Effects of using nursing home residents to serve as group activity leaders: lessons learned from the RAP project.

Previous research has demonstrated that persons with early to moderate stage dementia are capable of leading small group activities for persons with more advanced dementia. In this study, we built upon this previous work by training residents in long-term care facilities to fill the role of group activity leaders using a Resident-Assisted Programming (RAP) training regimen. There were two stages to the program.

Montessori-based training makes a difference for home health workers & their clients.

Home care visits can last several hours. Home care workers are often at a loss on how to fill time spent in homes of clients. The challenge is how to use this time in ways that are productive and engaging for both clients and home health workers.