Abstract
This study sought to enhance the well-being of older nursing home residents who pace and wander by enriching their nursing home environment. Visual, auditory, and olfactory stimuli were added to the nursing home unit environment to simulate two types of environments: a home environment and an outdoor nature environment. Participants seemed to prefer the enhanced environments by choosing to spend more time in them, and by sitting on benches in those environments. There was a trend toward less trespassing exit-seeking, and other agitated behaviors being exhibited in the enhanced environment, and residents were observed to manifest more pleasure in it. Staff members and family members definitely expressed a preference for the enhanced environment over the regular one. Although effects on residents were limited, this approach offers a low-cost method for making the nursing home environment a better place for those residents.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 199-208 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | The Gerontologist |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1998 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This article was supported by Crant AC-11502 from the National Institute on Aging. 1Research Institute of Hebrew Home of Creater Washington and Georgetown University Center on Aging. Address correspondence to Dr. Jiska Cohen-Mansfield, Research Institute, Hebrew Home of Creater Washington, 6121 Montrose Road, Rockville, MD 20852. E-mail: [email protected] 2University of Haifa, Israel.
Keywords
- Agitation
- Dementia
- Environmental design
- Nursing homes
- Pacing
- Wandering
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Gerontology
- Geriatrics and Gerontology