Purpose: This study examined the short- and long-term effects of Adult Day Services Plus (ADS Plus), a low-cost care management intervention designed to enhance family caregiver well-being, increase service utilization, and decrease nursing home placement of impaired older adults enrolled in adult day care. Design and Methods: We used a…

Describes TirLawyn, an academic organization based upon the nursing home concept, designed to provide interdisciplinary settings for health care students and practitioners to learn about and research aging and health care services, and to deliver a continuum of exemplary care to the elderly. (Author/ABB)

Used teleconferencing to provide three-week long community college course on personality development, values, self-concept, coping, and communication skills to 14 elderly nursing home residents. Five participants chosen to illustrate diverse responses to class all showed increased involvement with others, gains in integration of new dependencies…

Evidence is presented to support the development of the nursing home as a required clinical educational site. Analogies and differences between the nursing home and the hospital in medical education are explored as a means of understanding the potential and limits of the nursing home's role in medical education. (Author/MLW)

Suggests that the hospice approach includes several elements that can be utilized to improve the quality of life in nursing homes: a total needs emphasis, increased patient autonomy, open discussion of death, a community ideology, a team orientation, a role blurring of caregivers, and focus on patients and families. (Author)

Describes the outcomes of the Community College-Nursing Home Partnership Project in three areas: faculty development, curriculum innovation, and collaborative relationships. Explains how the project allies associate degree nursing faculty with practitioners to incorporate nursing home care and geriatrics into the curriculum. (JOW)

This study evaluated two methods of presenting a videotaped lesson on the care of residents with low vision to 87 staff at long-term care facilities. Both versions of the videotape, one which presented information in a narrative format and one which used text overlay to highlight ideas, were equally effective. (Author/JDD)

Four articles in this special section report on (1) Arizona curriculum for home-based caregivers of the elderly in rural communities (Epstein, Koenig); (2) educational programs for nursing home caregivers (Marsden); (3) extension programs for helping low-income elderly with money management (Koonce); and (4) energy education for the elderly…

Studied 180 community and nursing home clients who received psychotherapy through community mental health center program. Reviewed case records to identify factors associated with persistence in therapy and drop-out patterns. Persistence in treatment was associated with nursing home residence, religious beliefs, and receiving therapy at home; not…

Study utilizing self-determination theory (which poses four types of motivation: intrinsic, self-determined extrinsic, nonself-determined extrinsic, and amotivation) postulates varying consequences for adaptation and well-being. Finds the four types of motivation could be reliably measured and that intercorrelations between them were consistent…

Purpose: We present the concept of the Green House, articulated by William Thomas as a radically changed, "deinstitutionalized" nursing home well before its first implementation, and we describe and discuss implications from the first Green Houses in Tupelo, Mississippi. Design and Methods: Green Houses are small, self-contained houses…

Discusses the "5 percent fallacy," which refers to the number of older people living in institutions at a given time, and the likelihood of an older person dying in an institution. Three articles discuss research methodology, data interpretation, and measuring techniques. (JAC)

Examined the effects of a training program for geriatric staff designed to reduce the functional dependency of targeted health-related facility residents. Results indicate dependency was reduced and independence increased by training staff in the principles of behavior analysis focusing on cognitive and attitudinal restructuring. (Author/RC)

Describes qualitative research conducted at a Navajo Nation nursing home in Arizona. Events and circumstances resulting in nursing home placement are discussed and illustrated with case vignettes. Provides overview of Navajo history and traditions. Discussion stresses importance of acknowledging and acting on significance of culture in all aspects…

Surveyed administrators of 463 long-term care facilities concerning overt suicides and intentional life-threatening behaviors. Data revealed that White males were highest risk group. Refusal to eat, drink, or take medications were most common suicidal behaviors. Depression, loneliness, feelings of family rejection, and loss were significant…