Examines some of the difficulties encountered when elderly married couples apply for admission to an institution. (HMV)

Single-subject reversal designs were used in teaching elderly nursing-home residents to change dependency behavior and to reacquire and maintain self-feeding skills. Fast control of self-feeding was obtained. Results are discussed. (Author)

Analysis of the 1977 and 1985 National Nursing Home Surveys with respect to residents with mental retardation found little change in the size of the population; resident characteristics (such as other disabling conditions and functional limitations and primary source of payment); and level of services received. Challenges in implementing Public…

Presents an intervention, used in the Netherlands, that empowers clients in residential care homes. The intervention comprises a standardized survey-feedback procedure in which residents' opinions on life and care in their particular home are gauged, discussed, and reported. Explores instrument validity, reliability, and its use in the home. (RJM)

Describes a workshop in which family members and friends of persons with dementing disorders who live in nursing homes develop stories of these residents' lives. The workshop is product-oriented, is not meant as a support group, and works best in organizations emphasizing individualized care. Stories should help staff members better understand…

Examined the effects on veteran and novice participants of a life review program for nursing home residents with Alzheimers disease or severe cognitive dysfunction. Results confirm the impact of the Life Review Program on level of disorientation, social interaction, and life review. Evidence suggests that life improvements may be stored in memory…

This final report describes a project to revise a 60-hour postsecondary course for activity coordinators in long-term care facilities in Iowa, to train instructors to teach the curriculum, and to evaluate that training. Introductory material includes the following: a summary sheet on how course competencies were identified, how the materials were…

The effectiveness of various procedures in maintaining attendance at activities of residents at a geriatric facility was examined. A special, intermittently programmed or delayed consequence for attendance was added to regularly scheduled activities. Attendance at activities with and without the consequence was compared. Later, antecedent events…

The tendency in the United States to view the nursing home as an all-purpose solution to the health problems of the elderly has created a set of self-made problems: increased dependency, depression and social isolation among the aged. In the United States, unlike in many European nations, institutional care of the elderly is conceived of and…

Interviews with a random sample of 1,598 persons aged 65 years and older in 1975 with followups in 1984 provide information about the distribution between community and institutional care of urban elderly in Cleveland (Ohio). Support factors that enable persons to remain in the community are identified. (SLD)

Terminology in the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) Scale of DSM-IV often is irrelevant to the realities of nursing homes, assisted living centers, and similar facilities in which residents encounter stressors that are unique to their living environment and circumstances. As the mental health needs of long-term care residents are…

This manual is based upon a study of 247 old people and their families and five long-term care facilities in New York City. The data indicate that what families do for their aged kin in institutions makes a difference to the older person, and that the ability of families to maintain contact with their institutionalized relative depends, in part,…

Resulting from a study conducted by the Advisory Housing Committee of the Dutch Society for Rehabilitation, the report describes housing conditions and possibilities for the physically handicapped in the Netherlands. Four categories of sheltered living conditions are described and analyzed: residential centers, supervised residential centers,…

This study focuses on the relationship of intensity of religious commitment to use of indirect life-threatening behavior among elderly, chronically ill hospital patients. Findings indicate intensity of religious commitment is a potentially more meaningful measure of religiosity than formal church membership. (Author)

Death rates among those referred to project services were lower within the first six months after enrollment, and the mortality rate difference was maintained throughout the first year. Death rate differences were related to specific long-term care services recommended and received, and to initial functional health status. (Author)