Freedom in Dementia Care? On Becoming Better Bound to the Nursing Home

In this article we explore freedom in residential dementia care. As part of the larger shift from restricting residents’ freedom for reasons to do with safety, to granting freedom for reasons to do with enhancing quality of life, some nursing homes for people with dementia have adopted open door policies. Based on fieldwork in one such care home in the Netherlands, we explore what routines and practices enable doors to be open, and what evolves from them. We show how the open doors leave residents feeling less confronted with their mobility restrictions, and thus more at home in the nursing home. We contend that the practices that allow the doors to be open bring a different dimension to the home, which contributes to residents’ being ‘better bound’ to the nursing home. Keywords: Dementia care, Care and control, Netherlands, Open-door policy, Accountability, Tactics, Sociomaterial will-work