| Summary: | An ethnographic method was used to investigate the visiting experiences of Franco-Manitobans in two urban long-term care settings. Minimal research has been conducted in Canada to examine the visiting experience of family members. In Manitoba, no literature exists to describe the particular experiences of Franco-Manitobans in long-term care. Ten family visitors and nine residents participated in a focused ethnography to better understand the visiting experience. The data collection involved initial fieldwork, face-to-face interviews with visitors and participant observations with the nine visitor-resident dyads. Symbolic interactionism guided the study which examined what visitors actually did when they visited, determined whether participants differentiated between visiting and caregiving, identified the opportunities and challenges experienced by visitors, and explored the specific experiences of Franco-Manitobans who visit kin in long-term care settings. This study addressed the gap in our knowledge about the experiences of visitors, contributed to our understanding of the major factors associated with visiting in long-term care facilities, and provided insight to the experiences of Franco-Manitoban visitors.
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