The long-term goal of the proposed project is to develop effective and humane interventions to cope with aggressive behavior in persons with dementia, thus contributing to making long-term care environments more therapeutic and less custodial.
The specific aims are to: 1) compare the effects of two experimental interventions, Education-Only and Education-plus-Clinical Nurse Specialist consultation, and a no-intervention control, on the amount of aggression in cognitively impaired nursing home residents, 2) investigate the relative effects of the interventions/control on selected resident outcomes related to quality of life (social interaction, weight, sleep, and morale), 3) Determine the effects of the interventions/control on nursing assistant outcomes (knowledge of dementia care, perceptions of aggressive residents, and perceptions of the task of caregiving). The quasi-experimental design will randomly assign treatments to &m nursing homes that are comparable with respect to a number of relevant characteristics. The Education-Only Intervention will consist of eight hour-long classes for clinical staff involved in direct care of aggressive resident subjects to increase their knowledge of dementia and skill in coping with persons with such diseases. The Education-plus-CNS intervention is identical, but adds the services of a masters prepared gerontological clinical nurse specialist who will develop individualized care plans for each resident subject, teach staff about them and then provide eight hours of assistance over four weeks to staff in implementing these care plans.
| Ryden, M B; Feldt, K S; Oh, H L et al. (1999) Relationships between aggressive behavior in cognitively impaired nursing home residents and use of restraints, psychoactive drugs, and secured units. Arch Psychiatr Nurs 13:170-8 |
| Feldt, K S; Warne, M A; Ryden, M B (1998) Examining pain in aggressive cognitively impaired older adults. J Gerontol Nurs 24:14-22 |
