This is the third study of Cognitive Care Education in New York State nursing homes using cross-sectional methods over a 25 year period. The data indicate that the Cognitive Care Education increased at statistically significant levels, albeit by evolutionary means. It is now time for "A Revolutionary Change," for Cognitive Care…

Listening to narrative material stimulates and activates multiple areas in the cerebral cortex. It has been shown that such activations produce significant changes in the connectivity of the brain. In literature, findings have shown that in pathological aging (i.e., cognitive decline) patients who underwent a daily narrative training showed some…

Purpose: Quality of Life (QoL) has become increasingly valued as a key outcome in dementia both in clinical practice and in research. This study compares the QoL of long-term residents with dementia as assessed by the individuals, their relatives, and their care staff. Design and Methods: Data on residents with dementia were collected in 11…

Knowledge utilization is politically "hot" because it informs decisions on improving the quality of care in nursing homes (NHs). The difficulties encountered in implementing evidence-based knowledge into practice may be explained by contextual factors. Contextual factors are crucial to understanding the process of knowledge utilization;…

Purpose of the Study: Behavior problems are common in nursing homes. Current guidelines recommend nonpharmacological interventions (NPHIs) as first-line treatment, but pharmacological regimens (PIs) continue to be used. Given differences in background and training of those who treat behavior problems in residents, we compared attitudes of…

Background: Aging adults with Down's syndrome (DS) experience more relocations and other life events than adults with intellectual disabilities aged 50 and older without DS. Age-related functional decline and the higher incidence of dementia were implicated as the contributing factors that led to relocation and nursing home placement. Method: A…

Purpose: We compared the rates of specialized care for residents with Alzheimer's disease or dementia in special care units (SCUs) and other nursing home (NH) units and examined the associations of SCU residence with process of care and resident outcomes. Design and Methods: Data came from the 2004 National Nursing Home Survey. The indicators of…

Purpose: To better understand the experiences and potential unmet need of persons who die in long-term care. Design and Methods: We conducted after-death interviews with staff who had cared for 422 decedents with dementia and 159 who were cognitively intact and received terminal care in U.S. nursing homes (NHs) or residential care-assisted living…

Purpose: A national quality report card for nursing homes, Nursing Home Compare, has been published since 2002. It has been shown to have some, albeit limited, positive impact on quality of care. The objective of this study was to test empirically the hypothesis that nursing homes have responded to the publication of the report by adopting cream…

Purpose: This study identifies the relative importance of reasons for institutionalization endorsed by caregivers of patients with dementia; examines the relationship between caregivers' reasons for institutionalization and indicators of caregiver and patient physical and emotional functioning measured in the prior year; and compares, on these…

The decision to move a family member with dementia to a nursing home is a difficult experience for caregivers. Complex psychosocial factors are involved and knowledge of predictive factors alone is insufficient. Using grounded theory, this study explores the decision-making process with regards to institutionalization, from the perspective of…

Purpose: Our objective in this study was to compare Medicare costs of treating older adults with and without dementia in nursing home settings. Design and Methods: An expert panel established the dementia status of a stratified random sample of newly admitted residents in 59 Maryland nursing homes between 1992 and 1995. Medicare expenditures…