When do elders become worthless? Ever?

Some of us OT students have been practicing a depression assessment on elder adults, which includes the standardized question “Do you feel you are pretty worthless now?”. I can't stand to ask the question but I have to. It seems like quite a few of the elders responded that they were in fact worthless. These people were not depressed or unhappy or antisocial, but yet still matter of factly stated worthlessness. I personally think that no elder is worthless, whether the elder is in a retirement community, assisted living facility, or nursing home. Even if that elder isn't specifically working or volunteering, that person still has an effect on others. I am a huge believer in the layman Butterfly effect. I do believe the tiniest shift in China can affect something big across the world because of how everything is connected. That's part of why I think no elder is worthless – just a smile can change the world. And of course I also think no elder is worthless because, well, I just don't. I'm so articulate sometimes…lol

 What are your thoughts? Do you have ways or ideas on how to make elders feel more worthwhile? I've got some ideas but they're still in an inchoate stage…

Just an OT student blabbering thoughts…maybe I'll be back tonight with my swirl of ideas, maybe I'll wait a while. Tomorrow we have a lab on some common balance/mobility assessments, and so I'll hopefully finally have some new pictures to put up!

Feb 26, 2008 | Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none