^Snippet(ejp);

Home > Arhiva > 2020 > Numar: 2 > Increasing the Quality of Life for the Older in Residential Care by Cultural Programs

 Increasing the Quality of Life for the Older in Residential Care by Cultural Programs

    by:
  • Alina Breaz (Aurel Vlaicu” University of Arad, No. 77th Revoluţiei Boulevard, 310130, România. E-mail: alinamariabreaz@gmail.com)

Background: The aging of the population is a global phenomenon that is presently facing all the countries of the world. Many of these elderly people arrive in residential centers, in the absence of the caregivers who care for them and take care of them. Life in residential centers in our country is not at a quality level comparable to that of centers in advanced countries. The small number of available staff, the poverty of the activities proposed to the elderly lead to a poor appreciation of the quality of life of these people.Objectives: The main objective of our research was to improve the quality of life of the elderly in the Arad Elderly Care Center. In this sense, the following hypothesis was formulated: the more obvious the involvement of the multidisciplinary team in the diversification of the cultural activities proposed to the elderly, the more the quality of life of these people from the residential centers increases.

Methodology: Out of about 130 elderly people in the care of the Arad Center, a number of 65 persons were taken into consideration and constituted the group on which the research was carried out. The methods used were: the assessment on a Likert scale of the quality of life in the center before and after the end of the research program (at a 3-month interval). Learning activities of painting or music carried out in collaboration with the Arad High School, visits to exhibitions and participation in concerts were proposed to the elderly.Results:Elderly people rated on a Likert scale from 1 (very poor) to 5 (very good) quality of life in the institution and the services offered by it, before the start of the research and after a 3-month interval at the end of the research. The obtained results showed that the formulated hypothesis was confirmed in practice: the more cultural activities were offered, the higher the appreciation of the quality of life by the elderly increased.

Conclusions: The social worker can contribute through appropriate programs and methods to improve the lives of elderly people in residential centers. It is necessary to collaborate with specialized institutions and to set up cultural volunteer programs in order to contribute significantly to the feeling of satisfaction of the old people regarding the quality of their life. Research, of an interdisciplinary nature, can be a first step in the implementation of programs that change the quality of life of people in residential centers in the sense of improving its quality and increasing the satisfaction with the life of older people.


Keywords: elderly people, residential environment, quality of life, satisfaction with life, cultural programs