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When an elderly patient enters residential care, tensions often arise because the patient's partner attempts to defend a threatened spousal role that is incompatible with the new setting. Patterns of patient entry into the facility also influence the interaction between the patient's spouse and nursing staff. The social worker's task is to reduce friction between the spouse and staff members by sustaining the husband or wife in an acceptable caring role.
Mary Gwynne Schmidt (Thu,) studied this question.