Home

fltc Foundation for Long Term Care

NYAHSA Home  »  FLTC Home  »  Current Projects

Caring Communication at the End of Life

This project, currently underway, is a New York State Department of Health Dementia Grant with the FLTC subcontracted with Amsterdam Nursing Home Corporation.

The FLTC wrote the proposal and will conduct all training for the 12 NYAHSA members of the consortium. Other NYAHSA members in this consortium application are: Providence Rest; Eger Health Care; United Hebrew Geriatric; Masonic Care Community; Loretto Geriatric Center; Rosewood Heights; Vivian Teal Howard RHCF; Highlands Living Center; Edna Tina Wilson; and Niagara Lutheran.

The proposal builds upon award-winning work in nursing home communication (the joint FLTC-Cornell University project Partners in Caregiving) and will focus on how staff can improve communication with family members when residents with dementia are dying.

The goal of project is to enhance the psychosocial care of nursing home residents, especially residents with dementia, at the end-of-life in nursing homes throughout New York.

Project objectives are:

• To increase the knowledge of about 1227 staff and 50 family members of 2674 residents from 12 different nursing homes about end-of-life care and communication, especially for residents with dementia.
  
• To improve communication about end-of-life care between staff and family members in these nursing homes when cultural differences may make effective communication difficult.
  
• To increase family member participation in end-of-life care planning in these nursing homes.
  
• To increase staff satisfaction about their roles in end-of-life care.
  
• To disseminate the program across New York state.