Environmental Change and the Aged: a Study of Morale.

Gerontological literature is full of descriptions of the institutionalized elderly as disoriented, withdrawn, depressed and hopeless. Some of these effects have been explained by: socio-economic factors, personality variables, physical illness and length of institutionalization. The degree of environmental discontinuity between the old community setting and the new institutional one suggests another condition that may explain the noxious effects observed to follow institutionalization. If so, then the impact of environmental change may be equally valid in explaining "institutional" effects. Thus, this investigation was initiated to gain an empirical perspective on the impact of institutional environments on well-being. It was reasoned that if the environment was causally related to the psychological portrait of the institutionalized old, then planners and practitioners could develop appropriate intervention strategies. This objective was accomplished through a series of research activities which: (1) profiled the characteristics of the study's respondents, (2) examined the relationship between well-being and such factors as: demographic and socio-economic, health, psychological, social involvement, and environmental, and (3) assessed and compared the amount of variance in well-being explained by these factors singly and in combination. One hundred and thirty-seven elderly persons from thirteen different long-term care facilities in South Eastern Michigan were interviewed. An additional 57 older persons living in the general population were interviewed and served as a comparative group. Among the major results discussed in the study were the following. The comparison of the older persons in institutions with those who were living in the community revealed marked differences between the two groups. The community sample was younger, better off financially, better educated, and for the most part were still living with their spouses. They required much less help and direction with their activities of daily living. Further, the well-being of the persons in the community was significantly better than their institutionalized cohorts. The substantial relationship between the locus of control variable and well-being in the institutionalized sample was a striking finding. With respect to the impact of the environment on well-being, the institutionalized elderly with optimum person-environment fit had significantly higher morale (well-being) than did persons with poor fit. A preponderance of environmental variables--10 out of 17--were significant predictors of well-being when all the independent variables were analyzed jointly. The single best predictor of well-being was the P-E fit(,2) variable control over the environment. Collectively the independent variables explained 55 percent of the variance in well-being. The results of the study revealed that personal control, involving an ability to manipulate the environment and having a feeling of being able to have an effect on the world, has a powerful positive effect upon the well-being of institutionalized older people. The implications for practice are amply clear. It is necessary to heighten the older person's sense of mastery over the environment. A heightened sense of mastery and personal control may contribute to physical health, subjective well-being and a life-enhancing adaptation to a new form of congregate living. Ways in which designers and managers of space and family members can promote a basic therapy of environmental mastery for older persons were also discussed.PhDArchitectureUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/158036/1/8106076.pd