• An elderly person living in a home in a rural area will have a harder time making face-to-face contact with others than will an elderly person living in a retirement apartment complex in the town or city
• I also suggest that you ask the client if he or she feels lonely and to rate that feeling on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most lonely
• While this may seem like an imperfect rating, I find it very helpful in assessing an individual and in evaluating progress later
• I note the person's response in my note and use it for future comparison

Copyright 1999 by the GEC