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A Kolanowski

Publications and source records attributed to A Kolanowski.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Everyday functioning in Alzheimer's disease: contribution of neuropsychological testing.

COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIORAL problems associated with Alzheimer's disease are variable and complex; consequently, each patient should be managed by an advanced practice nurse (APN) so that everyday functioning is maximized and excess disabilities are prevented. Neuropsychological testing is sensitive to neuropathological conditions and holds promise for assisting APNs in the care of the Alzheimer's patient by pinpointing areas of cognitive and behavioral impairment. In this article, an overview is given of the essentials of a neuropsychological assessment for the Alzheimer's patient as performed by the neuropsychologist. Use of assessment results by the APN for designing interventions that compensate for losses but which preserve remaining abilities is discussed.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Contextual factors associated with disturbing behaviors in institutionalized elders.

Data from a longitudinal clinical trial funded by the National Institute of Aging, testing the effects of staff education and consultation on restraint reduction in nursing homes, were used to examine disturbing behaviors in institutionalized elders and to identify related environmental and personal characteristics. Subjects were 586 residents from three well-matched nursing homes. Kayser-Jone's (1989) model on environment and quality of life in long-term care institutions served as the organizing framework. Data on disturbing behaviors from the Psychogeriatric Dependency Rating Scale were factor analyzed. Three factors, Agitated Psychomotor Behaviors, Aggressive Interpersonal Communication, and Expressive Difficulty, emerged from the principal factor analysis and accounted for 35% of the variance. The Kayser-Jones model partially explained Agitated Psychomotor Behavior (R2 = .22). A model comparison approach indicated that the addition of an organizational variable, staff mix, significantly increased the amount of variance explained over and above that contributed by the personal variables.

Aged↗