The Meaningful Engagement Assessment for Residents with Dementia in Assisted Living Settings.

Providing meaningful activity is a critical dimension of person-centered care for residents with dementia in all settings, including assisted living. Defined broadly as participation in physical, social, and leisure activities that provide meaning and value to the person and are tailored to individualized interests and preferences, meaningful activity has implications for well-being, mental health, cognition, and physical function. Assisted living residents with dementia would benefit from having more opportunities to engage in meaningful activity.

Testing the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of Meaningful Activity for Managing Behavioral Symptoms of Distress (MAC-4-BSD) intervention for residents with dementia in assisted living: Protocol description.

The purpose of this manuscript is to describe the protocol for an Alzheimer's Association-funded cluster randomized trial that focuses on engaging assisted living residents with dementia in meaningful activity to help address their behavioral symptoms of distress using a theoretically based approach, Meaningful Activity for Managing Behavioral Symptoms of Distress (MAC-4-BSD). The development of MAC-4-BSD was based on the Social Ecological Model and Social Cognitive Theory. The MAC-4-BSD intervention includes the following four steps: (1) Assessment of the assisted living physical environment and policies to facilitate meaningful activity; (2) Education of staff about implementation of meaningful activity; (3) Assessment of resident preferences and goals for meaningful activity; (4) Mentoring and motivating staff and residents to facilitate engagement in meaningful activity.

Examining pain, function, behavioral symptoms and associations with engagement in meaningful activity for residents with dementia in assisted living.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine factors associated with engagement in meaningful activity among residents with dementia in assisted living. We hypothesized that greater functional independence, less pain, and lower behavioral and psychological symptom severity would be associated with higher engagement in meaningful activity after controlling for residents' age, gender, comorbidities, and cognition. Understanding factors associated with engagement in meaningful activity can help to inform strategies for optimizing engagement among residents with dementia in assisted living.

Integrating Oral Health Screening Into Primary Care to Promote Dental Referrals in Maryland.

Background: Vulnerable populations are more likely to present to non-dental healthcare locations with dental issues. Oral health screening in those settings, such as primary care, is an effective way to identify individuals with unmet oral health needs and facilitate dental referrals.

Objective: To implement and evaluate the integration of oral health screening at an outpatient transitional primary care clinic in Maryland.

Anticoagulation clinic versus a traditional warfarin management model.

Warfarin is the most commonly prescribed oral anticoagulant. The management of warfarin is challenging, and current guidelines fail to include a model to assist practitioners in optimizing therapeutic dosing. The traditional model and the anticoagulation clinic (AC) model of warfarin management were compared and results found the AC model optimum.