Nursing Assistants (NAs) are the largest workforce in nursing homes, but often lack adequate preparation for their role. The Living Classroom (LC) is an integrated learning approach, whereby a NA program is delivered in a nursing home (NH) in collaboration with a community college. This paper describes the implementation and evaluation of the LC.…

This exploratory case study considered the opportunities for print literacy learning within multimodal ensembles that featured art, singing and digital media within the context of an intergenerational programme that brought together 13 kindergarten children (4 and 5 years) with seven elder companions. Study questions concerned how reading and…

Hospitalization of nursing home residents can be futile as well as costly, and now evidence indicates that treating nursing home residents in place produces better outcomes for some conditions. We examined facility organizational characteristics that previous research showed are associated with potentially avoidable hospital transfers and with…

This study explored the health care service needs and the major correlates of quality of life among 127 community-dwelling elderly Chinese immigrants in a western Canadian city. Participants were interviewed in their homes by trained, bilingual interviewers employing a structured questionnaire that covered a wide range of topics including health…

The overall use of acute care services by nursing home (NH) residents in Canada has not been well documented. Our objectives were to identify the major causes of hospitalization among NH facility residents and to compare rates to those of community-dwelling seniors. A retrospective cohort was defined using population-level health administrative…

As the population ages, mobility limitations are associated with increased mortality and negative health-related states both in the general population and among people with intellectual disabilities. The influence of mobility limitations upon the lives and lifestyles of people with intellectual disabilities remains poorly understood. Specifically,…

Purpose: This study examines population-based trends in home care service utilization, alone and in conjunction with hospitalizations, during a period of health reform in Canada. It focuses on the extent to which observed trends suggest enhanced community-based care relative to three competing hypotheses: cost-cutting, medicalization, and…

Purpose: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has adopted two functional assessment systems that guide care planning: one for nursing home residents (the Resident Assessment Instrument [RAI]) and a compatible one for home care clients (RAI-HC). The purpose of this article is to describe the RAI-HC (often referred to as the Minimum Data Set-Home…

A British Columbia survey of 45 intermediate care residents and 45 nurses found significant differences between residents' and staff perceptions of the importance of activities and residents' level of choice. Staff members' erroneous assumptions may result in procedures that restrict residents' choice of activities. (SK)

Nurses in long-term care facilities indicated that about 30 percent of residents presented noise-making behavior. From descriptions, typology of noise-making was identified: purposeless and perseverative noise-making, noise-making in response to environment, noise-making to elicit response from environment, "chatterbox" noise-making,…

Evaluates the effectiveness of a peer counseling training program in a nursing home in Victoria, B.C. The goal was to expand the number of helpers available and involve more residents in their self-care. The results indicated that the training model used is an effective method of teaching helping skills. (Author/JAC)

Reports data on admissions, discharges, and changes in health status of eight admission cohorts to nursing homes in a jurisdiction with universally-insured nursing home and home care services. The findings are compared to U.S. studies and disclose differences which may reflect differences in payment mechanisms and admission policies. (Author/JAC)

Board games called Games of Rapport are being developed at the University of Alberta. The first, "Angels and Devils," is designed for play by nursing home residents. Results of a study involving "Angels and Devils" show that board games are useful in communicating rehabilitative objectives and sources of conflict. (Author/BEF)

Tested the buffering hypothesis that negative effects of stressors (measured as burden, burnout, and perceived job pressure) on nursing assistants (n=245) in long-term care institutions are moderated by social support (at work and external to work). Buffering hypothesis was not confirmed, though some support for a main effects view was found.…

Developed database on ethnic elderly persons; examined extent of communication problems they face in hospitals, nursing homes, and homes for aged in Metro Toronto; and reported on institutional response. Nursing home supervisors (n=77) reported that communication was essential to health care needs of ethnic elderly individuals. Most health care…