A Study of Resident and Family Psychosocial Needs in Nursing Homes

This study sought to explore the attitudes of nursing home social workers regarding the relative importance of resident and family psychosocial needs and the frequency of psychosocial care functions performed by nursing home social workers. Previous research has shown that 30% of residents in-a typical nursing home, on average, will experience problems achieving psychosocial well-being\u27 Of this 30% , 2/3 will also have serious behavior and/or mood problems related to psychosocial distress. The nursing home social worker faces the challenge of trying to meet the psychosocial heeds of nursing home residents. Because of the difficulty of this task it is important to have a clear idea of which psychosocial needs are the most important and to develop a practice model that addresses these needs. survey results indicated that social workers in Wisconsin felt that emotional support and assistance with coping with the move to the nursing home was the most important need. They also identified orientation to resident rights, family involvement in care planning, help with feelings of loss,and ongoing involvement with resident\u27s family or loved ones as important psychosocial needs. On the Psychosocial Care Functions section survey results indicated that social workers in Wisconsin felt that promoting choice in schedule lifestyle and was the most important task. In addition discharge planning, care planning, completing psycho-social assessments and orientation to resident rights were identified as important psychosocial care functions