Implemented and evaluated primary care model of delivery of nursing aide care in small, rural nursing home and large, urban facility. Findings suggest that primary care nursing as applied to nursing attendants in long-term care was beneficial to residents in terms of decreasing disturbed behavior and improved affect. (Author/NB)

Used data from 1982 and 1984 National Long-Term Care Surveys to track cohort of disabled elderly persons residing in community in 1982 over the two years that followed. In contrast to persons who did not use nursing homes, persons who entered nursing homes had a four- to five-fold risk of spending down to Medicaid eligibility. (Author/NB)

Long-term care ombudsman programs are charged with resolving complaints and solving problems of elderly persons in long-term care settings. Conducted content analysis of annual ombudsman program reports sent to Administration on Aging from 49 states in 1990. Found substantial variation in documented information at both state and local levels and…

Examined incidence and causes of Medicaid spenddown among disabled elderly persons. Found that approximately 10 percent of nursing home discharges experienced asset spenddown, process of converting from private pay to Medicaid, whereas over 50 percent of nursing home patients remained private pay throughout their stays. Becoming Medicaid patient…

Explored environmental factors related to suicide in 463 long-term care facilities. Staff turnover, size, auspices, and per diem cost related to suicidal behavior and deaths from suicide. More suicides occurred in larger facilities and facilities with higher staff turnover. Religious or "other" facilities experienced more suicidal deaths than…

Used ethnographic data to examine personal and work worlds of nurse's aides. Concludes that, because nursing home's institutional culture often adds to adversity of their personal life, nurse's aides move between the two milieus in self-perpetuating negative cycle, carrying to bedside of elderly residents the affective and psychological burden…

Used medico-social analytic model to compare five long-term care programs: Skilled Nursing Facility-Intermediate Care Facility (SNF-ICF) homes, ICF homes, foster homes, day hospitals, and home care. Identified similarities and differences among programs. Preliminary findings suggest that model is useful in the evaluation and design of long-term…

College students (n=131) interviewed residents of 96 long-term care facilities. Students perceived nursing homes more negatively than other facilities. Residential care was viewed more positively by those with personal experience of elder care and those whose interviewees were satisfied with their lives or mentally alert. (SK)

Describes a project utilizing reaction reading, the choral reading of poetry in small groups. Mentally alert long-term care residents are provided with an opportunity to react to the poetry, and the activity can be led by a nonprofessional. Residents are encouraged to share their memories and fantasies as inspired by poetic images. (JPS)

Assessed the relationship between the presence of Oregon volunteer long-term care ombudsmen and externally handled abuse complaints, survey reports, and regulatory sanctions. Found presence of ombudsmen was related to increased abuse reporting and abuse complaint substantiation, more survey deficiencies, and higher sanction activity. (JBJ)

Through asset recovery programs, states can recover from the estates of nursing home residents or their survivors a portion of the expenses the state incurs in providing nursing home care. Estate recovery programs require Medicaid recipients whose primary assets are their homes to contribute toward the cost of their nursing home care in the same…

Describes a peer counseling program in a 300-bed long-term care facility which uses training materials specifically developed for older people. Shows how the peer counseling program functions and provides anecdotal comments from both participants and a staff member, along with an outline of the training components. (Author/ABL)

Examined lifetime nursing home use with data from Connecticut for 1977-86. Gives life table estimate of total amount of time after age 65 expected to be spent by persons in nursing homes and total amount of nursing home use paid for by Medicaid. Estimates lifetime risk of Medicaid spenddown in nursing homes at 21.5 percent. (Author/PVV)

The national survey of multiple facility types ascertained patterns of adjustment and interpersonal functioning associated with being older, having mental retardation, and living in an out-of-home residential setting. Noted is a tendency to transfer older persons with mental retardation from institutions into nursing homes which are often not…

Despite persistent allegations of widespread abuse of nursing home residents, the topic has received only limited research attention. This study involved telephone interviews with a random sample of 577 nurses and nursing aides working in long-term care facilities. Subjects reported on actions they had observed other staff commit and on actions…