Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Section 1 Life stress, social support and health
- Section 2 Psychophysiological processes in disease
- Section 3 Personality, behaviour patterns and health
- Section 4 Health practices and the modification of health risk behaviour
- Section 5 Coping with illness and disability
- Active coping processes, coping dispositions, and recovery from surgery
- The impact of denial and repressive style on information gain and rehabilitation outcomes in myocardial infarction patients
- Reduction of postoperative pain by encouragement and instruction of patients: a study of doctor-patient rapport
- Psychological response to breast cancer: effect on outcome
- The effects of choice and enhanced personal responsibility for the aged: a field experiment in an institutional setting
- Section 6 Behavioural interventions in medicine
- Index
The effects of choice and enhanced personal responsibility for the aged: a field experiment in an institutional setting
from Section 5 - Coping with illness and disability
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2016
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Section 1 Life stress, social support and health
- Section 2 Psychophysiological processes in disease
- Section 3 Personality, behaviour patterns and health
- Section 4 Health practices and the modification of health risk behaviour
- Section 5 Coping with illness and disability
- Active coping processes, coping dispositions, and recovery from surgery
- The impact of denial and repressive style on information gain and rehabilitation outcomes in myocardial infarction patients
- Reduction of postoperative pain by encouragement and instruction of patients: a study of doctor-patient rapport
- Psychological response to breast cancer: effect on outcome
- The effects of choice and enhanced personal responsibility for the aged: a field experiment in an institutional setting
- Section 6 Behavioural interventions in medicine
- Index
Summary
Abstract
A field experiment was conducted to assess the effects of enhanced personal responsibility and choice on a group of nursing home residents. It was expected that the debilitated condition of many of the aged residing in institutional settings is, at least in part, a result of living in a virtually decision-free environment and consequently is potentially reversible. Residents who were in the experimental group were given a communication emphasizing their responsibility for themselves, whereas the communication given to a second group stressed the staffs responsibility for them. In addition, to bolster the communication, the former group was given the freedom to make choices and the responsibility of caring for a plant rather than having decisions made and the plant taken care of for them by the staff, as was the case for the latter group. Questionnaire ratings and behavioral measures showed a significant improvement for the experimental group over the comparison group on alertness, active participation, and a general sense of well-being.
The transition from adulthood to old age is often perceived as a process of loss, physiologically and psychologically (Birren, 1958; Gould, 1972). However, it is as yet unclear just how much of this change is biologically determined and how much is a function of the environment. The ability to sustain a sense of personal control in old age may be greatly influenced by societal factors, and this in turn may affect one's physical well-being.
Typically the life situation does change in old age. There is some loss of roles, norms, and reference groups, events that negatively influence one's perceived competence and feeling of responsibility (Bengston, 1973). Perception of these changes in addition to actual physical decrements may enhance a sense of aging and lower self-esteem (Lehr & Puschner, Note 1). In response to internal developmental changes, the aging individual may come to see himself in a position of lessened mastery relative to the rest of the world, as a passive object manipulated by the environment (Neugarten & Gutman, 1958). Questioning whether these factors can be counteracted, some studies have suggested that more successful aging— measured by decreased mortality, morbidity, and psychological disability—occurs when an individual feels a sense of usefulness and purpose (Bengston, 1973; Butler, 1967; Leaf, 1973; Lieberman, 1965).
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- Chapter
- Information
- Psychosocial Processes and HealthA Reader, pp. 400 - 412Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1994