It is possible to educate family members to communicate and interact more effectively with nursing home residents with dementia. This has beneficial effects on residents but not on nursing staff's management of problem behaviors.

This study examined the effectiveness of validation group therapy for reducing problem behav iors, use of physical restraints, and use of psychotropic medications, and for increasing positive social interactions and psychosocial well-being in nursing home residents with dementia. In four skilled-care nursing homes, 88 residents with dementia were randomly assigned to a group receiving validation therapy (VT), a social contact (SC) group, or a usual care (UC) control group, and were assessed at baseline, 3 months, and 1 year. The nursing staff reported that VT participants showed less physically and verbally aggressive behavior and were not as depressed as residents in the SC or UC group. VT was not effective, however, in reducing the use of physical restraints or the use of psychotropic medications, and it was less effective than SC or UC in reducing physically nonaggressive problem behaviors.

The TEP caregiver intervention resulted in short-term cost savings for veteran care recipients. Future studies of caregiver interventions should examine their effects on costs of care for the care recipients in addition to their effects on caregiver outcomes.

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