Implementing Sociometry in a Long-Term Care Institutional Setting for the Elderly:

In this article, I explore the convergence of sociometry and gerontology in order to demonstrate successful practices and to suggest alternative approaches in interacting with elderly people, which would result in stabilizing and improving their mental health and emotional status. As elderly people may experience various psychological conditions, applying sociometry requires innovative approaches and a certain flexibility in the application of some of the techniques. The article specifically deals with older adults residing in long-term care communities and my personal experience in creating and implementing therapeutic modalities for the older population. In this article, ‘‘older adults’’ are those older than 65 years. The ‘‘elderly’’ are those aged 85flyears. The approaches and techniques described in this article are adapted and effective for elderly people at any age.