A study from The Wharton School made a very interesting find, recently. The researchers behind this study published a paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology that states that when we have too much free time on our hands, our sense of well being and purpose declines.
As you might imagine, the recent pandemic has helped to exacerbate this for a lot of people. Shutdowns, quarantines, and more have led to more free time for a lot of us. But some populations are at a greater risk of experiencing this than others. Seniors often spend too much time in isolation, even before the COVID pandemic had occurred. Free time and boredom can be a serious issue in this population.
Free time is important, but that only goes up to a certain point. The study found that our feelings of self worth increase when we have free time and time to ourselves, but only to an extent. Once too much time is spent without direction or purpose, feelings of self worth, accomplishment, and happiness begin to diminish. For the purpose of this study, a high amount of free time was counted as seven hours or more.
What does this finding mean for senior care? Well, our feelings of self worth are often explored during these years anyway. That’s because many of the things that have kept someone occupied for the last few decades are suddenly gone. When an individual goes from raising a family to an empty nest, and from working a full time job to retirement, it’s only natural that these thoughts creep in. But when things quiet down and health begins to fail, it can be a difficult time–both physically and mentally.
Retirement isn’t supposed to be a time for boredom. Yes, rest is often at the top of people’s lists when they get to this stage in life, and that makes a lot of sense. Working for a few decades is exhausting! But if the right balance of rest and activity is not found, the person in need might find themselves experiencing deteriorating mental health, too. For some, this can be a far more serious concern than any physical health issues that they might be dealing with. Many seniors, especially those that are in need of senior care, find themselves with far more than seven hours of free time per day, placing them in the high risk category that the above mentioned study looked at. Many nursing homes and assisted living facilities attempt to combat this with planned activities, but this isn’t always a helpful approach as they are generalized and basic activities, for the most part. They don’t address the needs of the individual.
Active senior care will look different from person to person. Some seniors can safely go out for walks or even jogs without facing serious repercussions. Others are not able to do this. People have different hobbies, different interests, and different goals that they would like to accomplish during these years. That’s perfectly normal; we are all individuals, after all.
In-home care isn’t the only type of care that can accomplish this unique approach to helping seniors thrive in their own personal pursuits.
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