Citation

Herman RE, Williams KN. J. Trauma. Stress 2009; 24(5): 417-423.

Affiliation

University of Kansas School of Nursing, Kansas City, Kansas 66160, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1177/1533317509341949

PMID

19692706

PMCID

PMC2836897

Abstract

Resistiveness to care (RTC) in older adults with dementia commonly disrupts nursing care. Research has found that elderspeak (infantilizing communication) use by nursing home (NH) staff increases the probability of RTC in older adults with dementia. The current analysis used general sequential querier (GSEQ) software to analyze behavior sequences of specific behavioral events. We found that older adults with dementia most frequently reacted to elderspeak communication by negative vocalizations (screaming or yelling, negative verbalizations, crying). Because negative vocalizations disrupt nursing care, reduction in elderspeak use by staff may reduce these behaviors thereby increasing the quality of care to these residents. The results clearly demonstrate that sequential analysis of behavioral events is a useful tool in examining complex communicative interactions and targeting specific problem behaviors.

Language: en