This thesis is an exploratory examination of the role of horticultural therapy with institutionalized older people. Chapter one considers the demographic trends which are taking place in Canada with respect to the aging population. The need for service provision is discussed from a social work perspective. The traditional medical and custodial models of care in institutions are critiqued and the psychosocial model, which incorporates a consideration of 'higher' needs such as quality of life and attainment of meaning, is presented as an alternative. Chapter two provides an introduction to horticulture as therapy and includes a literature review and comprehensive history of this therapeutic modality. The theoretical principles of horticultural therapy are explored, with special emphasis on its application with older people in long-term care. Chapter three presents the methodology for field research which involved phenomenological qualitative interviews with nine older people who were living in institutions. Chapter four introduces the research findings. Analysis of the narratives of these participants found that horticultural therapy offers significant benefits, including increased quality of life. Chapter five concludes with proposals for further research and social work practice implications.

A problems/needs inventory enquired into special social-psychological-emotional problems experienced by seniors in care facilities, due to arthritis. The inventory was based on three questions: are there any such problems? If so, what are they? And, what could be done by facility staff to help relieve such problems? This was the first stage in a proposed larger project: to develop a Social Work component dealing with such special problems, in order to augment an existing staff training program, and to test, evaluate, revise and implement the complete program package. A community-based approach was used. The Department of Social Work Services at the Arthritis Society produced a listing of key areas of concern at a brainstorming session; health-care and social-service professionals were surveyed by interview or by the Delphi Technique; a seniors' arthritis support group participated in a Nominal Group Technique session; care-facility staff met to discuss relevant issues; and, data was gleaned from current literature by a content analysis method. There was general agreement that seniors in care with arthritis do have special social-psychological-emotional problems because of the disease, and also there was consistency regarding the nature of these problems. Analysis of the data led to findings that included the following propositions: A sense of self-reliance and of social integration are essential to well-being. Limitations on movement, and the effects of chronic pain and of pain medication are associated with significant social-psychological emotional problems among seniors in care with arthritis. Two principles of care were identified: 1) support and encourage independence; and, 2) support and encourage social integration. The propositions will be applied to the development of the content of the Social Work component of the training program. Also, many respondents made important recommendations regarding methods and format for the training program. These are included in this paper. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

No description available.

The living situation of the older generation is a matter of increasing social concern. Demographic changes are leading to larger proportions of elderly people in the populations of the developed world. Tied into this evolution and even more important are the processes of social change - in particular the loosening of traditional family bonds - which make the living situation of older people extremely precarious once they begin to become frail.One aspect of the living situation of older people, namely their housing situation, or more specifically the question of housing and care, has long been neglected or mainly answered with uniform solutions of institutionalized housing for the elderly. Today, these cannot be seen as the only answer to the diverse needs of elderly people, especially since the housing situation has a very strong influence in determining their degree of self-sufficiency. The increased need for housing suited to the needs of elderly people is the impetus for additional investigation, improvement of present conditions, and studies of future developments. The resulting knowledge and impact on the built environment will be very important to academia and the future education of all environmental design professionals as well as society in general.The purpose of this investigation is to illustrate the significance and relationship of socialand spatial requirements within the concept of living and care, because only the simultaneous addressing of these conditions allows for 'aging with dignity'. The existing demographic situation as well as the inadequate housing situation for the elderly makes it important to investigate the provision of health care, social services, and everyday necessities along with a well-designed architectural and urban development framework.This paper consists of three main parts. The first two parts focus on the research of theoretical and practical design aspects as they pertain to current thinking in elderly care and assisted living. This is accomplished through an investigation of published international examples. In addition, valuable information about the housing needs and desires of elderly people was gathered by exploring four built examples in the United States and Germany, thus helping to identify the framework of the architectural exploration.The third part documents the development and process of both an operational and design concept for elderly housing in a selected urban community. The site is located in Potsdam, Germany, within an existing urban block of the old city core. The architectural design attempts to express the idea of 'aging in dignity' and includes thoughts about the interrelation of new and existing residential units as well as their impact on the context.The aim of the study is to ascertain information about the effects of diverse, networked and, in part, innovative facilities and services on the independent living capabilities of the elderly, and the control over one's living environment. Promoting independent living, this study should help to determine the extent to which these services could be provided. / Department of Architecture

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / abstract / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Philosophy

Circumstances of an increasing proportion of elderly persons in the population of the United States and the incidence of pain among elderly persons established the need for this research project. Significant to nurses was the lack of information regarding responses to the pain experience and evidence of inadequate pain control. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between pain and coping strategies used by a group of elderly persons experiencing pain and living in long-term-care facilities. The population included individuals residing in long-termcare facilities in Indiana. A convenience sample of 36 persons from six facilities in central Indiana participated in the study.Gate Control Theory of pain and Lazarus' theory of stress and coping were the theoretical frameworks of the study. The independent variable, pain, was measured by two Parts of the McGill Pain Questionnaire, pain rating index andpain intensity. Coping, the dependent variable, was measured by the Ways of coping checklist; scoring methods yielded coping, problemfocused coping, emotion-focused coping, and eight subscales. Data was collected by the researcher through use of these two instruments and interviews. Pearson product moment correlations were used for statistical analysis.There were no significant correlations between pain intensity and coping measures. There were no significant correlations between pain rating and coping and emotionfocused coping. Additional findings were based on the data analysis with coping subscales. There was a significant positve correlation between pain rating and the coping subscale escape-avoidance. There was a significant negative correlation between pain rating and the coping subscale distancing.Results of the study indicated elderly individuals experiencing pain used several coping strategies. This finding is consistent with research involving elderly persons living in the community. / School of Nursing

The primary focus of this organizational study of thirty two homes for the aged was to explore the degree of difference between administrator (expert) and resident (consumer) judgments of the psycho-social environment of their homes and to detect organizational variables which might account for these differences. It was hypothesized that adequate communication linkages to the homes would be negatively correlated with resident-administrator differences in viewpoints of the psychosocial environment. Adequate communication linkages were defined as those which approximated a model of linkage adequacy derived from the ''balance theory of coordination" postulated by Eugene Litwak. Based on a multimodel theory of organizational structure it calls for mechanisms of coordination between antithetical organizational substructures to insure sufficient closeness for communication but sufficient distance to prevent conflict. A secondary focus of this study was the substantive findings regarding resident viewpoints of the psychosocial environment irrespective of their differences from administrators. The concept of "psychosocial environment" was defined and operationalized by Allen Pincus who developed an instrument (HDQ) for measuring the degree of privacy, freedom, social resources, and integration into the larger community provided by the psychosocial environment of homes for the aged. The study hypothesis was not supported by correlational findings; however, linkage adequacy ratings did account for seven percent of the variation in administrator-resident differences when entered into a regression analysis with variables measuring contacts between administrator and residents and residential participation in group activities. Of significance at the .05 level was the age of the administrators with the younger ones tending to have fewer differences from the residents; administrators' ranking of professional staff meetings and communications with the housekeeping staff as useful sources of information about their residents; and higher mean resident HDQ Dimension II (freedom) scores. A multiple regression analysis of these variables plus the mean home ratings of resident friendliness to staff accounted for 55% of the variation in resident-administrator differences. These findings support the balance theory of coordination in that they reflect both distancing mechanisms (indirect linkages; i.e., administrator-staff contacts) and conditions which promote closeness (resident friendliness to staff). The age of the administrator, positively correlated with resident-administrator differences, reflected greater reliance by the younger administrators on their staffs and less control by their boards. Neither resident age, health, size of home, socio-cultural similarity between resident and administrator, nor the degree of informal administrator contact with residents were associated with resident-administrator differences. Resident scores on the HDQ suggest the psychosocial environments of the homes providing a great deal more privacy than a lack of privacy, more integration into the larger community than isolation, slightly more social resources rather than a lack of social resources, and as much freedom as structure. Those variables negatively associated with the dimension scores on a home by home basis included poorer ratings on resident mental health, mobility, and physical isolation. Homes with a greater degree of board control less participating activities and where residents tended to take their complaints to the administrator tended to have less freedom. Homes located in the country, with a resident council and social worker and with frequent administrator-resident contacts tended to score higher on the resource dimension. Implications for social planning include greater confidence in the older consumer as a source of informational feedback and increased scrutiny of administrator viewpoints especially as they relate to utilization of staff. The study suggests that planning must be geared to providing for the needs for the immobile, mentally impaired, isolated resident as well as stimulating administrative and structural changes which allow for a greater degree of freedom and social resources.

One concern of this study is sexuality among the aged, since every person, regardless of age, is a sexual being. Society, however, has been slow to recognize this fact and has not accepted sexual activity among the aged. Along with the lack of social sanctioning, elderly persons are very susceptible to the myriad of myths, half-truths, misinformation, and incomplete data which affect their attitudes toward sexuality. Furthermore, older persons are susceptible to negative stereotypes of themselves as sexual beings. However, the effect of actual sexual activity upon overall life satisfaction among the aged has yet to be determined. Because there has been no empirical evidence concerning this, the degree of relationship between sexual activity and life satisfaction remains unknown. Since human beings remain sexual throughout life, and a large proportion of the elderly are institutionalized, this study will focus attention on the relationship between life satisfaction and sexuality among the institutionalized aged. It is important for social workers to explore these concepts, as empirically validated knowledge can be used as guidelines for professional values and practice.