A more productive approach to providing appropriate long-term care is to separate physical from psychosocial needs when performing functional assessment and to rearrange them into a matrix. By examining each need separately, and where needs overlap in the matrix, more direct assessment can be performed, and specified interventions can be designed.…

Two case reports are presented of institutionalized women who were diagnosed as having Prader-Willi syndrome at the ages of 54 and 69. Implications are discussed for management of such persons and for program planning/funding for a much longer life expectancy than earlier realized. (Author/JDD)

Reviews recent research studies about child development and child care, examining how an understanding of the former can improve the latter. Outlines what is needed for a sense of being personally cared for, focusing on these themes: bodily comfort, sensitivity to personal differences, rhythmatic interactions, predictability, dependability,…

Discusses the interpersonal and organizational underpinnings of group living and residential child care, with group living perceived as an arena for children to practice life's demands. Argues that individual development and change proceed through interpersonal experience and the context in which they occur. (KH)

The article discusses areas of behavioral gerontology that would profit from additional research, such as self-management, community caregiver training, and geriatric behavioral pharmacology. Considerations for adapting behavioral procedures for the elderly are discussed, and suggestions for expanding the role of behavior analysis in geriatric…

The study investigated the effect of a videotape instructional routine in combination with contingent application of token reinforcements on attendant child interaction (nine female attendants and five children) in a residential facility for developmentally retarded children. (Author/GW)

Describes the Merrifield Program of the Worcester Children's Friend Society which was designed to meet the needs of a small number of emotionally disturbed, school-age children untreatable while living in their own homes. (Author/MB)

Ninety-two primary caregivers in residences for the developmentally disabled were surveyed on residential staff roles, training responsibilities, and perception of resident needs. Among results are that residential staff viewed basic facility maintenance as a primary responsibility; and that less than 50 percent of the staff could define basic…

Harbor Area Adult Day Care Center has operated for two years with a primary purpose of providing respite care to families caring for a relative with Alzheimer's disease or related disorders. The rationale, history, program, staffing, funding, and experience for the first two years of the project are provided. (Author/RC)

Studied preferences for family versus nonfamily sources of care for the elderly. Preference for family as the primary source of care was found to be independent of age, cohort, gender, education, and marital status, but significantly associated with race. Implications for age stratification theory and family functioning are discussed. (Author)

A review of eight research studies on the question of size in relation to quality of resident life in state institutions is presented. Findings of seven of the studies reviewed showed that there is some advantage to the smaller setting. None showed any advantage to larger institutions. (PHR)

In the Northern Metropolitan Health Region of New South Wales three short-term residential units have opened since 1976. These units cater to clients of all ages with a range of intellectual handicaps. The units provide emergency and holiday relief, plus a variety of assessment and follow-up services. (Author)

Utilizing flexible community-supporting services integrated with a hospital-based program of planned intermittent relief of the patients' supporters, patients (N=50) were maintained in the community at an average cost of 79.5 hospital bed days per patient per annum. The Continuing Care Program is an alternative to institutionalization. (Author)

The effect of age on foster care outcome was examined for 572 male psychiatric patients referred for foster care from five VA hospitals. Patients in foster care changed significantly compared with hospitalized controls by having less social dysfunction and better adjustment. (Author)

Uses a historical and sociological analysis to examine the nature of leadership, focusing on power and charisma and how these can become embedded in the relationship between leaders and followers. Contends that attention to residential child care leadership has been lacking in the literature. (Author/KB)