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Brigham Young University
| Elaine Marshall, Nursing |
This study represents the first step in a research program to build, test, and apply theory related to home as context and setting for family health care. The project is a logical extension of the author's work on familes with children with disabiliteis and qualtative methods in studies on families and health. Though many studies related to health and caregiving locate families within some situation or setting such as home or hospital, the concept of home as a substantive theoretical construct is largely absent. The neglect of home as an essential thoeretical element has precluded the development of effective interventions to maximize optimum health care in the setting of the home. There is an abundance of isolated qualitative studies form a variety of disciplines on aspects of "the meaning of home". Again, however, these studies have not been integrated into a substantive theory onhome and health care. The first step to move home form its latent background position in family heatlh care toward a viable and useful theoretical construct is to synthesize qualitative reports on the meaning of home.