Overcomomg Boredom and Loneliness in Long Term Care Facilities

This BLOG will focus on experiments to define practical ways to brighten the lives of residents of Long Term Carte Facilities (LTCFs) such as nursing and assisted living homes. At the same time it will address opportunities for making the vast pool of experience representeed by such people available to the public at large, and particularly to young people of high school age.

ANY ONE INTERESTED IN THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR RESIDENTS OF LONG TERM CARE FACILITIES IS URGED TO COMMENT.

We've all seen them: bored and lonely elders asleep in front of an LTCF television, or clustered around the front door hoping to meet a smiling face with a willingness to stop and chat. And these observations seem to hold true regardless of whether the LTCF is modestly priced (are there any?) or expensive.

What are the causes of this problem?

Can you suggest some possibilities for improving the situation?

Let us hear from you

Thanks,

John H. Huth, PhD, PE

Comments

[cheapest degree]

Own your long deserved accredited university, masters or doctorate.

regards,
mike

[J.Hall]

I thought about the problem the elderly have in nursing homes. Could there be a way that a sociology student could come in and record life histories? I think the elderly like to talk about their past and I know it would be a great subject to record. Wish I was younger.

[Charlotte]

For one thing, a passerby cannot tell if the bored and drooping nursing home patients they see have Alzheimers or if the person has just given up trying to communicate. Its possible that the patients they pass do not have a TV of their own in their own room and that could be the reason they ventured, or were pushed by staff, to the common TV area. Its also possible that some may be too frail or too tired to manage going back to their room without help -- so they may be stuck in the common area against their will.

For Title 19 nursing home patients in Iowa, all income is stripped from the patient except for a $30. monthly allotment. How can a person in his right mind be vital when they are cut off from life as they knew it before they entered long term care? With only $30 per month, how can the elderly person afford some of the things that could make confinement easier? Some examples are: telephone, cable TV, the internet for some, newspapers, and personal needs like hair cuts, treats, and misc little personal items that are not provided by the nursing home.

But even those who have not fallen into the poverty ring of Title 19 status, it is hard for mentally alert elders to avoid depression when most people around you cannot communicate or are so obviously sick and deformed. Often the only non-patients that some see are the stressed out and over worked nurse aids who cannot take time to talk. Even if the aids take time, it can be depressing to talk to strangers who only know of your sickness or infirmaties. And it is an increasing trend in some parts of the US for the aids to be Spanish speaking only.

I think it is a mistake to mix the patients who are still alert with those with greater disabilies. And it should not be legal for nursing homes to provide room space allotment smaller than a prison cell. It is really cruel what we are doing to the nursing home patients, especially the Title 19 patients.

One simple low cost thing that could help in the nursing homes and in assisted living projects would be to start a teenage volunteer corp similar to the Candy Stripers who were so successful in bringing cheer to hospital patients in the past.

With careful restrictions on their duties and a good volunteer manager, the Candy Stripers could add a new dimension of joy and simple services to the isolated elders in their last days.