Senior Sidekicks
  • Home
    • FAQ
  • Contact
  • Service Plans
    • Parenting Your Parent Course
    • Medical Visit Companion Stand-by Plan
    • Medical Visit Companion Vacation Plan
    • Consultations And Home Studies
  • Blogs & Articles
    • A Senior Moment
    • "A Senior Moment." - Archive
    • Article Portfolio
  • Home
    • FAQ
  • Contact
  • Service Plans
    • Parenting Your Parent Course
    • Medical Visit Companion Stand-by Plan
    • Medical Visit Companion Vacation Plan
    • Consultations And Home Studies
  • Blogs & Articles
    • A Senior Moment
    • "A Senior Moment." - Archive
    • Article Portfolio

Could Spirituality Help Depressed Seniors?

9/7/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Senior depression presents several problems.  It appears as “mild” even if it doesn’t affect seniors mildly.  Depression symptoms may surface as physical complaints.  Seniors grew up in an era when receiving mental help = CRAZY.  Each of those problems presents a barrier to treatment.   How does a caregiving adult child get a senior to accept the help they need?  They really need it.  Even though seniors account for 13% of our population, they comprise 18% of all completed suicides!  Our society must take senior depression seriously.   Medication may not be enough. Religion/spirituality (R/S) may be a treatment pathway that seniors can accept.

Religious and Spiritual Factors in Depression: Review and Integration of Research is a review of literature: a look at 444 research articles on the subject of R/S.  All studies were reviewed for their methods.  178 studies were found to be rigorously designed and their data analyzed.  Most studies found that seniors who a religious or spiritual practice did better at managing depression or facilitating its resolution.   The review found that R/S beliefs may be used to cope/adapt to stressful life circumstances.  Seniors certainly face those; life-changing illness, loss of career, loss of home, and loss of spouse/friends.  Their lives need ways to adapt.

A second part of this study, found a lower likelihood of mood or psychiatric disorder for those who regularly attended religious services.  There was one caveat; if the R/S tradition was very orthodox, the senior may feel more judged than supported by their R/S tradition.  You know your senior.  You know what type of R/S practice they hold.  If there is a supportive faith community; try it.  This same review of literature noted that “pastoral counselors spend 140 million hours (doing) therapy each year”.  That’s more hours than provided by the American Psychological Association!  Since it is part of the counseling media, ask for this help for your senior.

Does it help?  The greatest medicine is no good if your senior won’t take it.  The same applies to counseling.  If it’s socially acceptable to meet with the pastor; use that method.

Health and Spirituality, examined the relationship between health and spirituality. Researchers found that the modern, western era’s response to illness/depression was a departure from other cultures and most of history.  In other times, religion was considered an integral part of healthcare.  Major illnesses focus the patient’s attention on ultimate meaning, purpose and transcendence.  The Nurses’ Study found that women who attended weekly religious services had a lower mortality rate that those who never did.  Regular religious attendance was associated with a lower rate of depression.  Wow!  Does our society need to return to an integrated/ whole person strategy to effectively treat seniors?  I believe we should.

Have we become too quick to provide pills to our seniors?  The Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) has a “rule of 4”.   If the senior is taking more than 4 kinds of pills, their risk of medication conflicts and issues increases.  While medicine might be helpful, other strategies could make a difference without raising further medication conflicts.
 
How many pills is your senior taking?  Is it a constant battle to get them to take medicine?  I suggest you discuss the idea of trying regular religious attendance and pastoral counseling instead.  As you discuss this method with the doctor, please keep this study result in mind.  One study gave cancer patients and their doctors a list of 7 factors to rank when making medical decisions.  The patients ranked faith in God 2nd.  The physicians placed it last.  Thus, it is the adult child/caregiver who must advocate for alternative approaches.  Always discuss changes with the doctor.  Try adding God; He just might help your senior.


0 Comments

    Author

     "A Senior Moment" is written by Ms. Sara Lieber, owner of Senior Sidekicks. Ms. Lieber has over 30 years of experience in senior care.


    Archives

    August 2019
    July 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    December 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    AARP
    Adult Children
    Aging Population
    Alocohol
    Alzheimer's Association
    Alzheimr's
    American Society On Aging
    Art
    Bosses
    Campaign
    Caregivers
    Caregiver Shortage
    Cargiving
    Catastrophic
    Changes
    Children
    Christmas
    Churches
    Classes
    Community
    Cortisol
    Counselors
    Course
    Crazy
    Dementia
    Depressoin
    Designer Drugs
    Downsizing
    Drugs
    Drug Testing
    Elder Boom
    Elderly
    Employer
    Employers
    Employment
    Faith
    Families
    Family Medical Leave Act
    Fight Or Flight Response
    FLMA
    God
    Hanukka
    Health Complaints
    Holidays
    Home
    House
    Hr
    Human Rescources
    Illinois
    Legacy
    Maine
    Medicaid
    Medical Visit Companion
    Million
    News
    Nursing Home
    Opioid Epidemic
    Opioids
    Organizations
    Paid Time Off
    Parents
    Pastoral Counselors
    Performance
    Planning
    Plans
    Preparing To Parent Your Parent Course
    Presidential Campaign 2020
    Psychiatric Disorder
    PTO
    Real Estate
    Realtors
    Realty
    Religious
    Retirement
    Sara Lieber
    Self Care
    Self-care
    Senior Depression
    Senior Population
    Seniors
    Senior Sidekicks
    Shortage
    SHRM
    Sisters
    Special Occassion Service
    Special Occassion Services
    Springfield
    Stress
    Stress Hormone
    Stressors
    Study
    Sugar
    Sundowner
    Symptom
    Symptom Picture
    Symptoms
    Synagogues
    Thanksgiving
    The Aid & Attendance Pension Benefit
    Two
    United States
    United States Wages
    Unpaid Family Care
    U.S. Wages
    VA
    Veterans
    Veterans Financial
    Visits
    Worker Shortage
    Young People

Proudly powered by Weebly