Abstract
To address the behavioral health of nursing home (NH) residents living with dementia, training direct care staff (DCS) is essential, for the well-being of both residents and staff. We evaluated a training for DCS focused on providing care for persons with advanced dementia who are at-risk of not having care needs met, largely due to communication deficits. Staff were trained in promoting comfort and reducing distress through person-directed care (PDC), deeply knowing each resident, and anticipating needs. Subsequent fidelity interviews with staff showed a higher number of PDC practices utilized by staff in the intervention communities compared to usual care. We also compared the impact of the PDC model versus a traditional model of NH care on resident clinical outcomes, finding a significant interaction where those in the intervention group had fewer clinical symptoms over a 6-month period. Implications for training in the NH setting will be discussed.
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