Why Satellite Television Is Useful In Nursing Homes
Watching television is increasingly considered a beneficial activity for the elderly in nursing homes.
Research on the subject, although not very extensive, has revealed that television in nursing homes can support socialization and entertainment, structure daily life, provide comfort and continuity, and allow for emotional involvement. Television can and should be instrumental in maintaining quality of life in nursing homes.
However, TV programs must be appropriately selected and coordinated, keeping the seniors’ needs in mind. This makes satellite TV perfect for nursing homes.
The “Telly-On” Stereotype
Television has often been frowned upon when it comes to children and the elderly. It is often considered that television turns seniors into couch potatoes, substituting active socializing for passive TV consumerism.
Excessive exposure to TV programs that have violent content has also been blamed for causing depression, aggressiveness, and a tendency to withdraw from a world that seniors come to see as menacing and dangerous.
There are even more stereotypes attached to nursing homes using television. “Telly-on” is a phrase often used to describe care home situations where numbed seniors passively spend days in front of a permanently buzzing television instead of being cared for in more physically and mentally active ways.
These stereotypes account for real situations—but only to some extent.
For example, a violent program can upset a senior, and there can be care environments where TV is relied upon too much.
However, TV is just a tool; an instrument. As such, its role depends on how it is used.
A recent study from Lund University suggests that TV is not necessarily a passive mental activity and that it has a distinctive role in maintaining quality of life for nursing home pensioners, including those with dementia or Alzheimer’s.
The Disengagement Process
According to research, ages over 55 tend to increase the time they spend watching television. Seniors over age 65 spend an average of almost 4 hours per day watching television.
After 84-85, individuals start disengaging from active life, as their physical capacities (vision and hearing in particular) decline and their mental state tend to close the world out. The time spent watching television also declines at this age.
This has come to be considered as a sign rather than a cause of disengagement and retrieval.
As individuals lose interest in past habits and to what happens in the world, watching television stops being a relevant pastime.
This is where a radical paradigm shift occurs: not only television is not blamed anymore for disengagement, but it is believed it can be instrumental against it.
TV: A Window To The World
Whether it is by personal choice or imposed by health conditions and a lack of other care alternatives, going to a nursing home is a radical change in an elder’s life. It can be accompanied by a significant health decline, by thoughts about entering “the last stage of life,” or by any number of other negative associations.
Although television alone cannot fight those negative associations, it can help perk up nursing home residents.
If they feel that they are leaving the world by entering a care home, television becomes their window to the world, their way of staying involved with it despite living less active and more confined.
In particular:
- Watching news programs helps them keep up with what is happening outside of the nursing home walls. It keeps connected to the here and the now. Staying involved and informed is the main motivation for elders who watch TV.
- Watching important events (like sports games) that they used to go to or watch on television previously allows for a sense of continuation with their life before the nursing home.
- Television programs like movies or series get elders emotionally involved in something outside themselves. They can also allow them to express emotions instead of keeping them inside.
- Television is, most of all, about entertainment and feeling happy, and as such it provides valuable, comforting moments to everyone, including elders.
Watching TV In Groups
Television sets are part of both common and private spaces in a care home. This means that seniors can watch TV both in groups and in the privacy of their room.
Watching television in the common areas of a nursing home, together with other residents and the nursing home staff, is a good shared experience that enhances communication and socialization.
Discussing and commenting on the program, laughing together, replying to a quiz show, etc. are ways for active watching and exchanging.
Watching TV In Private
On the other hand, watching a specific program in private can be an opportunity for self-expression.
Seniors can follow their personal preferences easier in their room and choose a program significant to themselves that their peers may not find particularly interesting. They can thus continue exploring a personal interest in private and express their personality outside of the group, which is important for their self-esteem. Having some quality alone time in an environment where so many daily activities are shared remains important for the seniors.
Not surprisingly, a 2016 survey on the importance of personal possessions in developing the sense of home in nursing homes, showed that television is one of the most prized personal belongings for care home residents.
Nursing Home Viewing Theaters
Some experts in geriatrics suggest creating experiences that are between public and private, by having “viewing theaters” in the nursing home.
Groups of residents can follow specific programs there without imposing them on the common areas, and without watching them alone in their rooms. This could be watching a particular action movie, a sports event, or a romance, all of which appeal to specific groups of residents.
Should Dementia Patients Watch TV?
A 2009 research discovered that watching television is not one of the favorite activities for dementia patients in nursing homes, despite what one might think.
In fact, dementia patients often prefer to be alone. In most seniors’ minds, TV is associated with dosing off.
Interestingly enough, no negative behavior has been associated with watching TV for this specific group of nursing home pensioners.
Instead, television may play an important role for elders with dementia or Alzheimer’s, especially concerning the transition from home to nursing home:
- Watching in the nursing home the same programs they used to watch at home provides comfort and a sense of continuity from one environment to another. This helps them adapt to the new circumstances.
- Watching specific programs at specific hours in the day helps structure daily life. This is particularly important for people who tend to lose the notion of time.
- It is also suggested that watching a regular TV program can support reminiscence and memory.
How Should TV Be Used In Nursing Homes?
What does the above consensus that watching television can be beneficial to elders, mean for care home practitioners? Should watching be public or private? Should some types of programs be used more than others? Should the staff select appropriate programs or should residents do so?
These questions offer an interesting perspective as to why nursing homes should have satellite television.
Technology has transformed television choices, with satellite TV available at a low cost. With it comes rich access to multi-channel and on-demand content to fit all preferences and interests.
Given all this, some experts suggest that nursing homes should have their own channels.
Clearly, we cannot generalize about how old people use TV because they are individuals with different interests and abilities. Age alone does not turn people into a homogenous crowd.
Seniors are not passive consumers of television and nursing homes should take into account the wide range of their preferences—as should the companies that create programs with older populations as their target audience.
Tips For Using TV Appropriately In Nursing Homes
What could nursing homes do to use TV as an effective tool against disengagement and to provide a better quality of life to their residents? Here are some suggestions:
- Make TV easy: It is easier for many to use larger remote controls with fewer and larger buttons. Since hearing declines with age, using hearing aid technology can make it a more pleasant activity for everyone, by helping to keep the TV sound low.
- Make it about the community. It is strongly suggested that staff should be present and make watching a program an active, shared experience.
- Watching the reaction of residents to programs. The nursing home staff should constantly assess the reactions of residents to specific programs, to remove irritants and validate preferences. If a program makes people uncomfortable or leaves them indifferent, they should change it and look for something more stimulating.
- Suggest programs that reinforce the sense of time and seasons. Follow important national events, festivals, sports events, etc.
- Look for TV programs that are substitutes for going out. Having a cinema night in, or scheduling a virtual visit to a museum or an art gallery are examples of TV programs that can be substitutes to act