There are probably too many angles to your question to
fully address it in one post, but I'll tackle a few of the bigger
ones.
In some cultures, it is a societal taboo to send your
elderly relatives to a retirement or nursing home, as these cultures strongly believe
that family should take care of family until the end of life. So in these cultures, it
is sometimes very shocking to an elderly relative that they would be sent there, so they
sometimes feel abandoned. This is sometimes true in cultures where there is no social
taboo as well.
When entering an old age facility, a
resident most strikingly feels a loss of independence, or a fear that they may never
leave the facility once they enter - a fear that they are entering the last stages of
life.
These homes can have different affects on
relationships. While they are moving away from neighbors and family that were close by
before, thus limiting social contact with those groups, they are also living more
closely to people their own age, that share the same social values, remember the same
history and "speak the same language" generationally. So this can actually create new
relationships and give a person a more grounded social
circle.
We also want to keep in mind here that old age
homes run a full spectrum, from assisted living facilities where nursing care is round
the clock and mobility limited, to basically retirement homes with a range of activities
and social opportunities. A person's reaction may vary greatly depending on which kind
of facility it is.
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