In regards to an older adult, what is meant by 'psychosocial needs'?

Answer 1

The same as it means to young upstarts who ask such questions! Age makes no difference to these needs.

Answer 2

Everyone has psychosocial needs. People stranded on a deserted island or locked in a cell with no social contact will inevitably lose their minds.

Elderly folk are particularly vulnerable to social isolation. They may lose mobility, and be unable to leave the house to interact with others. They may lose their peer group as their friends die off. Their family may grow up and move away. Loss of cognitive faculties can also contribute to the problem -- few people volunteer to socialize with someone who can't remember them, or can't carry on a normal adult conversation.

So special care must be taken to attend to the psychosocial needs of seniors. It has been clearly shown that overall quality of life and even life expectancy are influenced by social interactions. Whether it's the driver from meals-on-wheels who comes inside and chats for a few minutes once a day, or a social worker who converses for an hour or two each week, or simply kids and grandkids coming to spend the day once or twice a month -- it's important to remember we can't just put old people on a shelf like a can of beans. Even if they are in mental decline, they need society like you do. (How would you like to be stuck in an apartment, never talking to anybody? How would you like to spend years, even decades, in a bed, if the person that came to turn you over to prevent bedsores never talked to you?)