Learned Helplessness as a Framework for Practice in Long-Term Care Environments

This paper presents an overview of learned helplessness theory and uses the iatrogenic diseases of institutional life as a framework for describing long-term care environments. On the basis of the theory and the nature of the environments that offer residents little opportunity for choice and control over events in their daily lives, the author proposes some possible remedies to increase the quality of life among older people in long-term care.