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Concerns of the Aging

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Concerns of the Aging

Actions and resources for the elders of our society and things that will help better thier enviroment,

Members: 4
Latest Activity: Oct 16, 2009

Changing the Look of Long Term Care

The Changing Look of Long Term Care
October 9, 2009 at 11:07 pm (Culture Change, Long Term Care, aging, health) · Edit



When you think about a nursing home what comes to your mind? Maybe it is a picture of elderly people tied in wheelchairs. Or maybe you can hear the sounds of people screaming out and crying for help. Maybe your mind sends a mental scene of workers looking as through they have been on a long tedious safari into a distant untamed world. Although it is sad to say, that is the way most people envision the homes in which our elders live. Because of past experiences, many people have drawn their own conclusions to what it means to get old and “have to” go into a nursing home. This could be due inpart to the fact that over the years nursing homes have managed to acquire for themselves reputations that put fear and dread into our society. The sights, smells and sounds that so readily come to our senses when we think about a nursing home, makes them places to avoid at all cost. It has been reported that 70% of the seriously ill and 30% of all elderly would rather die than go into a nursing home. Well there is “Good News!” There is now a movement across the United States that has a growing number of nursing homes buzzing and embracing the philosophy and the important values of what is known as Culture Change.

What exactly is culture change? Culture change is simply changing the current culture of the nursing or residental care home enviroment. Culture change is taking the nursing home and resident care homes from an institutional medical setting, to one of a more home like enviroment. An enviroment where the resident has a larger, more active part in their own lives and care.

Culture change is allowing the resident choices in such areas as what time they want to get up in the morning, what time they would rather have their baths and what type of bath,what time they want to eat breakfast, lunch and supper. It is allowing the resident to take part in the planning and implementing of certain activities within the nursing center or residential care home.

Culture change is getting away from the institution medical-centered enviroment into a person centered enviroment.

If one were in search of a nursing home for a loved one, how could you tell if the home was institutional centered or person-centered?

Here are a few ways to differentiate between the two types of Nursing Homes:

Institutuional: Staff provide standardized routine treatments based upon medical diagnosis.

Person centered: Staff enters into caregiving realationships based on the persons care needs

Institutional: Schedules and routines are designed by the management and staff department heads.

Person centered: Schedules and routines are made flexiable according to the residents needs and desires

Institutional: Work in the home is task oriented and routine with out regard to the residents unique personality and indivduality

Person centered: Staff work with a sense of relationship and become caregivers rather than nursing home staff.

Institutional: Staff make all the decisions and the facility is ran and controled by the staff.

Person centered: The facility becomes the residents home.

Institutional: Isolation, loneliness and lack self worth among the residents are common occurances.

Person centered: Staff and residents share a common bond giving the facility a feeling of community and belonging.

Culture Change is the new look for nursing centers around the country. If you find your self having the need to determine a home for your aging loved one, remember look for the facility that is making a positive effort to transform from that of an institutional medical-centered enviroment into a resident person-centered enviroment.

For more on culture change go to: www.pioneernetwork.com or www.edenalt.org

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