Suicide Among the Elderly in Long-Term Care Facilities

(Hardback)

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This is a large-scale study of suicide in a population of institutionalized older adults. From their findings, the authors identify the most "at risk" groups and highlight the major factors contributing to suicide in older adults in institutions. The study described in this work employed a sample survey design. More than 1000 administrators of long-term care facilities in the USA were randomly selected and surveyed about their staff and facilities, and the incidence and type of suicidal behaviors which ocurred among residents in 1984 and 1985. Results of the study confirmed that suicidal behavior occurred in approximately 20 percent of the facilities who responded. High risk groups of residents included white males and the "old-old" (75 years and older). The survey reveals that certain environmental factors such as the size of the facility, staff turnover rate, per diem cost, and auspices (public, private, and religious) were related to the occurrence and outcome of suicidal behavior. Suggestions for suicide prevention, based on these findings, are also presented. The book is divided into three parts. Part One examines various types of long-term care facilities, including skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, and adult homes. Part Two highlights design, methodology, and findings from the national study of suicide in long-term care facilities. Case profiles of suicidal residents are included to provide a more personal account of suicide behavior, and to illustrate important factors in the older individual's decision to end her/his life. Case profiles of four institutions are also included to highlight environmental factors related to suicidal behavior. Part three focuses on suicide prevention. Suggestions on the treatment of depression in the elderly, suicide prevention techniques, and the ethics of suicide are discussed in detail. This book should be valuable reading for professionals involved in the care of the elderly.

Reviews

[This book] presents a picture of the nature of late-life human experience in institutional settings. This is a unique study covering a topic that has long caused speculation and concern but that has not seen any systematic study. The background against which aging occurs in contemporary American society, as well as the nature of the long-term facility, is provided in some detail by the authors. The effect of the physical and psychosocial environment on the aging process is made patently clear.-Journal of Applied Gerontology
"This book presents a picture of the nature of late-life human experience in institutional settings. This is a unique study covering a topic that has long caused speculation and concern but that has not seen any systematic study. The background against which aging occurs in contemporary American society, as well as the nature of the long-term facility, is provided in some detail by the authors. The effect of the physical and psychosocial environment on the aging process is made patently clear."-Journal of Applied Gerontology
"[This book] presents a picture of the nature of late-life human experience in institutional settings. This is a unique study covering a topic that has long caused speculation and concern but that has not seen any systematic study. The background against which aging occurs in contemporary American society, as well as the nature of the long-term facility, is provided in some detail by the authors. The effect of the physical and psychosocial environment on the aging process is made patently clear."-Journal of Applied Gerontology

Author Bio

NANCY J. OSGOOD is Associate Professor in the Department of Gerontology and Sociology at the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University. She is also co-author of The Science and Practice of Gerontology: A Multidisciplinary Guide (Greenwood Press, 1989) and Suicide and the Elderly (Greenwood, 1986). BARBARA A. BRANT is an Instructor in Undergraduate and Graduate Gerontologic Nursing at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is an authority on elderly suicide and has presented many papers at major conferences on the subject. She has also written articles that have appeared in New Age for Seniors, the Journal of Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, and The GNP Newsletter. AARON LIPMAN is a Professor at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. His previous works include Suicide and Depression in Nursing Homes, co-authored with Nancy J. Osgood and Barbara Brant.