Vera is an 82-year widow living with early-stage dementia, newly admitted to residential care. Vera spends her time alone listening to classical music on the radio. Asked how she is adjusting to living at the home, Vera responded: “I think my room is at the end of the world.”
Vera’s failure to find meaningful connections exemplifies growing concerns about the critical rates of loneliness in residential care. A revolutionary model for designing interventions is proposed in a new paper published in the Journal of Aging Studies titled The Need for a Social Revolution in Residential Care.
The model proposed in this paper aims to reduce loneliness and help residents regain a sense of self and purpose. It is a move from resident care to resident engagement. Like all revolutions, this needed change can only happen from the bottom up. It is long overdue. Read or download the full paper here.
The paper was also reviewed in Psychology Today. Read the review here.
References
Theurer, K., Mortenson, B., Stone, R., Suto, M., Timonen, V., & Rozanova, J. (2015). The need for a social revolution in residential care. Journal of Aging Studies, 35, 201-210. doi: 10.1016/j.jaging.2015.08.011