Elderly people have their own set of circumstances, challenges, and risk factors related to their mental health and wellbeing that no other age group has. As people age, it is vital that aged care workers are able to provide the required support to those who may need it.
The types of support that they may need to provide may be in response to:
Emotional and psychological needs
These needs are usually made up of feelings and emotions the aged person may be experiencing for any given reason.
The psychological needs of the older person tie in closely with their emotional needs in that it is about who they are as a person and how outside factors can influence their coping mechanisms, impressions of themselves and their influence on others.
Emotional/psychological responses can be triggered off for any number of reasons. Shock, trauma and depression are a few reasons why these responses may occur. Loss is often the main reason why these emotions occur.
Emotional/psychological states vary from person to person.
Based on the person’s life experiences and what events may have occurred, the person may experience a number of different emotions.
Understanding grief and loss
The death of someone close or loss of health can be significant contributors to a person’s emotional well-being. Although the death of a partner, close friend or family member is of significant significance to the person, there are also several losses that are just as important.
Grief is how we respond when we experience loss. Grief allows us to adjust to our loss and find a way to continue our life without what or whom we had.
These losses may be:
- health
- limb
- independence
- pet
- confidence
- the family home (if the person is going into a nursing home)
- the ability to perform specific tasks
- sight
- hearing
- mobility
- When children move out of home, a person may no longer feel needed.
Grief is not an illness
Following the loss, the grieving person must reassess the world and themselves because something has changed. Grief is not an illness. We don’t ‘get over’ profound grief, but life will eventually have meaning again, although our loss may always be part of us. Eventually, we will learn to live with our loss. It is not unusual for grief to be felt over an extended period, even many years.
Response to loss
Some losses have a significant impact on the client’s life. How much it affects the person depends on how important the loss was to them. In the case where someone has died, the client will experience many emotions.
There are always several different responses to grief and loss.
These can include:
- Shock
- Disbelief
- Denial
- Loneliness
- Sadness
- Depression
Sometimes grief can cause difficulty in sleeping and can lead to physical symptoms. If these symptoms persist, check with your doctor to exclude other causes.
It can also affect our thinking, so we may think we will never get over this or we may think we are going insane.
There are a number of strategies that may assist you in supporting the grieving person to realise what has happened is real and true and must be acknowledged.
