Within these four walls: unfolding older mental health service users experiences within the home spatiality

Research has indicated that older people are more inclined to spend time within their household (or places of care) than anywhere else due to physiological deterioration, financial constraints and, more specifically within this paper, as a result of psychological barriers (Rowles, 1978; MIND, 2005). Consequently, it is this area that is of specific interest to gain a further insight into the strategies employed by older service users in not only reifying their individual micro milieu but in also understanding the constituent nature of how a large portion of everyday service user life is produced and continually (re)produced. Furthermore, from a somewhat ethereal position, pervasive notions of home can endorse a spatiality of sanctuary, a place where we can ‘breathe a sigh of relief’ as negotiated social identities are replaced by the need to focus on personal needs and wants. Subsequently, the aim of this work is to explore how realistic are these ideologies within user home environments. Using semi-structured interviews, participants aged 50 years and above in the East Midlands area gave their own self-reflections on how their mental health influenced their individual use of space. In addition, some participants recorded their own video diaries within the home setting. This visual data has added another, more intimate ‘layer’ in further understanding aspects of service user geographies. In conclusion, this work found that these spaces held a multiplicity of meanings and content. The dichotomous expressions of security/relaxation and anxiety/isolation provided further food for thought in how these emotions were negotiated through non-discursive practices.