the need to move into another living space, because of declining health. Based on interviews and photo-elicitation with 26 older lower-income seniors living in Montreal, Québec, this article demonstrates the complexity of liminality and analyzes the dynamics of this process, composed of a web of interrelated and often dichotomous elements. These include the idealized home in contrast to (sometimes imagined) institutions; declining health as opposed to the ideals of active aging and third age; and the widely promoted concept of aging in place versus the reality of being 'stuck in place' due to limited resources. The strategies employed by these older Quebeckers to remain in this state and resist a move to another living space, are the often arduous construction of a 'patchwork of care'.