| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立暨南國際大學 === 社會政策與社會工作學系 === 90 === With fast aging of the population, the problems of the elderly are increasingly serious. According to the statistics of Department of Social Affairs, Ministry of the Interior(2001), there are totally 3 long-term care agencies, 591 long-term care facilities for the elderly and more than 100 nursing homes. In order to realize how the elderly in the facilities adapt themselves, what elements affect their adaptation and the categories they are labeled as during the process of adaptation, this research is made by the quantitative research method. The researcher has already observed the elderly in the facilities for many years and also has had a thorough talk with both the workers of the facilities and the families of the elderly. In all, the researcher has talked with 45 elderly persons, 12 families of the elderly and 13 workers of the in long-term care facilities. The information all has been analyzed, registered, categorized and named. After that, the researcher has thought of it in all aspects and then arranged it for systemic explanation.
It is found in this research that (A) There are still many elderly people who have not yet received attention from the long-term care facilities, especially those who think going to facilities is the result of the fact that their children don’t show filial piety to them and they are deserted. At the same time some of the families therefore feel guilty; (B) The elderly people’s consent to live in the long-term care facilities after full communication inevitably has some bad effect on adaptation after they enter the facilities; (C) What affects the adaptation of the elderly is mainly in the elderly themselves, families, the facilities and the others. As for the elderly, it includes elderly people’s personal quality and how well they are prepared before entering the facilities.As for the families, it lies in how often the families go to see the elderly and how hard they support them. As for the facilities itself, it includes the service the long-term care facilities provide and the attitude in which the workers look after the elderly. The others include sickness, other vital incidents and other social support. (D) Most of the elderly take “resignation-to-face” attitude to face their life in the facilities; they often think they have no other choice. Even though they are taken good care of by the facilities, they still feel they don’t belong to it. (E) The adaptation of the elderly in the facilities will be stable in about three to six months after they enter the facilities. Most of the elderly will be well-adapted, while a few of them do not get adapted well. The types of good adaptation can be categorized as follows: maturity and positiveness, reconciliation and self-consolation. On the other hand, those who can’t adapt well can be labeled as the type of depression or the type of resistance with extreme views. (F) In the first month the elderly usually are not accustomed to the environment and people there, which may cause some confusion in their minds, their bodies and even their behavior. So this first month is called the period of chaos. And from the fifteen day till the third month after the elderly go into the facilities, they gradually get used to the environment and familiar with the living styles there, and then they will respond to it better. This period of time is called the period of adaptation. The period of the third month till the six month is called the period of stabilization.
This research suggests that before entering a long-term care facilities, the elderly should have enough understanding about the facilities, which allows the elderly to become well-prepared in their minds. It is more preferable that the elderly have chances to visit the organizations and choose which organization they would like to live in. Besides, both the elderly and their families should set up a correct concept about the accommodation and also hold reasonable expectation . The facilities should cooperate and try hard to meet the expectation of both families and the elderly and hence increase the mutual relationship between families and the elderly. After the elderly live in the facilities, be sure to help them get familiar with the routines of the facilities as soon as possible, give them warmth and visits, respect their individual quality, specialty and their decision to be their own masters, allow them to possess their personal things and space they originally have, and build comfortable air. In this way, the elderly may get well-adapted in the facilities.
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