The Power of Silence in Senior Care

This is a nice idea. Our residents will like it.

Thanks!

Drawing from the Article : Silence as an Oasis,Stiver, Tanya, N.J. Enfield, P. Brown, et.al., Universals and cultural variation in turn-taking in conversation, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 106, No. 26 ' Silent moments in therapy serve as an oasis from the chatter that fills most of our lives. Like an oasis, supportive silences can refresh, nurture and strengthen those around it. Because such spaces in conversation are outside usual human interactions, they can let something different happen. They are a powerful tool that we each need to develop thoughtfully and purposefully.' This explains how we get new revelations during our quiet moments. According to the scriptures , Jesus often withdrew himself from his followers to a solitary place to pray and to hear from God. At times we need allow silence to communicate with the service Users as long as we remain alert of their circumstances.

Lovely ideas here. Thank you Haley. Overstimulation can definitely be a problem. Some days in the afternoon, right after the lunchtime meal, I put a youtube movie on of fish in a fish tank, with no sound. Even the medical and allied staff enjoy this hour of peacefulness. There are many similar videos such as waterfalls, or waves crashing on a beach on Youtube. I have also found some DVD's in the Op shop thrift stores.

Yes, the days of "activities as a party atmosphere all day everyday" are so outdated. We have leisure reading, at 2:30 everyday where residents can come in browse newspaper, magazines, do a word search puzzle, etc. 3x a week (during the winter months) we have coffee cafe where it is a coffee house atmosphere, light music in the back ground, coffee/tea/hot apple cider are served. Things dont always have to be loud, bright and in motion to be an activity!

I just can't love this enough. Personally I am a big believer in silence and find that our residents can be over stimulated which therefore causes " behaviours" . I like to have a peaceful setting for our activities and read the feeling in the room before we decide to play music or chat. Myself in social situations where there is so much noise and commotion going on I feel anxious and angry at times so can completely understand how this would affect our residents on a daily basis. This is a great read and very informative. Well done.

brilliant!

Haley has submitted a new article: The Health Benefits of Silence in Senior Care