Fantastic article. I sympathize with you regarding the level of TV consumed in elder care facilities. At my mom’s facility, it often appears as though “TV time” downstairs is a way to fill up the activities calendar with a low-cost, low-staff event.

For those of you who may be reading this prior to a loved one transitioning to assisted living or board and care, pay close attention to Linda’s comments.

Having gone through this myself, I recommend looking at the activities calendar to see how much TV is institutionalized into the day.

If TV and movie activities are more than 20% of the total activity calendar, there are problems. Either there is no budget for activities, no interest, or the activities coordinator is just not skilled. Interaction with other people is the ideal.

My first post! Thanks again for the great read.

Ryan

@ Barbara Swafford – You raise an interesting idea about medical conditions of seniors & TV watching. I’ll have to see if there is any research on that topic.

@ Lance – Thank you! I love that your whole family would visit and bring cheer to Golden Oldies. I hope your kindness to others comes back to you & yours ten fold!

I remember when my Grandmother was in a nursing home, and whenever we visited her, many of the residents were genuinely interested in talking to us. For our kids (young at the time), they were not sure what to think. But we encouraged them to talk to other residents, as we did too. And, I really believe that it may have made someone’s day that we just took a minute out of our day to sit with them. Amazing what a minute of time can do.

I’ve been thinking about how Golden Oldies watch a lot of TV, and I remember when my father in law would watch the news. If a political candidate came on that he didn’t like, he would get all worked up, undoubtedly making his blood pressure rise. That can’t be good.