Two-dimensional grid is ineffective against demented patients' exiting through glass doors.

An extension of the visual-grid method of controlling egress from a 30-bed specialized dementia care unit of a nursing home was tested. Hussian and Brown (1987) significantly reduced patient egress attempts from a state hospital psychogeriatric ward with strips of beige tape on a brown floor near an opaque door. In this study, black tape was used on a white floor at both glass exit doors, in the same configuration as Hussian and Brown's (1987) most effective condition. Data indicated no intervention effect. Results are attributed mainly to the glass doors, which allow an outdoor view and can entice residents outward and distract them from the floor grid.

Older adults and the news media: utilization, opinions, and preferred reference terms.

We surveyed 868 community-dwelling older adults about their (a) utilization of media news, (b) opinion of news media coverage of older people, and (c) preferences among terms used by news media to refer to senior citizens. Those with more than high school education read more newspaper news than those with less education. All groups watched TV news more frequently than they read the newspaper. Respondents had reservations about the news media's accuracy in, attitude toward, and interest in stories regarding seniors. Clear education and gender-related patterns emerged, whereas age proved nonsignificant in many analyses. Respondents' preferred reference terms were: (nouns) senior citizen, retiree, senior, and older adult; (adjectives) retired, senior, and mature. Respondents disliked: (nouns) old man/woman, old person, oldster, old timer, and geezer; (adjectives) old, aged, gray, and geriatric.

Impact of family visits on agitation in residents with dementia.

In an investigation of the impact of family visits on the behavior of 30 residents in dementia special care units, we found on direct observation that agitation decreased significantly during visits, but returned to the previous level within 30 minutes. No significant differences were found between visits by spouses or adult children. The premorbid quality of relationship was unrelated to family visitor enjoyment of visits or to differences between agitation level before and after visits. While 70 percent of visitors reported that they found visits pleasant (mean number of visits: 12.72 per month), 20 percent found visits unpleasant. Visitors' enjoyment or displeasure was significantly related to the difference between the number of pre-visit and post-visit agitated behaviors. Visitors indicated that the resident's mental status (33 percent) or difficulty communicating with the resident (30 percent) had the most negative impact on their visits. However, these factors appear amenable to education, suggesting that the quality of visits can be improved for visitor and resident with possibly greater positive impact on both.