About fifty percent of people reporting of feeling lonely are elderly people over eighty years of age. And the highest rate of suicide is in men over the age of eighty of all age group (Government of Canada, 2014). Over 1.3 million seniors in Canada are estimated to suffer from chronic loneliness where, 30% to 40% of seniors living in institutions experience depressive disorder resulted from the loneliness (Keeping Connected, 2016). Likewise, comparing seniors living in the community and residential care facilities, low rates of diagnosed depression i.e. 1% to 5% is found in the seniors living in the community whereas 14% to 42% of seniors living in long term care facilities are diagnosed with depression. Recent study showed that 44% of the seniors were either diagnosed with depression or showed depressive symptoms in the residential care facilities (Government of Canada, 2014). Further, While working as a nurse back home and continuing study here in Canada, I have observed that institutionalization of elderly people are more prevalent in Canadian society as compared to Asian countries. Currently, my clinical placement is in long term care home where I have been observing the experiences of the elderly people more closely. I have noticed most of the residents are in the state of loneliness and depression. My paper will argue that …show more content…
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