This is a study of the meaning of possessions of the elderly people who are resident at nursing homes. We listed every possession from photographs which were taken in forty-six elderly peoole's rooms, who stay in a nursing home. Then categorized them by using concept of action-objects and contemplation-objects by Csikszentmihalyi et a1. (1977). Some results were: (1) There is a correlation between the number of action-objects and the degree of ADL. This can be understood as the tendency that the degree of ADL has the possibilities to limit elderly person's action in nursing homes. (2) There is a negative correlation between quantity of possessions and degree of dementia. These results suggest that there is a tendency of a decrease in the dementia person's environmental behavior there. (3) Action-objects used for everyday actions have very important roles for overcoming the critical environment transition when a person moves into a nursing home.
