Titta is a 76-year-old woman living in sheltered accommodation for the elderly. She moved in about two years ago after being ill for a long time. When the flat she rented was put for sale, sheltered housing provided the single woman with no children with "a safety network" she lacked. Her close relatives either lived a long way away or were elderly themselves. At the end of the day the decision about moving into a sheltered housing complex was easy.

Some adaptation was required when an independent life was replaced by a large community of different people living in the complex. The residents have their own flats with kitchens, and they are free to decorate their homes and lead an independent life. One can also choose to pass some of the everyday routines of the establishment. For example, sometimes Titta has her breakfast in her own room. She wants to avoid institutionalization and do as many things as possible by herself, even though her condition sometimes sets restrictions.

In the past Titta had many cultural interests and travelled a lot, but now she finds her activities closer to home. Titta, who once had an international career, maintains her language skills for example by reading German books and by watching German police TV series. She is also interested in documentaries on historical issues and different cultures.

"I felt that the security was a considerably larger point than living on my own, to look for a rental flat again, to be alone."

"I didn't have that kind of circle around me that I could rely on. But it seems to me that everyone recognizes, or at least think so 90 % of the time, that it is difficult to give up that independence or your family, your own home. And it calls for quite a lot of attitude to learn the ways of the house, to realise how very, very different people we are. There are as many attitudes as there are residents."

Wednesday 2 February 2011

This winter day at the sheltered housing complex was much like any other day. It was snowing outside and there was the February market at the market square, but that didn't affect the routine of the house – the meals were served as usual. Titta's day began with breakfast, which was served for the residents in the joint dining room.

The day went by at its own slow pace. Titta read some magazines, filled in a crossword puzzle, went to have some lunch and returned to her reading. During the day she was visited by a nurse twice, each of them chatted with her for a while and helped her with small chores.

In the afternoon, when there was a break in the snow, Titta went to run some errands. She had Nordic walking sticks and non-slip soles on her shoes to help her. The destination of her walk was first the cashpoint and then the grocery store. Titta was having visitors from Helsinki the next day so she wanted to offer them a treat: fruit and Karelian pasties. Titta also decided to buy the evening paper with an interesting heading: 'A concealed debate on Karelia'.

"These walking sticks are my rolling walker. – As long as I'm able to walk with them I will, and I am pleased to see that there are many elderly people, have over there in the street, that many people have grasped that they don't need the walker yet – It's a very compact tool, this stick-walker."

The evening at home was calm. Titta watched the television most of the time. At the end of the day the nurse brought an evening snack for her. After the evening news and having taken her evening medicine Titta went to bed.

[About the nurses] "They are the kind of brisk and in a way good old workers and I appreciate their work very very much. At the same time I also think of them being my pals. They have like also had me."

"It's nicer for the staff to work too, the way I see it, when they're taken into account, when you try to do something yourself too."

Thoughts about everyday life

"The older you get and the more you lose your health, then, of course this kind of place is good, because here they have the chemist's to take care of the medical treatment and certain things… so it is very good. And the staff is extremely kind and nice."

"In a way the fact of the matter is that no, you no longer have the enthusiasm and effectiveness of the youth. You were always supposed to be effective. And now it's irritating when you don't have the power.”

"I had a discussion [with a resident] about how the little girls in your family and your godchildren have grown, and I said that it is incredible that my godchild has turned 50. But, so it is that I forget that I am this old, but really, when you look in the mirror you remember that you are one old raisin and the other said, let's break the mirror!"

"A hermit-like thing has set in, and it is wonderful to just be, read, to do on your own. That kind of sociability, to always have to be on the go, to always have to be talking, that has disappeared. Or at least partially lessened."

"Because this life is about letting go, so it is good, when you learn and realise it with concrete things – what you may [let go] in good time, if someone will get use and pleasure out of them, to give.”