Resilience

I went to visit Nan yesterday. I've written about the fear that I'd been feeling since her admission into hospital here. Worried that she would lose her independence, her confidence, her sense of determination, her spirit.

She's now been discharged from the main hospital as she's been assessed as being 'medically fit', meaning, that she does not require any further medication treatment. However, she is not as able, physically, as she was prior to her admission. So, she's been moved to a community hospital into one of the County's rehab beds. These beds provide someone with the time and the support (through regular physio therapy) to regain as much of their strength, mobility and ability as possible before returning home.

I'm so pleased that Nan has not been written off as a lost cause, as an older person who is frail and weak. As someone who cannot improve. They have seen her strength and potential and have given her the opportunity to regain her mobility and her independence.

When I visited last night, Nan was tired but determined. It's made me think a lot about the concept of resilience, 'the ability to stand up to adversity and to bounce back or return to a state of equilibrium following individual adverse episodes'. Research has shown that resilience does not decline as a person ages. It has also identified the following factors that contribute to a persons resilience; having a determined and grateful attitude, a sense of purpose, support from friends and family, a connection to the community and, a spiritual practice.

This was my favourite quote from the research I've read recently, 'we learn from older people that resilience can incorporate and balance vulnerability alongside strength... resilience should perhaps be thought of as more about the courage and resourcefulness to live with vulnerability than avoiding it.'