The Treatment of The Elderly In Long Term Care

The services psychologists can provide patients in long-term care results in benefits to patients and the healthcare system. Prior to the Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987, the traditional model of care in nursing homes was referred to as the custodial model. When looking at the negative stereotype of the nursing home, the custodial model represents much of what was undesirable about these settings, and is much less common today than even a decade ago. The custodial care model provided for the basic needs of patients, their food, cleanliness, medication and whatever medical care was necessary. But, there were no expectations for keeping the patient at his or her highest level of functioning, or for individualizing the psychosocial care. Fortunately, with nursing home reform 1987, and the accompanying emphasis on patients’ psychosocial needs and restraint reduction, that traditional custodial model has evolved into what is now called a functional capacities model. Here, in addition to the usual focus on patients’ medical condition and requisite nursing care, we are also interested in looking at different areas of functioning of the residents and developing individually tailored, multidisciplinary care plans that take into account patients’ level of cognitive, psychological, and behavioral functioning.