Assenting to exposedness - meanings of receiving assisted bodily care in a nursing home as narrated by older persons.

Most older persons moving to a nursing home need to receive assisted bodily care, which means being in a position of vulnerability. However, few studies have explicitly focused on the meanings of receiving assisted bodily care from the older persons' perspective. This study aimed to elucidate meanings of receiving assisted bodily care, as narrated by older persons living in a nursing home. Twelve men and women, aged 80 or older, living in a Swedish nursing home, participated in the study. Data were generated by narrative interviews and analysed with a phenomenological-hermeneutical method. The regional ethics committee approved the study. In the analysis, one main theme emerged: 'Assenting to exposedness'. This theme comprised five themes, 'To have hope in hopelessness', 'To relinquish one's body into others' hands', 'To be between power and powerlessness', 'To oscillate between one's own responsibility and demands', 'To be in an ongoing interaction', and ten subthemes. In conclusion, receiving assisted bodily care means to be exposed, but not passively. Rather, it means to be self-determinant for as long as possible, to perceive the body as lived. When the body must be relinquished to others, it might be objectified, leading to care-suffering. To avoid this, the older persons use a certain competence, acquired through life, to decide when to take action or when to assent. However, this is but one of the several possible interpretations, which may be considered a limitation.