Loneliness for Nursing Home Residents, Creative Essay Example

It is sometimes easy for Americans to forget about the needs of the elderly. Many of them are in places we cannot see. They are often confined to nursing homes, where no one but workers and the most steadfast visitors see them regularly. Yet nursing home residents are, perhaps, those who most need to be remembered.

Life in a nursing home can be very lonely. Most residents have given up homes, possessions and relationships to live in an environment that few would choose to live in. They cannot attend the events they choose to, nor can they call on those they might wish to visit. They are isolated in many ways and do not have the pleasure of society hat those still capable of day to day shopping, working and interaction have.

This sort of loneliness can be overwhelming. It is important, therefore, for those who can to interact with nursing home residents as much as possible and to encourage capable residents to engage in activities that allow them to interact with others.

Some groups have begun to try to make nursing home life less lonely. Among these is a group of researchers at St. Louis University, that has introduced robotic pets to nursing home patients.

The researchers’ study wed that patients who interacted with the pets were less lonely than those who did not.

Technology, then, seems to have the potential to combat elderly loneliness. Robotic dogs might help some residents, while simple things like access to e-mail and online interaction might help others.

It would be nice to see more developments in socially interactive technology for the elderly. Nursing home administrators ought to pursue more of it.