The Gerontologist, Vol 31, Issue 3 309-317, Copyright © 1991 by The Gerontological Society of America

ARTICLES

Assessing nursing assistants' knowledge of behavioral approaches to mental health problems

DL Spore, MA Smyer and MD Cohn
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, College of Health and Human Development, Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802.

Nurse's aides are the primary caregivers in nursing homes, a major receiving site for elders with behavioral and psychiatric problems. We describe the development, psychometric properties, and utility of a brief instrument designed to assess aides' knowledge of three specific mental health problems (depression, agitation, and disorientation) and behavioral approaches to them. The instrument was administered to 191 nurse's aides and 21 clinicians with training in behavioral management and experience with older residents. The nurse's aides averaged 11 of 17 correct answers, and the clinicians averaged 15 of 17 correct answers. Implications for staff training and consultation activities in nursing homes are discussed.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Gupta and M. Z. Goldstein Practical Geriatrics: Psychiatric Consultation to Nursing Homes Psychiatr Serv, December 1, 1999; 50(12): 1547 - 1550. [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. L. Whall, M. E. A. Black, D. J. Yankou, C. J. Groh, B. J. Kupferschmid, N. L. Foster, and R. Little Nurse aides' identification of onset and level of agitation in late stage dementia patients American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias, July 1, 1999; 14(4): 202 - 206. [Abstract] [PDF]