A research agenda for nursing homes.

摘要

At the last International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG) World Congress, the IAGG Executive Committee underlined the need to develop a research agenda for nursing homes. In the past several decades, the fields of geriatrics and gerontology have focused on creating, organizing, and coordinating geriatrics facilities, and little attention has been given to research that would improve clinical practice. Now it is time to broaden our scope to ensure that high-quality research becomes a priority. Because most nursing home residents suffer from dementia, clinical research on dementia is needed to validate new approaches to deal with the most significant problems encountered by nursing homes that care for those with severe dementia, including aggressive behaviors, problematic vocalizations, emergency hospitalizations, the need for physical restraints, anorexia, and end-of-life issues. Methodological issues that have precluded adequate resolution of these issues in the clinical setting must be resolved, which will require implementation of national and international research on nursing home networks.