In Part One of the Family Council posts, Karlin Mbah of FRIA discusses the role of the Family Council in improving the nursing home environment. In today’s follow-up post, she addresses ways in which to organize families to create a Family Council. In addition to her suggestions, some of the tips I provided in my … Read more
A recent study by the Phoenix Center looked at adults 55 and over, but not employed or in nursing homes, and found that Internet use decreased their level of depression by 20%. I’m not at all surprised by this, and I believe a similar decrease in depression levels would be observed in nursing home residents … Read more
Taking a page from my industrial/organizational psychology colleagues, I’ve been thinking about easy, inexpensive ways to improve efficiency in nursing homes. I recently read an article about the Starbucks company asking managers to put together a Mr. Potato Head doll as quickly as possible and then apply the experience to their work behind the coffee … Read more
I saw this great idea posted on McKnights this morning. My suggestion is, if needed, the residents address it in their Resident Council Meetings to see if they want to raise the funds themselves. http://www.mcknights.com/Turning-on-the-lights-for-nursing-home-residents/article/146809/ Turning on the lights for nursing home residents Eric Smith August 19, 2009 In 2004 I accepted a position at … Read more
As Father Bart pointed out in his July 28, 2009 blog interview, one of the greatest challenges facing the residents of nursing homes is their dependence upon others to meet their needs. I often work with them on coming to terms with this unavoidable fact of life, and to find ways in which they can … Read more
The July 2009 report, Trends in Mental Health Admissions to Nursing Homes, 1999 – 2005 notes that “the proportion of nursing home residents with mental illness, in particular depression, has overtaken the proportion of those with dementia”. According to a July 1, 2009 article by Liza Berger in McKnights.com, “younger mentally ill people now account … Read more
The best nursing home staff dining room I’ve ever seen was a large bright room with a wall of windows and plenty of welcoming seating. Staff members purchased discounted food, which was tasty enough to entice those outside the nursing home community to come in and pay full fare. A salad and sandwich bar was … Read more
Dale Carter, of Transition Aging Parents, sent me the following question after reading my last post about caregiving for family members in nursing homes. “Eleanor, when I went to check in to volunteer today at our local nursing home, I was chatting with a lady and she said the thing she missed most was not … Read more
At the Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation (CNR) in Brooklyn, New York, Recreation Director Brenda Torres, has established computer stations with Internet connection in all the “neighborhoods,” as they call their units, and has several groups currently being run by the residents themselves. I believe both of these steps are essential for the emotional health … Read more
I couldn’t wait to go to college. I was ready to shake off the old me, and begin a brand new self. No one would know who I’d been, and I could therefore be whomever I wanted to be. In my Psych 101 textbook, there was a picture of animal behaviorist Conrad Lorenz, followed … Read more