I’ve often written about the struggles of getting older, including the association of loneliness, loss of identity and self-image; all common problems when living in a nursing home.

Seniors who move into a nursing home may experience different changes which can be stressful – change of social status, feeling of having no place to call home, change in social contacts, and reduction of habitual activities (i.e. grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, going for a walk, participating in hobbies, etc.)

It is reported the adaption time frame moving into a nursing home is between 3 to 6 months.  Entry into a home constitutes a momentous and significant event leading to over 20% of residents dying within the first six months.  The experience is often accompanied by a fight for autonomy and decisions made for them, experiencing perceived degrading including having to obey staff, adherence to regimented times for meals, drug taking, diaper changes and others.

Further exacerbating the situation are staff members being perceived as interested in only maintaining order and discipline and spending abnormal time dealing with administrative tasks.  As a result, residents often keep to themselves and describe other residents as unfriendly and inactive.

In a research article entitled: Being a Nursing Home Resident: A Challenge to One’s Identity, the authors Maria Riedl, Franco Mantovan and Christa Them offer the following recommendations:

• Encouraging residents to reestablish normality by personalizing their new room with personal objects (i.e. photos, furniture, pottery, clothing, etc.)
• Permitting activities by residents such as vacuuming their room, dusting, cleaning windows, making one’s bed
• Promoting social engagement among residents and staff as well as nursing home staff carefully selecting residents as conversation partners (thought: use of psychological testing to ‘match’ resident partners). Genuine personal encounters develop when all parties – staff, residents and others – share stories and life-time achievements
• Recognition and promotion of the importance of a positive self-image (i.e. permitting residents to have money of their own)
• Encouraging religious rituals, such as prayer and regular visits to the graves of deceased family members
• Promoting maintenance of autonomy through mobility – the freedom to decide when to leave the home and with whom.  Also, permitting residents the personal freedom to decide how to spend their time including participation or non-participation in organized activities
• Offering hobbies that match the interests of residents
• Encouraging visitation by family members, friends and acquaintances

Moving into a nursing home is a critical life experience.  To  cope, residents need identity-forming conversations and interactions as well as support from family members, friends and professional helpers.  Don’t forget the interaction with school groups, entertainers, musicians, educators, pet therapy, to name a few.

To share your thoughts and discoveries with others, I encourage you to drop me a note with your insights and suggestions. Your words of wisdom will be made available to others. Let’s keep the conversation going! 

Rick Atkinson