Explores adult developmental theories regarding implications for art therapy with impaired elderly. Examines the struggle inherent in the creative art process as a means to facilitate developmental struggle. Claims that artistic processes facilitate struggles, which can elicit conflict resolution and utilization of mature defenses with even…

Data was collected from ombudsmen (N=607) in nursing facilities about the factors that make their jobs difficult. Hypotheses about support, relationships with peers, and efficacy were tested. Support from facility administrators and residents contributed to efficacy, whereas help from other volunteers had a negative effect. Results point to the…

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…

Adapts Stress Process Model (SPM) of family caregiving to examine predictors of depression in a sample of caregivers (N=133) with demented relatives residing in suburban skilled nursing facilities. Results suggest that caregiver depression is closely linked to how well resident and caregiver adjust to the nursing home environment. (BF)

In 1999 Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) implemented the Overseas Service Veterans (OSV) At Home Pilot Project in response to the problem that a growing number of clients were on waiting lists for beds in long-term care facilities. The At Home pilot offered certain clients on waiting lists, who met nursing-level care and military-service…

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to develop a reliable and valid family satisfaction instrument for use in Ohio's nursing homes. Design and Methods: Investigators worked with an advisory council to develop the survey. Purposive sampling techniques were largely used to select 12 small, medium, and large for-profit and proprietary facilities…

The complex formed by chronic illness, episodes of acute illness, physiological disabilities, functional limitations, and cognitive problems is prevalent among frail elderly persons. These individuals rely on assistance from social and health care programs, which in Canada are still fragmented. SIPA is an integrated service model based on…

An educational CD-ROM/video program was developed to educate nursing home staff about two research-based techniques for reducing agitation and aggression during bathing of persons with Alzheimer's disease, including person-centered showering and the towel bath. This educational program was distributed free of charge to all 15,453 US nursing homes…

Purpose: To promote health and maintain independence, Just for Us provides financially sustainable, in-home, integrated care to medically fragile, low-income seniors and disabled adults living in subsidized housing. Design and Methods: The program provides primary care, care management, and mental health services delivered in patient's homes by a…

Purpose: When cognitively impaired nursing home residents exhibit agitated and aggressive behaviors during bathing, nursing home caregivers are in a unique position to improve residents' experience. This report addresses whether certified nursing assistants (CNAs) who received training in a person-centered approach with showering and with the…

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…

This bibliography of materials on the elderly as volunteers and volunteer work with the elderly was compiled from six databases: Sociological Abstracts, PsycInfo, Magazine Index, Health Planning and Administration, ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center), and the GPO (Government Printing Office) Monthly Catalog (government publications).…

The Client Observation Checklist (COC) was developed to evaluate Project ADAPT's intervention in three behavioral areas: bathing; dressing; and socialization. Project ADAPT is designed to provide services to meet the needs of chronically mentally ill residents of nursing homes. Specifically, the project provides staff trained to work with the…

The myth persists that the elderly are institutionalized because their relatives do not care enough about them. Nursing home staff may not respond to family members' concerns about their relatives with any better solutions than to take their relatives home. Family response to this lack of solution may be retreat or retaliation. Thus the…

Older Americans are suffering from both physical and social losses as they age. These losses are sometimes accompanied by the elderly person's entrance into a long-term care facility. Some researchers have suggested that such facilities fail to maintain the residents' independent behavior. Others contend that behavior is plastic and can be…