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Who Experiences the Move into a Nursing Home as Stressful? Examination of the Relocation Stress Hypothesis using Archival, Time-Series Data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Peter R. Grant
Peter R. Grant
Affiliation:
University of Saskatchewan
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Abstract

The relocation stress hypothesis that older people find the move into a nursing home to be stressful was examined using archival time-series data. The prevalence of psychological distress following admission was obtained from nursing notes written on monthly medical charts for 159 residents of four Saskatchewan nursing homes. Excluding those with an organic psychotic disorder (19.5%), the results showed that the majority of new residents (82.7%) were not distressed by the move. However, a large proportion of those who were stressed and, in particular, those who had behavioral problems prior to admission did experience psychological distress on admission, and this proportion dropped slowly over an eight month period. While this evidence does not support a general relocation stress hypothesis, it is consistent with a perceived control interpretation of this hypothesis as well as a number of other interpretations focussing on alternative explanations for the behavioral problems variable.

Résumé

L'hypothèse du stress engendré par le relogement, selon laquelle le transfert de la personne âgée en maison de retraite provoque un stress a été ré-étudiée à la lumière des données d'archives longitudinales et sérielles. L'incidence des cas d'angoisse suite à l'admission provient des commentaires accompagnant les fiches médicales de 159 personnes habitant dans quatre maisons de retraite en Saskatchewan. Mis à part les sujets atteints de désordres psychotiques d'origine organique (19,5%), la majorité des nouveaux résidents (82,7%) ne présente pas d'angoisse de relogement. Cependant, une forte proportion des sujets présentant des signes de stress avant leur admission, notamment ceux qui présentaient déjà des problèmes du comportement, éprouvent de l'angoisse au moment de leur transfert, mais leur proportion diminue progressivement au cours des huit mois qui suivent. Bien que ces résultats ne viennent pas étayer la thèse d'un stress de relogement général, elle ne contredit pas l'interprétation selon laquelle le sujet a le sentiment de dominer la situation non plus que diverses interprétations centrées sur d'autres explications concernant la variable des problèmes du comportement

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , June 1985 , pp. 87 - 100
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1985

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