Frail elderly nursing home residents (n=19) in Israel were taught computer use, some with adaptations for disabilities. Men used computers slightly longer, perhaps due to the type of software they chose. Both the trainees and 14 controls improved attitudes toward computers; the controls may have benefitted from observing others using them and…

Assessed decision-making capability and preferences regarding advance directives of 39 nursing home residents and proxies. Most patients willingly stated preferences; over one-half opted to forego burdensome measures when death appeared imminent. Decisionally capable patients were more likely to forego life-sustaining measures than those of…

Compared demented patients in special care units in four nursing homes with demented counterparts in same facilities who were not placed in special care units. Results suggest that two groups differ in level of cognitive impairment, behavior, and functional and physical status. No deleterious or beneficial effects were associated with special care…

Surveyed 577 nurses and nurse's aides working in long-term care facilities to examine abuse of nursing home residents by staff. Respondents indicated that abuse did occur and significant minority of respondents reported having themselves committed physically or psychologically abusive actions. Findings suggest that abuse may be common part of…

Reviews nursing research focusing on long-term care facilities from 1984 to 1988. Discusses (1) past reviews of gerontological nursing research, (2) a current search of long-term care nursing research, (3) current trends, and (4) suggestions for research on such topics as research utilization, Alzheimer's disease, and the nursing home environment.…

Increased admissions from hospitals to nursing homes over six-month period resulted in reduced number of hospital nonacute patients requiring long-term care placement. Nursing homes shifted admissions patterns to accept more persons from non-hospital settings, hospital admissions declined, and number of nonacute patients in hospitals increased.…

Examined work of the nurse's aides (NAs) through observation and in-depth interviews with 30 NAs. Found efforts of NAs were clearly focused on getting work done well enough to stay out of trouble and decisions with implications for quality of care were often driven by whether NAs would be reprimanded by supervisors or ostracized by peers.…

Consultation-liaison psychiatry program in teaching nursing home helped implement six guiding principles, including make patient human to the staff; assume no behavior is random; look for depression or psychosis as source of problems; reduce medications and medication doses; create more homelike environment; and use conditions in which learning…

Examined differences among nursing homes in rates at which they transfer patients to hospitals. Data from nursing staff and charts on 286 most recent transfers from 10 nursing homes revealed that, from relatively equivalent patient populations, high-rate facilities transferred more chronically ill, physically frail patients and patients with…

Examines theoretical approaches and nature of evidence typically brought to bear in addressing issue of elderly African Americans being admitted to nursing homes at one-half to three-quarters the rate of elderly whites. Notes that double jeopardy hypothesis effectively describes but does not explain apparent racial inequities in use of…

Compared effects of ombudsman programs on quality of nursing home care on random sample of 134 Medicare/Medicaid-certified long-term care facilities in Missouri. Found that presence of ombudsman program was most important factor associated with quality for intermediate-care facilities, and was significantly associated with quality for skilled…

Nurse's aides (n=43) at two institutions answered questions about their experience and knowledge of aging and rated nursing home residents on a semantic differential (attitude) scale. Results indicated including a brief life history in a routine medical chart caused aides to perceive residents in a more positive manner. (Author/ABL)

Caregivers (n=158) from Swedish nursing home rated severely demented person as painful, apathetic, suffering, weak, afraid, sad, cold, dark, rough, and ugly. Four years later, comparable group of 93 caregivers answered revised questionnaire. Results were nearly identical to first administration. (Author/NB)

Purpose: Barriers to family involvement in the nursing home with the potential for change through intervention are examined, including transportation, caregiver health, relationships with staff, and resident characteristics. Design and Methods: Data were collected for 93 family caregiver-resident pairs by means of telephone interviews and chart…

Purpose: We sought to assess the quality of care provided by an innovative Medicare+Choice HMO targeted specifically at nursing home residents and employing nurse practitioners to provide additional primary care over and above that provided by physicians. The underlying premise of the Evercare approach is that the additional primary care will…