Biomedical subjects

Raymond B Flannery

Publications and source records attributed to Raymond B Flannery.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

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The psychological contract: enhancing productivity and its implications for long-term care.

When hired, a new employee is usually given a job description and an explanation of benefits. In addition, the employee will also have a psychological contract with the organization. This contract, often unstated, reflects the main source of the employee's motivation to work hard. This is true of all groups of employees, including long-term care staff. Common examples of psychological contracts for long-term care administrative staff include autonomy, social acceptance, and being in the forefront of cutting-edge research. An awareness of these psychological contracts can result in better "fits" between employee aspirations and relevant long-term care organization tasks so that productivity is enhanced. This article outlines the steps necessary to create these good fits in ways that benefit both the organization and its employees. These recommendations are of particular relevance to administrators and supervisors in long-term carefacilities.

Efficiency↗

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Disrupted caring attachments: implications for long-term care.

Caring attachments or social supports are the positive psychological and physical contacts and relationships between people. These attachments have been associated with improved health, well-being, and longevity. It is also true that disrupted caring attachments are associated with impaired health and well-being. This paper reviews the general medical and elder medical findings of disrupted caring attachments and negative health outcomes. The implications of these findings for dementia sufferers, caregivers, and long-term care staff are examined.

Aged↗

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Addressing psychological trauma in dementia sufferers.

Research has demonstrated that dementia sufferers may be victims of recent physical assault by family caregivers and other patients and staff in long-term care facilities. Some dementia sufferers have also been victims of violence at other points in their lives from events such as combat, physical and sexual abuse, natural and manmade disasters, and the like. These violent events may result in psychological trauma and the psychological aftermath of these violent incidents may last until death, if it is not treated. The purpose of this paper is to outline some intervention strategies regarding restraints for dementia sufferers who have a history of violence andfor whom little or no treatment has been provided. This paper is not intended to train trauma counseling specialists but to present common intervention strategies that may be fielded by long-term care staff to relieve unnecessary suffering.

Aged↗

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Treating learned helplessness in the elderly dementia patient: preliminary inquiry.

Learned helplessness is the psychological state that results when an individual who is unable to exercise reasonable mastery in one situation incorrectly assumes that he or she is then unable to exercise reasonable control in other situations as well. This may complicate the delivery of health interventions since the individual with learned helplessness may assume that no care provider or treatment intervention can be of assistance. Elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias are not immune to this stance of learned helplessness. This paper presents one possible psychosocial rehabilitation approach, the Project SMART (Stress Management and Relaxation Training) program, to the problem of learned helplessness. Based on the skills of adaptive stress-resistant problem solvers, Project SMART can be adapted to the needs of the elderly demented. The clinical and research implications are discussed.

Aged↗

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Domestic violence and elderly dementia sufferers.

Domestic violence is a serious national public health issue, and elderly dementia sufferers are not exempt from this form of aggression. This manuscript discusses the general nature of domestic violence, reviews the empirical findings of domestic violence in dementia sufferers, and outlines some of the warning signs and intervention strategies that could be considered for remediation in the presence of such abuse.

Aged↗

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Staff victims of elder patient abuse and the Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP): preliminary empirical inquiry.

Patient assaults on healthcare staff are a serious and ongoing issue in long-term care facilities. Emerging studies have begun to empirically document assaults by elders in skilled nursing facilities as well as the negative impact of these events on healthcare staff victims. This study examined assaults by elders and their impact on staff over a six-year period within the context of the Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP), a crisis intervention program for staff victims to address the psychological aftermath of patient assaults. Findings confirmed both elder assaultive behavior and its negative impacts on staff victims. The efficacy of ASAP in ameliorating these negative impacts was presented. The implications of the findings for long-term care settings were discussed.

Adult↗

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Restraint procedures and dementia sufferers with psychological trauma.

Restraint is an extreme response to an emergency situation in which there is imminent harm to self or others. Although some restrained patients become calm, others may become even more behaviorally disorganized. In some of these latter cases, the restrained patients may be victims of violence for whom the restraint procedure acts as a symbolic reminder of the past victimization. Elderly dementia sufferers may also be among these victims of violence. This paper provides a brief review of psychological trauma, research findings on psychological trauma in the elderly, and an approach to modifying restraint procedures that may be needed for dementia sufferers with a past history of victimization to minimize the disquiet associated with the needed restraint.

Aged↗

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Characteristics of staff victims of psychiatric patient assaults: updated review of findings, 1995-2001.

This paper examines the peer-reviewed, databased journal articles on the characteristics of staff victims of psychiatric patient assaults from 1995 to 2001. These studies partially confirm earlier findings in that patient assaults on staff victims continue across all disciplines. Unlike findings in earlier reviews, this review found that psychiatric residents and older, more experienced nurses were at highest risk for violence. Since there is little empirical data on staff victims of assaults by Alzheimer's and other dementia patients, this paper will explore the implications of the present findings for long-term care settings.

Health Personnel↗