Purpose: Families of dementia patients receiving skilled homecare do not receive supportive services. We evaluated whether a proven intervention, Environmental Skill-building Program (ESP), which reduces caregiver burden and enhances skills managing patient functioning, can be integrated into homecare practices of occupational therapists (OTs) and…

Purpose: We compared a primary-care-based psychotherapy, that is, problem-solving therapy for primary care (PST-PC), to community-based psychotherapy in treating late-life major depression and dysthymia. Design and Methods: The data here are from the IMPACT study, which compared collaborative care within a primary care clinic to care as usual in…

Interviewed 15 male caregivers from diverse backgrounds caring for their wives with Alzheimer's disease. Found following themes: commitment, social isolation, loss of companionship, control, sense of accomplishment, problem-solving approach, burden lessening with years of caregiving, and limited expectations of children. Typology of male…

Describes how older people arrive at a decision to move and identifies some of the correlates of successful adjustment to relocation. Findings suggest that while the stress of moving should not be underestimated, neither should the resilience of the older person to participate in a decision that concerns him. (Author)

Tested use of visual imagery for overcoming memory loss in community-living older people with evidence of senile dementia. Patients and caregivers were randomly assigned into one of three training conditions: didactic, problem-solving, or wait list. Recall performance was somewhat improved for subjects in the didactic group. (Author)

Describes project helping frail elders to live independently. Describes community forums through which elders engaged in problem solving with health care professionals and policymakers. Notes that, when asked about remaining independent, 102 elders' responses fit into themes: safety; problems communicating with health care providers;…

Discusses the need for members of several different professions to work closely together to achieve an integrated resolution in the best interests of an older person. Proposes that the physician's legal and ethical responsibilities toward an older patient would include a duty to interact and cooperate with other relevant health or human service…

Field-tested public/private collaborative model geropsychiatric nursing home. Found planning and implementation to be difficult due to interdepartmental strain within public sector and changes in ownership and administrative policy within private sector. Considers ways to reduce barriers. (Author/NB)

Describes the human relations approach to problem solving as an approach which emphasizes the expression of personal feelings by participants as essential to resolution of problems. (HMV)

Examined applicability of scaffolding and zone of proximal development to the study of dementia. Compared caregiver-patient dyads (n=29) to normal elderly dyads (n=16) in terms of strategies used in completing the Block Design subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised. Results indicated that caregiver-patient dyads can be observed…

Describes development and dissemination of Volunteer Information Provider Program (VIPP), an informational sharing program to assist rural family caregivers of older adults, first piloted in Missouri and later disseminated to 20 states. (Author/CM)

Purpose: We examine 6-month effects of the Environmental Skill-Building Program on caregiver well-being and care recipient functioning and whether effects vary by caregiver gender, race (White or non-White), and relationship (spouse or nonspouse). Design and Methods: We enrolled 255 family caregivers of community-residing persons with Alzheimer's…

Describes a problem solving approach for administrative personnel which attempts to put feelings aside and deal with discussion of the facts, generation of solutions, selection of a course of action and actual action to solve the problem. (EJT)