Marquette University, College of Nursing, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233, USA.
Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2011;32(5):327-34. doi: 10.3109/01612840.2010.541329.
Elderly persons' relocation to retirement communities is a stressful event that requires person-milieu adjustment. Research has shown differences in relocation adjustment for elders residing in different retirement communities. A secondary analysis used findings from a study of relocated elders in order to determine whether certain therapeutic factors were lacking in retirement communities where elders had difficulty in adjusting. Study participants were 104 elders who relocated to six retirement communities in Northeast Ohio. This study analyzed qualitative data from the researchers' observations and field notes and narratives obtained from the elders who participated in the original study. The analysis focused on data that described the environmental characteristics of retirement communities where elders reported less successful adjustment. These environmental characteristics were evaluated for consistency with the characteristics of Shives' therapeutic milieu. Most retirement communities in the study did not fulfill all eight dimensions of a therapeutic milieu as defined by Shives. For example, individualized treatment programs were lacking in most of the retirement communities and the activities offered were not based on individual assessment and did not contribute to personal growth. The findings point to the need to create a more therapeutic milieu in retirement communities in order to facilitate successful readjustment for relocated elders.
老年人迁往退休社区是一件压力很大的事情，需要人与环境的调整。研究表明，居住在不同退休社区的老年人在适应迁居方面存在差异。一项二次分析利用了一项对迁居老年人的研究结果，以确定在老年人难以适应的退休社区是否缺乏某些治疗因素。研究参与者是 104 名迁往俄亥俄州东北部六个退休社区的老年人。本研究分析了研究人员观察和实地记录以及参与原始研究的老年人提供的叙述中得出的定性数据。分析的重点是描述老年人报告调整不那么成功的退休社区环境特征的数据。这些环境特征与 Shives 的治疗环境的特征进行了一致性评估。研究中的大多数退休社区都没有满足 Shives 定义的治疗环境的八个维度。例如，大多数退休社区缺乏个性化的治疗方案，提供的活动不是基于个人评估，也没有促进个人成长。研究结果表明，有必要在退休社区创造一个更具治疗性的环境，以促进迁居老年人的成功调整。
