Health conditions, treatment, and care of residents with dementia in group living-based care facilities (Group Homes): Perspectives of group home managers

Group living-based care facilities for patients with dementia (group homes [GH]) aim to support patients to live with dignity in a familiar environment in their community. However, although some residents may be cared for well, their dementing disease may be untreated because of insufficient differential diagnosis and a lack of consultation with specialists. We previously sent a questionnaire on the status of GH management to 550 facilities in Tohoku District to investigate the effects of the 2006 revision of Long-Term Care Insurance. This study is a secondary analysis performed to evaluate the relationship of health conditions in residents with treatment and care. The results showed that resident-related factors of "physical dysfunction" and "health care" were not related to medical factors of "working with a supporting physician" and "working with a supporting physician and nurse." Similarly, the resident-related factor, "progression of dementia," was not related to the medical factor, "working with a dementia specialist." However, significant relationships were found between "progression of dementia" and a care-related factor, "support for going out"; between a resident-related factor, "progression of abnormal behavior," and a medical factor, "hospital visit assistance"; and between care-related factors of "support of hobby activities" and "support for going out." This analysis was performed based on data from a survey of GH managers. We conclude that it is important for GH managers and medical staff to understand each other and work together to strengthen the link between treatment and care of GH residents. 2014