Much research examines the professional nursing practices of traditional and modern caregivers, but it remains unclear whether the delivery of extra-required services is diminished as the caregiver moves from traditional to modern community. Building on the classical works of sociologists Ferdinand Tonnies, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim, this…

Community-based frail older adults, burdened with complex medical and social needs, are at great risk for preventable rapid rehospitalizations. Although federal and state regulations are in place to address the care transitions between the hospital and nursing home, no such guidelines exist for the much larger population of community-dwelling…

Purpose: Few studies have addressed the effects of caregiver interventions on the costs of care for the care recipient. This study evaluated the effects of a caregiver education and support group delivered via the telephone on care recipient health care utilization and cost. Design and Methods: The Telehealth Education Program (TEP) is a…

This study investigates the value of community experience for mediating linguistic practice and cultural learning. Learners of English as an Additional Language (EAL), both immigrants and international students, frequently report difficulties in practicing English outside the classroom (Wright, 2006). Grounded in poststructuralist social identity…

Purpose: Creative expression (CE) programs are emerging interventions to improve the quality of care and life of persons with dementia (PWDs) in long-term care settings. However, limited empirical evidence exists to support the effectiveness of these programs. Here, we report the findings from an assessment of the impact of TimeSlips (TS), a group…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the joint effects of bereavement and caregiver intervention on caregiver depressive symptoms. Design and Methods: Alzheimer's caregivers from a randomized trial of an enhanced caregiver support intervention versus usual care who had experienced the death of their spouse (n = 254) were repeatedly…

Purpose: In an attempt to more thoroughly describe aggressive behavior in nursing home residents with dementia, we examined background and proximal factors as guided by the Need-Driven Dementia-Compromised Behavior model. Design and Methods: We used a multivariate cross-sectional survey with repeated measures; participants resided in nine randomly…

The physical and social environments are recognized as important therapeutic tools in the care of nursing home residents with dementia, yet little is known about the environments of rural nursing homes. This study was conducted in one rural health authority (16,000 km[superscript 2]) in the province of Saskatchewan. Long-term institutional care…

Purpose: We systematically measured the associations between environmental design features of nursing home special care units and the incidence of aggression, agitation, social withdrawal, depression, and psychotic problems among persons living there who have Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder. Design and Methods: We developed and tested a…