Purpose: Assisted living is an increasingly important residential setting for the frail elderly person. How often and why residents leave such facilities are important issues for consumers, for clinicians advising frail patients on their options for living arrangements, and for policymakers. This research investigated the impact of facility and…

Purpose: Throughout the 1990s, assisted living was the most rapidly growing form of senior housing. The purpose of this paper is to describe the existing supply of assisted living facilities (ALFs) and examine the extent to which they matched the philosophy of assisted living. Design and Methods: The study involved a multistage sample design to…

In this article, the authors describe and illustrate their approach to consultancy, development and training in residential child care. When working together the authors form the MOSAIC Consortium and provide training and consultancy to residential child care services. The article draws on systems theory, systems thinking and the politics of child…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the direction and magnitude of the effects among the components of resident satisfaction in residential aged care and to examine if the relationships among satisfaction components vary according to facility type (i.e., nursing home and hostel). Briefly, a hostel is a low-care facility in which…

Providing a safe environment for youth placed out of their home is essential to the success of at-risk youth. An environment that also offers the opportunity to empower the youth to partner in his or her own healing and help others in the environment clearly builds on the strengths inherent in youth. Transferring these strengths and reconnecting…

This paper outlines the views of key policy makers, implementers and practitioners on Valuing People (Department of Health, "Valuing people. A new strategy for learning disability for the 21st century," The Stationary Office, London, 2001). It reports a series of interviews conducted in 2003/2004 with a diverse selection of people…

Kinchela Boys' Home on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, was established by the state's Aborigines Protection Board for Aboriginal boys and youths in 1924 and closed in 1970. By the 1930s the place had become known as a notorious carceral, poorly managed and psychologically isolated. An overdue government enquiry in 1940 concluded that it…

Purpose: While state policy and market factors are known to have contributed to the increased supply of residential care, little is known about efforts to accommodate demand from lower-income consumers. This study describes participation and expenditure trends for residential care services funded by Medicaid waivers and examines variation across…

This report discusses a study of the characteristics and needs of children with mental retardation in the Segezha district in the Republic of Carelia in Russia. A training program for professionals and parents of children with mental retardation is also described. As a background for the study, statistical information regarding the populations'…

This practicum sought to elevate the morale level of direct-care staff in a residential group care setting providing residential care to dependent, neglected, and/or abused children ages 7 through 17. Four solution strategies were attempted that addressed the areas of staff support, communication, and recognition. A representative of a top…

Elective off premises activities of 65 functionally mobile patients in two nursing homes were studied for a six-month period. More intact patients engaged in a greater frequency of off premises outings. Thus, in-house recreational activities in a long-term care setting should be geared to the more deprived intellectually impaired patient…

Reviews the design and implementation of a direct-service volunteer program in the Boys and Girls Aid Society of San Diego, a private, nonprofit treatment facility for 56 emotionally disturbed teenagers. (Author/SDH)

Although researchers have investigated quality and cost of residential care, little is known about the people who own and manage residential care facilities. In an attempt to find out more about these managers, members of the National Association of Residential Care Facilities (NARCF) were surveyed. Members (N=175) responded to questionnaires…

Stress and burnout are common in the caregiving professions. Stress negatively affects both the caregivers and patients. In order to help caregivers deal with stress effectively and to improve the care in residential care facilities, it is essential to learn more about the particular stressors that managers of such facilities experience. In this…

Developments in Canadian child welfare services during the last 20 years are discussed in this paper. The discussion is based on data gathered from provincial annual reports and public accounts, Statistics Canada publications and Health and Welfare Canada reports on homes for special care, and from the author's earlier study of the child welfare…