The study surveyed 181 specialized foster care homes or small (with 6 or fewer residents) group homes providing residential care for persons (N=336) with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities. The study found that the community residential facility sample was generally much less well integrated into the life of the community…

Regulations instituted by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare effective in 1976 require skilled nursing facilities (SNF) to provide either a physician serving as medical director, or to have an organized medical staff. This report describes how SNFs responded, and what the effects were on their operations. Descriptive data were…

This research questions the frequent observation that elderly persons in long-term care institutions are isolated from their families, and that institutionalization is the final step in the breakdown of family relations. Data consisted of open-ended interviews with institutionalized elderly parents and with the child most involved with the parent…

Examines the historical and sociocultural context of Japanese residential child care. Presents three case studies of institutional child abuse to explore its socio-cultural causes. Concludes that lack of leadership in public homes, the wrong leadership authorized unprofessionally in private homes, and the lack of universal systems of public…

Subscales of the Sheltered Care Environmental Scale dealing with conflict, cohesion, and independence were administered to 47 adults with moderate mental retardation on 4 occasions using either a verbal format or picture-cued format. Results indicated that the use of pictures enhanced the test-retest reliability of the instrument. (Author/JDD)

A national census of children in residential care in New South Wales and Victoria (Australia) was conducted in 1983 and repeated in 1988. Results are analyzed in terms of number of children, number of units, children's age and school attendance, reasons for residential care, size and organization of residences, administration of residences, and…

Video-recorded seven demented Finnish immigrants during morning care together with bilingual and monolingual Swedish-speaking caregivers. Showed bilingual caregivers communicated more multidimensionally with patients. Found that even if monolingual interaction started in a positive manner, it became negative when parties realized they could not…

The Circle of Courage, based on traditional Native American philosophy, emphasizes belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity. This study assessed the prevalence of the Circle of Courage values among youth in a residential facility and examined the relationship between these ideals and indicators of placement success. After 12 weeks in…

This study examined placement stability (planned discharge) among 8,933 children and adolescents admitted into residential treatment facilities in California. Reducing multiple placements among foster children is a concern for child welfare agencies due to increased emphasis on federal and state outcomes and accountability standards. The results…

This paper examines the recidivism data for juvenile offenders discharged from a Massachusetts residential treatment center between 1976 and 1995. The criminal histories, juvenile and adult, of 162 delinquent youth referred through the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services who left the program were reviewed. Recidivism was defined as any…

"Disruptive" vocal behaviour is common in nursing homes, but presents significant management challenges. Non-pharmacological approaches have been found to be effective and preferable interventions in such situations. A case study is presented of an 85-year-old woman who displayed frequent screaming and calling out during personal care…

Increasing demands for home health aides to the frail elderly and disabled, coupled with a high rate of turnover among these aides, has led to growing concerns over worker recruitment and retention in the home care industry. This paper therefore describes a model developed to explain job satisfaction and turnover among home health aides. The model…

The purpose of this investigation was to gain an understanding of the role that television plays in the daily lives of a number of elderly male individuals who are partially confined and socially restricted in a long care facility. An inductive, qualitative study was conducted over a three-month period in western Canada in order to obtain an…

This volume is one of several which describe the characteristics, quality, and costs of services to severely handicapped children and youth in 100 providers across the nation. This volume includes the development of data collection instruments and a mail survey of potential providers of services to severely handicapped children and youth. The…

Knowledge and perceived utility of behavioral methods were surveyed in a sample of 107 direct-care staff members in an institution for persons with mental retardation or psychiatric disabilities. Results indicated that behavioral methods were generally considered useful, but the overall knowledge level concerning such methods was low. (Author/KM)