Applying person-centered research ethics in the design of dementia-specific measures.

There is an emerging call for new strengths-based measures to guide research, care, and support for persons living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Person-centered interventions have demonstrated a positive impact in global quality of life, but many promising approaches lack strengths-based measures with sufficient sensitivity to document relevant outcomes. Human centered design is an innovative method for person-centered instrument development.

Person-centered assessment of people living with dementia: Review of existing measures.

Introduction: Person-centered care and assessment calls for measurement tools that help researchers and providers understand people with dementia, their social relationships, and their experience of the care environment. This paper reviewed available measures and evaluated their psychometric properties.

Methods: Literature searches of major databases (PsycInfo, PubMed, EBSCO, CINAHL) for papers examining person-centered constructs in samples of people living with dementia or mild cognitive impairment.

Person-Centered Care Plans for Nursing Home Residents With Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia.

Little literature exists examining the development and implementation of person-centered care (PCC) plans focused on behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). The current study aimed to describe BPSD documented in nursing home (NH) residents' care plans, the types of approaches staff document in addressing those symptoms, and whether resident and/or facility characteristics are associated with documentation of PCC approaches. The sample included 553 residents from 55 NHs in two East Coast states.

Evaluation of a Hospital: Community Partnership to Reduce 30-Day Readmissions.

Purpose: To evaluate the ComPass program by (1) effectiveness in reducing 30-day hospital readmissions, (2) reach of program into target population, and (3) implementation of key program elements.

Primary Practice Setting: An academic hospital in New England (John Dempsey Hospital).

Methodology And Sample: Retrospective analysis of Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries hospitalized at John Dempsey Hospital between May 1, 2012, and November 30, 2014.

Person-Centered Assessment and Care Planning.

The quality of dementia care rendered to individuals and families is contingent upon the quality of assessment and care planning, and the degree to which those processes are person-centered. This paper provides recommendations for assessment and care planning derived from a review of the research literature. These guidelines build upon previous recommendations published by the Alzheimer's Association, and apply to all settings, types, and stages of dementia.

Trends in Contemporary Holistic Nursing Research: 2010-2015.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe and summarize the characteristics of contemporary holistic nursing research (HNR) published nationally.

Design: A descriptive research design was used for this study.

Method: Data for this study came from a consecutive sample of 579 studies published in six journals determined as most consistent with the scope of holistic nursing from 2010 to 2015.

Using simulated family presence to decrease agitation in older hospitalized delirious patients: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Simulated family presence has been shown to be an effective nonpharmacological intervention to reduce agitation in persons with dementia in nursing homes. Hyperactive or mixed delirium is a common and serious complication experienced by hospitalized patients, a key feature of which is agitation. Effective nonpharmacological interventions to manage delirium are needed.

Connecting with chronically ill patients to improve treatment adherence.

This study presents an integrative review of the literature assessing the relationships among a patient's style in coping with a long-term health condition, the patient-practitioner therapeutic alliance, and treatment adherence among chronically ill adults. Evidence-based recommendations to improve nurse practitioner-patient therapeutic alliance and treatment adherence are suggested.

Predicting nursing home placement among home- and community-based services program participants.

Background: Several states offer publicly funded-care management programs to prevent long-term care placement of high-risk Medicaid beneficiaries. Understanding participant risk factors and services that may prevent long-term care placement can facilitate efficient allocation of program resources.

Objectives: To develop a practical prediction model to identify participants in a home- and community-based services program who are at highest risk for long-term nursing home placement, and to examine participant-level and program-level predictors of nursing home placement.

Trajectories of at-homeness and health in usual care and small house nursing homes.

Background: Long-term care providers across the United States are building innovative environments called "Green House" or small-house nursing homes that weave humanistic person-centered philosophies into clinical care, organizational policies, and built environments.

Purpose: To compare and contrast trajectories of at-homeness and health over time between residents remaining in a usual care nursing home (ucNH) and residents moving from that home to a small house (SmH).

Methods: Mixed methods longitudinal design with 4 waves of data collection: before the move and 1, 3, and 6 months after the move (or equivalent for nonmovers).

The meaning of home: a qualitative meta-synthesis.

Practice-based initiatives have emphasized the need to provide "homelike" environments in long-term care. This study adds to the discourse on the meaning of home by synthesizing several individual qualitative studies using Noblit and Hare's method of meta-ethnography. The purpose of this larger synthesis is to bring the findings from several discrete studies into a larger interpretive perspective that will lead to ongoing theory and practice development to enable experiences of home during residential transition, thereby informing nursing praxis in creating and shaping therapeutic environments.

Monitoring medication use in older adults.

The Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults assessment instrument highlights specific medications whose risks to older adults may outweigh their benefits. Nurses can use the criteria to evaluate medications for risks that warrant follow-up with older adults in various settings, including hospitals, nursing homes, and private homes. Watch a video demonstrating the use of the Beers criteria at http://links.

Psychometric testing of an instrument to measure the experience of home.

Research related to quality of life in long-term care has been hampered by a paucity of measurement tools sensitive to environmental interventions. The primary aim of this study was to test the psychometric properties of a new instrument, the Experience of Home (EOH) Scale, designed to measure the strength of the experience of meaningful person-environment transaction. The instrument was administered to 200 older adults in diverse dwelling types.

Assessing pain as a fifth vital sign in long-term care facilities: Recommendations from the field.

In long-term care facilities, pain management is complex because dementia, delirium, and other reasons for residents' altered communication ability are a significant barrier to pain assessment. The purpose of this study was to explore the status of implementation of pain as a fifth vital sign in a sample of long-term care facilities. A three-round Delphi survey was used to obtain consensus from personnel in 60 long-term care facilities in NY State.

Postoperative pain communication skills for older adults.

This study tested the effect of a preoperative pain communication intervention on older adults' ability to obtain pain relief after a total knee arthroplasty. A posttest-only experimental design was used to compare older adults randomly assigned to (a) view a pain management and pain communication film, (b) view the pain management film only, or (c) receive standard care only. Initial method adjustments decreased potential error in the study.