Becoming "at home" in assisted living residences: exploring place integration processes.

OBJECTIVES: This study explores the roles of place attachment, nonfamily social involvement, place valuation, and individual characteristics in the process of becoming at home in assisted living residences. METHODS: Purposive sampling and cross-sectional data by means of a questionnaire completed by current assisted living residents in four states (N = 297) were used to estimate a structural equation model to explain becoming at home. RESULTS: Place attachment to town and community is a necessary but not sufficient explainer of older adults' process of becoming at home. Nonfamily social involvement plays a pivotal role through which place attachment works to explain becoming at home. Both place valuation and nonfamily social involvement exhibit direct positive effects on the outcome. DISCUSSION: Findings support a transactional interpretation of assisted living as home. The relationship between place attachment to one's community and full integration into assisted living is more complex than currently acknowledged.