A Group Adopting Precious Elderly Essay

At West View Nursing Home, the idea of person-centered care is drilled into each new staff member’s brain at their first interview and orientation. It is the principle that guides all of the work here, no matter if you are a janitor, social worker, nurse, dietician, etc. Some examples of the general principles associated with this type of intervention and care are that the needs of the client have priority and social services exist to benefit him or her, everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, and not revoking people’s choice about their own behavior (Miller & Rollnick, 2013). No matter their health status or mental state, everyone is entitled to make their own decisions as much as possible, even if the social worker does not necessarily agree. The three main characteristics that a social worker demonstrated when utilizing the person-centered care theory are empathy, unconditional positive regard, and congruence/genuineness. He or she is expected to be objected and unbiased, come with experience to provide appropriate suggestions, and be able to accept that clients’ perspectives are true and best for them as a person (Walsh, 2014).

There were small sheets of paper in each resident’s room, saying what their favourite things are, what they used to do, about their family and life, which was very touching for me to see the preservation of dignity throughout the facility. Although these write-ups were in everyone’s room it was as if there was not a human laying in that bed. It was like they were all mannequins and there was an indiscernible race, the focus was shifted from the individual to the completion of task at hand. Many care aides would have conversations about their weekend, or talk about the resident right in front of them. Some residents could hear and some could not, never the less,

Developed by Dr. William Thomas in 1992, the Eden Alternative aims to decrease older adults loneliness, helplessness, and boredom (Tavormina, 1999). Since it originated, many facilities intended on improving the quality of life for older adults and have therefore adopted key elements of the model. The Eden Alternative focuses on improving the quality of life of nursing home residents and creating a homelike setting by enabling the older adults to interact with pets, plants, and children by empowering staff to bring about these changes (Coleman, et al., 2002). The benefits of implementing such a model include decreases in behavioral incidents and use of restraints, as well as in staff absenteeism and turnover. A series of behavioral studies conducted before and after Eden implementation at Providence Mount St. Vincent, a large senior-living care facility in Seattle, also found increases in older adults satisfaction and activity engagement (Boyd, 2003; Thomas, 2003). Qualitative interviews conducted at two other facilities in the United States revealed older adults’ beliefs that their lives had improved, and that the goals of alleviating their loneliness, helplessness, and boredom had been achieved (Kruschke, 2006; Parsons, 2004). It is important to understand older adults thoughts, but also important to gain an insight on the clinical aspect as

According to the American Psychological Association, one in four adults ages 65 and older experiences a mental health problem such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia or dementia. This is quite alarming because it is known that people with mental illness already receive poor care. Poor care combined with living in a society where aging is shamed causes a major concern.Negative stereotypes and attitudes are directed toward the elderly. For

After spending an afternoon interviewing my elderly father-in-law, I gained insight into how he perceives the aging process and the impact on the quality of his life. First, and foremost he viewed aging in a very positive and healthy manner. He believes that a positive attitude assists in accepting physical and psychosocial changes and enjoyed the fact that he and his wife are both physically fit and cognitively alert. He felt confident that advances made in health care and the quality of their lives would continue to be empowering. He enjoys the benefits of being a senior citizen including discounted travel, free education, and other incentives marketed towards seniors. He expressed a sense of well-being with respect to the numerous

One thing every living organism has in common on this planet-- age. No one wants to age or face the fact that aging is inevitable. However, since it’s impossible to beat the never ending time clock that is life; everyone wants to be as comfortable as possible when age finally does catch up with them. When the majority of people think of comfortability in old age, they think of living in their own homes and being surrounded by their loved ones. Not many individuals want to be placed into a nursing home type facility because they can’t imagine themselves being comfortable that way. Nonetheless, even though being placed in a home does take away some of an elderly person’s independence, usually the independence lost is in activities that person can no longer do for themselves. Indeed, nursing homes do have their own set of scary stories behind them; life lost, independence lost, and privacy lost, yet many of those stories are outdated. Upon investigation, it would be easy for anyone to scare themselves out of a nursing facility due to the stories that are out there. Yet, upon even further research people would be able to see how far the United States has come in their development and evolution of nursing care facilities. The care of the elderly in the form of nursing homes has faced a tough evolution starting off with a harsh past, to what nursing homes are like now, and what people can expect for the future of these homes.

The nursing homes also provide opening hours for resident’s family and friends to come and visit them which prevents social exclusion and isolation. Family and friends can be a vital part of the resident’s emotional and social development.

I have also noticed this is the population who most often isolates themselves from the rest of the residents. They chose to remain in bed, keep to themselves, and not get involved in the activities offered at the facility. It seems they fear being involved in the life of the nursing home means they have accepted their current situation, and they do not want others to think that. I have often heard these residents say things like, “I don’t belong here” or “I don’t want to be around all those old people.”

After spending an afternoon interviewing my elderly father-in-law, I gained insight into how he perceives the aging process and the impact on the quality of his life. First, and foremost he viewed aging in a very positive and healthy manner. He believes that a positive attitude assists in accepting physical and psychosocial changes and enjoyed the fact that he and his wife are both physically fit and cognitively alert. He felt confident that advances made in health care and the quality of their lives would continue to be empowering. He enjoys the benefits of being a senior citizen including discounted travel, free education, and other incentives marketed towards seniors. He expressed a sense of well-being with respect to the numerous

Both of the gentlemen stated they had been in other homes and that this was the nicest home they had been in. Kenneth complained of his first home ¡°smelling more like a zoo than a nursing home.¡± John told me that his last home was on the South Side and that the neighborhood was filled with gang bangers and hoodlums. When his family visits here though, they wheel him through the Lincoln Park neighborhoods and it¡¯s nice. For all of the questions that I asked these two men, they had just as many questions for me. Heading in to this assignment, I hadn¡¯t really considered that someone would be asking ME questions. In the midst of all that happens in nursing homes, it¡¯s important to remember that these residents aren¡¯t just dependent, older people, but that they are still people just like you and I.

“There is some evidence that the quality of care for nursing home residents has improved, such as the decreased use of physical restraints and psychotropic medications, serious problems continue for many residents, especially those at the end of their lives.” Some of the issues have been corrected, not abusing or neglecting the elderly patients but the services are not handling the most important part of the patients’ lives. They are still having some issues with handling the patients that are at the end of their lives, they need to focus on the end of their lives in dealing with this they need to know how deal with this part with them and the families.

Later adulthood is the time in life when changes in marriage, families, and peer relationships are affected the most by the loss of someone close to that person. “Most people 70 years of age or older are widowed, divorced, or single” (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010, p.619). Losing a spouse or close friend can create a sense of loneliness, which causes depression, anxiety and the emptiness feeling can become overwhelming. Depression also leads to psychological effects that will deteriorate a person’s health causing the chance for a terminal disease to become much higher. The weaker appearance of older adults causes family and remaining peers to step up in the role of making sure the person’s wellbeing is being met. (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). Living accommodations and healthcare needs

The book As We Are Now, written by May Sarton, targets those concerned with the care of elderly individuals in nursing homes. In the book, Sarton artistically highlights the plethora of ongoing issues social workers face in their work as they attempt to provide quality care to the elderly population. The book is written as the memoirs of a very thoughtful elderly woman, Caroline Spenser, as she spent part of her life in a nursing home; and brings to light the lack of quality of care that elderly individuals received when living in such a facility in the 1970’s.

Just the mere mention of “nursing home” causes most people to shudder and think, “I would never put my relative in such a ghastly place.” There are a great deal of horror stories that stem from nursing homes, most along the lines of , “ My mother was neglected after I put her in a nursing home. I would go to visit her and she would be lying in urine and have a new bruise, different than the one that was there last time.” There seems to be this popular perception that nursing homes are places where aging people go to wait out their final days and die; this causes many individuals to shun them. People are too caught up on these negative stories they

People lose height, skin becomes loose, hair becomes gray, people become covered in wrinkles and they start to become weak. Even though all of this may be true, older people still have purpose in life. Patients often feel stripped from their life from dementia. “Richard Leider, one of America's preeminent executive life coaches and renowned expert on purpose and meaning in life, has postulated that purpose is fundamental to an individual's health, happiness, and longevity”(Nakonetschny). With conducting activities into nursing homes, that sense of happiness and meaning will become reestablished more and more every day. Dementia patients have family that cares for them and wishes the best for them, they do not wish to see their relatives rot away in a nursing