Importance of Resident Placement within a Skilled Nursing Facility

Abstract

Specific attention to the placement of nursing-home residents within a skilled nursing facility is often neglected. a study was made of the effects on mental and emotional status, sensory perception, and capability for the needs of daily living when a mentally incompetent resident was placed as a room-mate with a competent resident. By means of a rating scale designed for this study, the mentally competent subjects were assessed before and after this type of placement. A significant change occurred in mental and emotional status (p less than 0.001) but there was no change in either sensory perception or the ability to perform the tasks of daily living. The data suggest that the placement of a mentally incompetent resident with one who is mentally competent may result in an alteration of mental and emotional status for the latter. It is important that placement conditions be considered in the initial processing of all nursing-home residents.

An Ethnographic Study of Stigma and Ageism in Residential Care or Assisted Living

“…That is, settings that include only one level of care avoid the inherent threat of residents moving “back there”, but this is not the recommendation emanating from decades of experience in NH settings (Grant, 1996; Ragneskog, Gerner, & Hellstrom, 2001; Teresi, Holmes, & Monaco, 1993; Wiltzius, Gambert, & Duthie, 1981). Thus, although the structure of one level of care has the potential to reduce stigma by avoiding segregation, and to enable able-bodied residents to interact more frequently with those who are less able (Calkins, 2003), the attendant disadvantages are less cognitive and social stimulation for those without cognitive impairment and increased agitation for those with impairment (Grant; Ragneskog et al; Teresi et al; Wiltzius et al).…”

The Therapeutic Design of Environments for People With Dementia

“…Segregation of dementia residents into special units also appears to benefit residents without cognitive impairments. Cognitively intact residents are found to suffer declines in mental and emotional status when living in close residential proximity to people with dementia (Teresi, Holmes, & Monaco, 1993;Wiltzius, Gambert, & Duthie, 1981).…”

Establishment and Impact of a Dementia Unit Within the Nursing Home

“…The rater had no prior access to previous assessments and was not a continuous member of the unit multidisciplinary team. The rating scale used was modified from a previously published assessment scale 9 . Although the original instrument included questions to evaluate mental and emotional status, basic functions of daily living, and sensory function, this study excluded questions relating to sensory function due to difficulty in assessing these parameters in a demented population.…”

“…Even the question of whether or not to segregate or integrate demented elderly remains controversial. Data from one study suggest that nondemented elderly, when mixed with more cognitively impaired roommates, decline in their mental and emotional functioning 9 . Many attempts have been made to evaluate different strategies of care 4–10 .…”

“…Data from one study suggest that nondemented elderly, when mixed with more cognitively impaired roommates, decline in their mental and emotional functioning 9 . Many attempts have been made to evaluate different strategies of care 4–10 . Since no one solution has proved to be optimal, a prospective study was undertaken to assess the impact of a specialized dementia unit within the nursing home setting.…”