PASTORAL CARE FOR ISOLATED NURSING CENTER RESIDENTS IN A GROUP SETTING (RELATIONSHIPS, COMMUNALITY, INTERPERSONAL, ESTRANGEMENT).
Contributors: Princeton Theological Seminary.
Published: 1986
Number of pages: 235
Subjects: Religion, General.
Description: This Thesis Project deals with the problem of residents in a Nursing Center who volitionally sit in solitary loneliness many hours of every day without involvement in activities or with other individuals.

Their isolation is a distortion of the communality basic to human beings. As such, the restoration of satisfying relationships, in community, was considered possible, necessary and theologically appropriate.

The "in house" aspect of this goal was considered important because visitation by family, clergy and friendly visitors is sporadic, even under the best conditions. The formulation of a group was conceived as a possible basis for achieving the objective of establishing warm, personal relationships and involving individuals in community.

The basic Project hypothesis notes that "if it is possible to form warm, caring relationships with them (residents) as individuals, it will be possible to restore communality, through group relationships, for approximately one-third of the isolated residents.".

The approach taken was to determine which of the isolated residents would welcome regular visits by the Project author, and to visit with them one to four times each week for three months. Following that Personal Relationship phase, a Working Relationship phase of one month involved acquainting each individual with at least one other resident. The final phase, Group Relationships, involved meeting in groups, once a week, for three months.

Twenty-two individuals, of the twenty-nine residents initially approached, began the Project. Due to various attritions, some residents were replaced by other isolated residents but, ultimately, eleven individuals participated in one of two groups with considerable regularity. During the three months of group life, the Group Journal notes the establishment of significant and enjoyable interpersonal relationships. Unsolicited institutional input corroborated the Project findings, that significant changes had taken place in the eleven individuals during the three months of group life.

Further research is necessary involving isolated persons in all categories. It is possible to reduce isolation, but it requires many more person hours than are now generally committed to this problem. Possible sources are volunteers (students, retired persons) or chaplains (CPE students). The other necessity is an organized effort to channel individual efforts toward communal goals.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-05, Section: A, page: 1762.

Thesis (D.MIN.)--PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, 1986.

School code: 0182.