Living in an old age home: Crisis of identity for the elderly residents

The issues of old age and ageing are perennial questions which are becoming more so ever poignant now because of the growing number of the elderly persons consequent upon the increased life-span. The old age homes as support structures for the elderly are now gaining more and more importance in countries like India. However, it is extremely important to study the ways in which an elderly resident negotiates his/her identity vis-à-vis the institutional set-up of an old age home. To understand the experience of residing in an old age in more authentic terms requires going to the field and establishing communication with the elderly residents. This paper brings to the focus the major issues and concerns raised by the elderly residents of an old age home in Chandigarh in terms of the struggles they have to undergo against the dissolving of their individualities into institutional identities.