Institutions and institutionalisation: They're part of everyday life.

BACKGROUND: Institutions are established patterns of recurrent social relationships playing a fundamental part in all our lives. The family is the best-known institution, but other 'total' institutions serve as organisations directly affecting the lives of many individuals in the healthcare sector.

OBJECTIVE: This paper examines the sociological theory of institutionalisation as applied to individuals admitted to aged-care facilities, where the complete life-rounds of inmates occur within clearly defined limits. The study provides a framework to enable general practitioners, nurses and healthcare professionals to better appreciate the processes involved as individuals adapt to their new environment.

DISCUSSION: Sociology provides valuable insights for healthcare providers in understanding how individuals adapt to their loss of independent living and find themselves subjected to intimate regulation in the total institution. The biopsychosocial model of healthcare delivery is better understood when we as health professionals have greater insights to appreciate the competing processes at work.