Assisted living communities prioritize senior mental health awareness to create a supportive and enriching environment for elderly individuals. They encourage open communication channels through empathetic interactions and regular meetings.
Self-care attitudes and beliefs have a significant impact on residents’ emotional well-being. Some of the most critical factors include meaningful goals, a sense of purpose, and a feeling of personal fulfillment. With this, at Bergen Gardens Assisted Living, a holistic approach to care ensures that mental and emotional well-being is actively promoted within the community, enhancing residents’ overall quality of life.
Encourage Communication
Effective communication between nursing staff, residents, and family members is critical to a safe and healing environment. Nursing staff who can develop relationships with residents and their families better understand their needs, which leads to higher-quality care. A luxury community, such as this senior living near Chandler, Arizona, for example, have staff that truly care about the seniors living there, enhancing their quality of lives.
Sadly, some assisted living facilities struggle with building trust between residents and their care teams. A new study has shown that a simple intervention can help.
This intervention is the PICAL (Peer Intervention for Changing Leadership) workshop series, which provides training for assisted living staff and their family members on advanced listening skills and how to handle blame, criticism, and conflict. The study found that these workshops reduced staff-family conflicts and a stronger, more positive working relationship. The results were most pronounced for assisted living staff, with significant improvements in communication and relationships.
Encourage Socialization
Providing opportunities for socialization helps your loved one cultivate a sense of belonging and prevents a decline in their mental health. Many older adults are prone to stress-related ailments, which isolation can exacerbate.
Several obstacles, such as physical problems, family moving away, or COVID-19 isolation, may stop seniors from seeking socialization. However, these issues can be overcome with the right encouragement.
For example, encourage your loved one to join a hobby club that shares their passions. This may be a sewing group, an audio book club, or a jigsaw puzzle group. You could also ask them to start their group if the facility still needs one. Create a paper chain with notes of encouragement and hang it in the hallways for everyone to see.
Encourage Spirituality
As humans, we all have a spiritual side. This can be nourished in many ways, including prayer and meditation outdoors or listening to music. It can also be augmented by having religious services within your assisted living facility and offering activities promoting spiritual wellness, like writing, painting, and playing musical instruments.
For some residents, it is essential to talk about life after death and find meaning in their suffering. However, individual statements indicate that they do not want to burden their family members with these concerns and do not have closer relations to turn to.
For this reason, offering programs that allow seniors to volunteer with the outside community or within your assisted living Orlando facility is helpful. This will give them something to do and foster feelings of satisfaction through giving back.
Encourage Physical Activity
Encouraging physical activity can improve a resident’s mood and overall quality of life. It can also help manage symptoms commonly occurring in long-term care, such as dementia.
Research using structural equation modeling found that satisfaction with relationships with staff, activities offered within the setting, and social support from experts to exercise were directly associated with residents’ time engaging in physical activity. Additionally, gender, depression, and cognition were indirectly related to physical activity.
To encourage physical activity, assisted living communities should offer various educational and fun programs, such as art classes or workshops on technology. These activities promote a sense of purpose, socialization, and engagement in the community. These are essential to helping a senior maintain their emotional and mental wellness.
Encourage Volunteerism
Volunteering puts smiles on the faces of others and provides a sense of purpose. It also preserves a person’s mental health and cognitive ability. It’s even been linked to lower blood pressure.
If your facility offers volunteer opportunities, encourage residents to get involved. They can help with tasks around the home and interact with other volunteers or staff. They can be matched with others who share their interests, such as a resident who likes crossword puzzles and a volunteer who enjoys working on word games.
Studies show volunteers provide a valuable service by liaising between residents, nursing staff, professional caregivers, and their families. They can help manage recreational activities and social events and provide companionship for residents who may feel lonely and depressed.
