Background/objectives Call-bells are often taken-for-granted systems to heighten safety. In joint discussions among residential care home (RCH) residents, their family members, and staff, issues related to call-bell use in everyday life and work were repeatedly raised. In this article, we explore these experience-based perspectives, addressing several key questions important for call-bell use and communication.

Research design/methods We inductively analyzed a series of individual interviews and group discussions with 44 individuals at two units of the same Swedish RCH, conducted as part of a participatory action research project to strengthen supportive end-of-life environments.

Results While the call-bell was a central part of RCH communication, we found: fragmented understanding about how the call bell functioned among all participants; many residents lacked the physical and cognitive competencies demanded for call-bell use; tensions between use of the call-bell for social/existential communication versus purely discrete tasks; and that a call-bell system assuming room-bound residents exacerbated issues related to varied response times, lack of feedback mechanisms, and pressured work situations.

Discussion and implications Investigation of the call-bell system provides an empirical example of how complex relationships among stakeholders are played out in concrete situations. Tensions between different logics of care, and between clock and embodied time become evident.