A qualitative intervention was used to explore how older adults living in a long-term care environment (nursing home) understand hope and experience being participants in a group in which a hope intervention was carried out. A group project in which each session focused intentionally on a hope strategy was carried out with a convenience sample of 10 women (ages 75–99) who were members of an existing group. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis of the interviews (conducted before the group intervention was carried out and again at the end), field notes, and collaborative conversations regarding emerging themes. Findings from this study suggest that hope is not static and that it can change over time in response to one’s situations and circumstances. Also evident in this study is the potential for using a group process in long-term care to foster hope in an intentional way to make it more visible in the lives of the residents and their environment suggesting that one is “never too old for hope.” 1. Introduction Hope has an enduring ability to influence the health and wellbeing of individuals across the lifespan. It is described as a key psychosocial resource that helps individuals through a variety of difficult circumstances in their lives [1–5]. Further, hope has been identified as an important ingredient in fostering a sense of meaning and purpose in life and enhancing quality of life for older adults [6, 7]. As people age, they frequently experience physical and psychological challenges and losses in their lives and for some of these individuals, these losses lead to placement in nursing homes and long-term care. Transitioning to long-term care can result in further losses increasing older persons’ vulnerability to illness, depression, and loss of hope [8]. Therefore, finding ways to foster hope for older adults in long-term care is essential. For purposes of this paper, long-term care is defined as residential care which provides full-time care to individuals (generally older adults) and is also often referred to as nursing home care. Nurses, regardless of their clinical setting, have an opportunity to instill hope in clients and to appreciate its significance in sustaining both their own personal mental health and that of their clients/patients [5, 9, 10]. Given the proximity and frequency of contact with patients, nurses who work in nursing homes in long-term care are in key positions to instill and foster hope in residents. While the importance of hope is often acknowledged, ways to explicitly foster its development have not always been clear.
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