Effects of Improv Training on Older Adults in a Long Term Care Facility.

Adjusting to life in a long term care facility (LTCF) can be challenging for older adults. Improvisation (shortened to improv) is a unique activity that encourages creativity and adaptive cognitive stimulation, through performing short scenes with content suggestions. We sought to assess whether improv training, in the form of a course entitled Humor Doesn't Retire (HDR), could impact patient-centered outcomes in a LTCF.

Negotiation Training for Case Managers to Improve Older Adult Acceptance of Services.

Purpose Of Study: Older adults frequently choose not to accept recommended social support services (e.g., caregiver and home therapy).

Training Hospitalists in Negotiations to Address Conflicts with Older Adults around Their Social Needs.

Hospitalists care for a growing population of older patients with unique social needs that can often be addressed by providing caregiver help in the home. The importance of addressing social needs is well-recognized, yet older patients sometimes refuse these services. This refusal of services may result in rehospitalization and increased morbidity for patients.

Longitudinal Follow-Up of Long-Term Care Planning Using PlanYourLifespan.org.

Many older adults wish to age-in-place but do not have long-term care plans for when they may require more assistance. PlanYourLifespan.org (PYL) is an evidence-based tool that helps older adults understand and plan for their long-term care needs.

Use of Electronic Health Records by Older Adults, 85 Years and Older, and Their Caregivers.

Background: Healthcare providers may not offer patient portal (PP) access to electronic health records (EHRs) to their patients older than 85 years, due to the false impression that they do not utilize technology. It is imperative that older adults be given equal opportunity to use technology in regard to their healthcare.

Objective: To characterize the content and frequency of use of PP messaging tethered to EHRs by older adults, aged 85 years and older, and their caregivers.

Leveraging Patient/Community Partnerships to Disseminate Patient Centered Outcomes Research in Geriatrics.

With the growth of patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR), partnerships between researchers and patients have presented novel opportunities for disseminating results. A large gap exists in disseminating patient-centered research results to older adult patient end-users. We sought to examine the experiences of patient/community partners in disseminating PCOR results and characterize lessons learned that may facilitate future researcher-patient/community dissemination partnerships.

Humor doesn't retire: Improvisation as a health-promoting intervention for older adults.

As our population ages and aging in place continues to remain a priority of older adults, identifying novel ways to promote the wellbeing of older adults and reduce isolation is of the utmost importance. The Second City is a Chicago-based comedy improvisation organization that provides training in improvisation. One of their training courses, Humor Doesn't Retire, specifically teaches adults 55 and over, on improvisation.

Helping Seniors Plan for Posthospital Discharge Needs Before a Hospitalization Occurs: Results from the Randomized Control Trial of PlanYourLifespan.org.

Objective: Investigate the effect of PlanYourLifespan.org (PYL) on knowledge of posthospital discharge options.

Design: Multisite randomized controlled trial.