Quincy M. Samus, Ph.D.

Specialization of Dementia Care Assisted Living: A Pilot Project

Quincy M. Samus, Ph.D.
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, Maryland

2008 New Investigator Research Grant

Recent studies have shown that dementia is very prevalent among residents of assisted-living facilities, which can contribute to a poorer quality of life for residents or lead to residents being discharged.

This phenomenon has made dementia care at assisted-living facilities an important issue and has led to a recent proliferation of dementia-specific care areas in these facilities. While these areas may provide positive innovations in dementia care, very little is known about their specialized features and services or their benefits to residents.

Quincy M. Samus, Ph.D., and colleagues will determine the number of assisted-living facilities in central Maryland that have dementia-specific care areas. They will then study 38 randomly selected assisted-living facilities, half of them being dementia-specific care areas and half general care areas. They will conduct on-site evaluations of the facilities, measuring for factors such as staffing ratios, policies related to residents with dementia and specialized activities for residents with dementia.

This study will lay the groundwork for future studies examining the quality of care for people with dementia in these facilities.