Psychosocial Intervention In Long Term Care

The responsibility of providing mental health evaluations and treatment to nursing home patients is increasingly falling on the shoulders of social services and nursing staff. Psychosocial Intervention in Long-Term Care provides the advanced techniques you, as a caregiver, need for assessing and intervening with psychosocial and behavioral problems in LTC. Targeted to students and staff who are familiar with the basic needs and problems of LTC residents, this book also describes effective ways of documenting assessments and interventions to help you integrate results into the medical record and prepare for state surveys. Psychosocial Intervention in Long-Term Care presents you with information about common mental disorders in LTC, basic counseling techniques, and the three major types of psychiatric medication. You’ll also read about legal issues in the psychosocial arena and learn how to avoid burnout while working in LTC. Best of all, this book shows you how to: use the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Mini Mental Status Exam to screen for depression and dementia design thorough behavioral assessments through use of a tracking grid use results of assessments to set up effective behavioral interventions intervene with specific psychosocial problems, such as aggression document the results of assessments develop effective Resident Assessment Inventories prepare for state surveys and develop plans of correction in response to surveys Whether you’re a graduate student or new practitioner in social work, nursing, or health care administration, you’ll appreciate this book’s practical, hands-on approach to problem solving and its focus on the biopsychosocial model. Only through a thorough assessment of residents’physical, psychological, and social needs can we design effective intervention and provide the care they deserve.

Older people are entering nursing homes later and sicker than ever before, thus presenting as more physically fragile and complex residents and requiring more advanced care and treatment. To this end, Hyer and Intrieri have gathered together a group of health care professionals who are genuinely dedicated to the care and research of long-term care (LTC) environments. This group seeks to push the envelope for improved use of professional time, effort, and input and in this remarkable book, share their ideas with you. By applying the Selective Optimization with Compensation (SOC) model to various care settings, the editors are able to examine current LTC practices and existing psychosocial issues confronting older LTC patients; either support or challenge them; and offer suggestions and strategies, such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy, for improving the LTC system and residents' physical, psychological, emotional, and social health. This book provides insight on the psychological issues facing long-term care residents for a plethora of health care professionals, including: Physicians and geriatricians who care for older adults in the LTC system Nurses and geriatric nurse specialists Social workers Activity coordinators Physical, occupational, and speech therapists within an LTC setting who are seeking ways to explain behavior and empower the residents they care for Psychologists and psychiatrists whose practice focuses on older adults

Update your knowledge of mental health services delivery in long-term care settings! Authored by experts in the field of psychology practice in long-term care (LTC), this valuable book is designed to update psychologists and educators on developments in the evolving field of geriatric mental health in LTC settings. The editors and chapter authors are scientist-practitioners who use their expertise to cover applied topics while maintaining high scientific and scholarly standards. The first section of Emerging Trends in Psychological Practice in Long-Term Care examines modifications to traditional psychotherapy techniques that make them more appropriate for long-term care patients, with chapters reviewing: group therapy in long-term care brief psychotherapy for treating depression in patients with dementia the use of autobiographical memory techniques in cognitive-behavioral treatment for depression the treatment of disruptive behaviors in LTC residents The second section covers systematic therapy approaches in LTC settings, with chapters discussing: distinctive family therapy issues in LTC an LTC systems application of behavioral treatment for depression using pleasant events a comparison of patient and staff perceptions of characteristics that contribute to the quality of LTC facilities a multidisciplinary team approach to the treatment of dementia training LTC caregivers in behavioral techniques The third section of this remarkable volume addresses the thorny ethical and legal issues unique to LTC residents, including legal definitions, requirements for obtaining informed consent from LTC patients, and confidentiality dilemmas that are unique to clinical services in long-term care. With helpful charts, tables, and fascinating case studies that illustrate clinical issues, this user-friendly text belongs on the reference shelf of everyone involved in providing mental health services to people in long-term care settings!

It is with great pride that the Psychologists in Long Term Care (PLTC) have sponsored The Professional Educational Long-Term Care Training Manual, and now its second iteration, Geropsychology and Long Term Care: A Practitioner’s Guide. Education of psychologists working in long-term care settings is consistent with PLTC’s mission to assure the provision of high-quality psychological services for a neglected sector of the population, i.e., residents in nursing homes and assisted-living communities. To this end, direct training of generalist psychologists in the nuances of psychological care delivery in long-term care settings has been a major priority. It is a tribute to the accelerating nature of research in long-term care settings that a revision is now necessary. After all, the Professional Educational Training Manual’s initial publication date was only in 2001. However, in the intervening years, much progress has been made in addressing assessment and intervention strategies tailored to the needs of this frail but quite diverse population. It is so gratifying to be able to say that there is now a corpus of scientific knowledge to guide long-term care service delivery in long-term care settings.

Social isolation and loneliness are serious yet underappreciated public health risks that affect a significant portion of the older adult population. Approximately one-quarter of community-dwelling Americans aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated, and a significant proportion of adults in the United States report feeling lonely. People who are 50 years of age or older are more likely to experience many of the risk factors that can cause or exacerbate social isolation or loneliness, such as living alone, the loss of family or friends, chronic illness, and sensory impairments. Over a life course, social isolation and loneliness may be episodic or chronic, depending upon an individual's circumstances and perceptions. A substantial body of evidence demonstrates that social isolation presents a major risk for premature mortality, comparable to other risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, or obesity. As older adults are particularly high-volume and high-frequency users of the health care system, there is an opportunity for health care professionals to identify, prevent, and mitigate the adverse health impacts of social isolation and loneliness in older adults. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults summarizes the evidence base and explores how social isolation and loneliness affect health and quality of life in adults aged 50 and older, particularly among low income, underserved, and vulnerable populations. This report makes recommendations specifically for clinical settings of health care to identify those who suffer the resultant negative health impacts of social isolation and loneliness and target interventions to improve their social conditions. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults considers clinical tools and methodologies, better education and training for the health care workforce, and dissemination and implementation that will be important for translating research into practice, especially as the evidence base for effective interventions continues to flourish.

Mental health and substance use disorders affect approximately 20 percent of Americans and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Although a wide range of evidence-based psychosocial interventions are currently in use, most consumers of mental health care find it difficult to know whether they are receiving high-quality care. Although the current evidence base for the effects of psychosocial interventions is sizable, subsequent steps in the process of bringing a psychosocial intervention into routine clinical care are less well defined. Psychosocial Interventions for Mental and Substance Use Disorders details the reasons for the gap between what is known to be effective and current practice and offers recommendations for how best to address this gap by applying a framework that can be used to establish standards for psychosocial interventions. The framework described in Psychosocial Interventions for Mental and Substance Use Disorders can be used to chart a path toward the ultimate goal of improving the outcomes. The framework highlights the need to (1) support research to strengthen the evidence base on the efficacy and effectiveness of psychosocial interventions; (2) based on this evidence, identify the key elements that drive an intervention's effect; (3) conduct systematic reviews to inform clinical guidelines that incorporate these key elements; (4) using the findings of these systematic reviews, develop quality measures - measures of the structure, process, and outcomes of interventions; and (5) establish methods for successfully implementing and sustaining these interventions in regular practice including the training of providers of these interventions. The recommendations offered in this report are intended to assist policy makers, health care organizations, and payers that are organizing and overseeing the provision of care for mental health and substance use disorders while navigating a new health care landscape. The recommendations also target providers, professional societies, funding agencies, consumers, and researchers, all of whom have a stake in ensuring that evidence-based, high-quality care is provided to individuals receiving mental health and substance use services.

Cancer care today often provides state-of-the-science biomedical treatment, but fails to address the psychological and social (psychosocial) problems associated with the illness. This failure can compromise the effectiveness of health care and thereby adversely affect the health of cancer patients. Psychological and social problems created or exacerbated by cancer--including depression and other emotional problems; lack of information or skills needed to manage the illness; lack of transportation or other resources; and disruptions in work, school, and family life--cause additional suffering, weaken adherence to prescribed treatments, and threaten patients' return to health. Today, it is not possible to deliver high-quality cancer care without using existing approaches, tools, and resources to address patients' psychosocial health needs. All patients with cancer and their families should expect and receive cancer care that ensures the provision of appropriate psychosocial health services. Cancer Care for the Whole Patient recommends actions that oncology providers, health policy makers, educators, health insurers, health planners, researchers and research sponsors, and consumer advocates should undertake to ensure that this standard is met.

In the past decade, evidence based practice (EBP) has emerged as one of the most important movements to improve the effectiveness of clinical care. As the number of older adults continues to grow, it is essential that practitioners have knowledge of effective strategies to improve both the medical and the psychosocial aspects of older persons' lives. The purpose of this work is to present systematic reviews of research-based psychosocial interventions for older adults and their caregivers. The interventions presented focus on a variety of critical issues facing older adults today including medical illnesses (cardiac disease, diabetes, arthritis/pain, cancer, and HIV/AIDS), mental health/cognitive disorders (depression/anxiety, dementia, substance abuse), and social functioning (developmental disabilities, end-of-life, dementia caregivers, grandparent caregivers). For each of these areas the prevalence of the problem, the demographics of those affected, and the nature and consequences of the problem are discussed. The empirical literature is then reviewed. A treatment summary highlights the type and nature of research supporting the interventions reviewed and is followed by a conclusion section that summarizes the status of intervention research for the specified issue. A Treatment Resource Appendix for each area is included. These appendices highlight manuals, books, articles and web resources that detail the treatment approaches and methodologies discussed. This book was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of Gerontological Social Work.