Nursing
Home Facts and the Effects on the Elderly and Disabled
Deindividuation:
Reduced capacity for thought, action, and self-direction.
Disculturation:
Refers to the loss of lifelong rules and behaviors that provide
the individual with sources of self-affirmation.
Emotional,
Social, and Physical Damage: The losses of status, security
and sources of self-affirmation are often not recouped and adaptation
to a normal environment is difficult.
Isolation:
The longer one remains in an institution, the greater the isolation
from society in general occurs. Isolation can foster a feeling
of being different from "normal people".
Stimulus
Deprivation: The deadening of the senses. Psychologists
conclude that individuals residing in institutional settings
are psychologically worse off and likely die sooner than aged
persons living in the community.
Institutional
Environmental Effects: Due to understaffing, physical neglect
or medication and immobility, patients tend to become sicker
after admission.
Source:
"The Nursing Home in American Society" by Professor
Colleen Johnson and Dr. Leslie Grant of John Hopkins University
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