How many times have families promised to an elder, “I will never put you in a nursing home?”

All families want to keep their loved ones safe, comfortable, healthy and happy. As a person becomes dependent, comes a time when they can no longer stay in their home. Feelings of sadness or guilt often accompany this decision and have a huge impact on family satisfaction. The senior housing industry has a lot to gain in managing expectations and helping families through this feeling of guilt. As a 2008 study from NIH shows, guilt and family satisfaction are highly correlated.

As guilt settles, it can be hard to deconstruct the feeling to better understand it. When my grandmother was moved to a nursing home, we knew that we couldn’t handle her physical and medical needs.  The guilt didn’t come from “outsourcing” the fulfillment of those needs. It came because we weren’t the ones taking care of her “other” needs; the ones that an activity director fills in by addressing her wellness and creating a person-centered experience. We weren’t the ones reading the Bible to her, playing games or discussing the news with her. Although we were very involved, we weren’t there all the time. Relying on the staff for these very personal dimensions made up the bulk of the guilt that we suffered from.

Read more on McKnight here to find out more about creating quality experience.