A micro-analysis of ?senility?: the responses of the family and the health professionals
- 1 March 1983
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Nature in Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry
- Vol. 7 (1), 77-96
- https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00250000
Abstract
In research on 167 post-hospitalized older people, thirty individuals were described by their families as being senile. In comparisons of the behaviorally impaired with those who have only a physical condition, it was found that the behaviorally impaired were significantly more likely to be placed in a nursing home than were those with serious physical impairment. In this sub-group, the family also was much more likely to seek-out health professionals for advice in the disposition of the patient, although mental health professionals were rarely consulted. Through a case study analysis, we analyze the interactions between the patients, their families and the health professions as a three-stage process where the patient's behaviors become increasingly specified and elaborated. As a result behaviors formerly tolerated become a formal problem where the solution is likely to be institutionalization.This publication has 27 references indexed in Scilit:
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