FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MAY 7, 2020 • HEALTH • THE QUEENS COURIER 49
health
Queens lawmaker introduces bill to help elderly
access medication during coronavirus crisis
Validation Therapy and Aging
An important issue has been the
inadequacy of previously accepted
therapies for dealing with the disoriented
patient in the 80+ age group.
Reality Orientation, for example,
could not penetrate the shield of fantasy
in which such patients would wrap
themselves. In fact, efforts by staff to
insist that these patients face present
reality, would sometimes make them
retreat into their vision of the past.
Frustrated with the inability of the
technique called “reality orientation”
to reach these patients, Naomi Feil,
MSW, developed a different approach
that she calls Validation Therapy. In
essence, Validation Therapy direct
the worker to “validate” the feelings
expressed by what Feil terms the oldold
(i.e. 85+ years). The worker listens
and responds with empathy instead of
trying to force the patient to accept
reality.
I recall a case of a 90+ year patient
who continuously called for her mother.
It would have been foolish for me
to remind her that it would be impossible
for her mother to still be alive.
Instead, I talked to her about her feelings
while holding her hands. In that
way I was recognizing the fact that she
was expressing her need for someone
to give her validation.
However, Feil cautions, validation of
one’s feelings should not be confused
with analysis.
Empathy, according to Feil, means
acknowledging feelings that the individual
freely expresses. According to Feil,
“Validation does not mean exploring
feelings that the person chooses not to
express.”
What becomes crucial for understanding
the past events is that which
shapes this patient. For example, how
did this person handle losses in the past
and what does she remember? Such
questions help the worker relate to the
disoriented patient and helps to recognize
when they (i.e. the patient) is mingling
the past with the present to resolve
earlier confl icts.
Th is individual, according to Feil is
“reviewing and reliving past times as a
way of justifying having lived.” Th e ability
to cope with losses becomes more problematic
with advanced age as the patient
must confront a loss of a previous role,
death of a loved one, a close and longtime
friend, and even someone’s physical
impairment.
Th e ultimate goal of Validation Th erapy
is to relieve the confused patient’s anxiety,
maintain their dignity and prevent
further regression into a deeper state of
depression.
Th e following is a comparison between
two opposing therapies; one that is traditional
and the other, what Naomi Feil
calls, her method.
Reality Orientation (RO) (Traditional)
vs. Validation Th erapy (VT) (Feil
Patient: I have to go. I have to see my
mother.
(RO Worker): Your mother died a long
time ago.
(VT Worker): What does your mother
look like? You must have loved her a lot.
You must miss her.
Patient insisting: I have to go see my
mother.
(RO Worker): Perhaps aft er dinner.
(VT Worker): (becoming fi rmer) You
can’t leave here. You are in a nursing
home.
Th is dialogue can lead to a discussion
of the patient’s relationship about her
mother. Validation is therefore patient
oriented.
Incidentally, the above case is actually
based on a real life experience I was
involved with during my years in longterm
care as a Nurse Administrator.
Courtesy of Simotas’ offi ce
Dr. Sheldon Ornstein is a
registered professional nurse
with a doctoral degree in
nursing organization. He
has specialized in the care
of older adults and has
published many articles on
the subject. He has done
post-graduate work in gerontology
and has taught
at several universities. In
2013, he was inducted into
the Nursing Hall of Fame at
Teachers College, Columbia
University.
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas
announced she would introduce new legislation
to help elderly and chronically ill
New Yorkers access the lifesaving medications
they need during the COVID-19
state of emergency.
Th e bill would allow controlled substances
normally restricted to a 30-day
supply to be issued for greater than a
30-day supply, exclusively during a state
of emergency.
“Forcing New Yorkers to make repeated
trips to a pharmacy during this pandemic
is both short-sighted and inconsiderate,”
Simotas said. “As we battle the ongoing
public health crisis from novel coronavirus,
it is troubling that the state would
continue forcing high-risk patients to visit
a pharmacy each month to access medications
they need. Lift ing the 30-day limit
on controlled substance prescriptions is a
critical step to protect the disabled community
and ensure all New Yorkers can
follow social distancing guidelines to fl atten
the curve.”
According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, people over 65
and immunocompromised people are at
heightened risk from catching COVID-
19 and experiencing serious complications.
Th ere are at least 10 million immunocompromised
individuals nationwide,
and 3.2 million elderly residents in New
York state alone.
“Public health experts have a clear
message for New Yorkers: Stay home and
stay safe. Making New Yorkers who are
susceptible to COVID-19 visit a pharmacy
to fi ll prescriptions for lifesaving medication
is the equivalent of double jeopardy,”
state Senator Brad Hoylman said.
“Our legislation fi xes this problem by
lift ing the 30-day limit on prescriptions
for controlled medication and reducing
the number of trips New Yorkers need
to take to the pharmacy so they can stay
healthy.”
Hoylman will carry the measure in the
upper chamber. Th e bill would give New
Yorkers uninterrupted access to medication
used to treat seizures, anxiety,
ADHD, sleeping disorder and other conditions.
“Th is legislation will enable immunocompromised
patients to safely manage
chronic conditions through this emergency
and limit needless risk of exposure to
COVID-19,” Simotas said.
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