Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine usual long-term care (LTC) practices related to 3 aspects of morning care and determine if there were resident characteristics related to the lack of care. Design and Methods: Participants were 169 long-stay residents in 4 community LTC facilities who required staff assistance with either transfer…

Purpose of the Study: A novel logistic regression tree-based method was applied to identify fall risk factors and possible interaction effects of those risk factors. Design and Methods: A nationally representative sample of American older adults aged 65 years and older (N = 9,592) in the Health and Retirement Study 2004 and 2006 modules was used.…

Purpose of the Study: To examine the longitudinal associations between 3 dimensions of religious involvement--religious attendance, use of religious media, and private religious activities--and 3 domains of functional status--limitations in basic activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), and mobility in…

Purpose: Educational attainment is a robust predictor of disability in elderly Americans: older adults with high-school (HS) diplomas have substantially lower disability than individuals who did not complete HS. General Educational Development (GED) diplomas now comprise almost 20% of new HS credentials issued annually in the United States but it…

Purpose of the study: The primary aim of this investigation was to determine whether caregiver confidence in their care recipients' functional capabilities predicts changes in the performance of activities of daily living (ADL) among elderly home care recipients. A secondary aim was to explore how caregiver confidence and care recipient functional…

Purpose: The original version of the Direct Assessment of Functional Status (DAFS), a measure of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), was found to have a ceiling effect in older adults living independently in the community. This suggested that the tasks measured, although relevant, do not require full use of this population's…

Purpose of the study: To examine the relationship between county-level Medicaid home- and community-based service (HCBS) waiver expenditures and the prevalence of low-care residents in Florida nursing homes (NHs). Design and Methods: The present study used a cross-sectional design. We combined two data sources: NH facility-level data (including…

Purpose of the study: Caregiver burden is a multidimensional construct, addressing tension and anxiety (stress burden), changes in dyadic relationships (relationship burden), and time infringements (objective burden) resulting from caregiving. The study aims were to assess (a) whether the dimensions of burden were the same for caregiving spouses…

Purpose: To examine the effect of organizational culture and climate on depressive symptoms among nursing home residents. Design and Methods: Using a pooled cross-sectional design, this study examines a sample of 23 nursing homes, 1,114 employees, and 5,497 residents. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Minimum Data Set, Depression Rating…

Purpose of the Study: To identify risk factors for early nursing home placement (NHP) in Alzheimer's disease (AD), focusing on the impact of longitudinal change in cognition, activities of daily living (ADL), service utilization, and cholinesterase inhibitor treatment (ChEI). Design and Methods: In an open, 3-year, prospective, multicenter study…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to quantify the effect of residential modification on decreasing risk of physical function decline in 2 years. Design: Cohort study using propensity scores method to control for baseline differences between individuals with residential modifications and those without residential modifications. Participants:…

Purpose: Families of dementia patients receiving skilled homecare do not receive supportive services. We evaluated whether a proven intervention, Environmental Skill-building Program (ESP), which reduces caregiver burden and enhances skills managing patient functioning, can be integrated into homecare practices of occupational therapists (OTs) and…

Purpose: Cognitive training improves mental abilities in older adults, but the benefit to minority elders is unclear. We conducted a subgroup analysis of subjects in the SeniorWISE (Wisdom Is Simply Exploration) trial to examine this issue. Design and Methods: SeniorWISE was a Phase 3 randomized trial that enrolled 265 nondemented…

Purpose: This study explored the role control plays in the dying process of terminally ill elders by investigating the aspects of the dying process over which they seek to exercise control, the strategies they use, and whether they desire to exercise more control. Design and Methods: In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with 84…

Purpose: To describe a standardized observation protocol to determine if nursing home (NH) staff offer choice to residents during 3 morning activities of daily living (ADL) and compare the observational data with deficiency statements cited by state survey staff. Design and Methods: Morning ADL care was observed in 20 NHs in 5 states by research…