Speaking of Life

Using data drawn from interviews with nursing home residents, Gubrium explores the quality of long-term care they receive and the resulting quality of their lives. In their own voices, these “long-stayers” reveal themselves to be biographically active and widely diverse in their concern and involvement with home, family, life history, dependence, isolation and self-worth. The resulting text provides conceptual, methodological and personal lessons as offered by storytellers whose special circumstances continue to have meaning even at the very end of life.