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MENTAL PATIENTS IN NURSING HOMES. IV. ETHNIC INFLUENCES *
Author(s) -
DOMINICK JOAN R.,
STOTSKY BERNARD A.
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1969.tb04107.x
Subject(s) - loneliness , ethnic group , medicine , judaism , nursing homes , protestantism , immigration , nursing , affect (linguistics) , gerontology , psychiatry , religious studies , psychology , sociology , history , anthropology , philosophy , archaeology , communication
A bstract : This study was an attempt to determine the unique features of various ethnic groups which affect social relationships in nursing homes. Detailed examples are given of what was observed in the following geriatric groups during visits to nursing homes: Chinese, Armenian, Roman Catholic (one home predominantly Italian, and one run by the Little Sisters of the Poor), Jewish (one efficiently managed, and one less well managed, chiefly for the foreign‐born), predominantly Negro (entire staff and more than half the patients), and Protestant (Puritan type and Currier and Ives type); in addition, an example is given of people who had grown old and were cared for in their own communities by neighbors and relatives. Some of these situations were much better than others, though overall, it was evident that loneliness, aimlessness and monotony tend to dominate the lives of most aged people in institutions. However, those who are strongly bound by ethnic, cultural and religious ties do not feel isolated, abandoned and hopeless.