The myth persists that the elderly are institutionalized because their relatives do not care enough about them. Nursing home staff may not respond to family members' concerns about their relatives with any better solutions than to take their relatives home. Family response to this lack of solution may be retreat or retaliation. Thus the…

Older Americans are suffering from both physical and social losses as they age. These losses are sometimes accompanied by the elderly person's entrance into a long-term care facility. Some researchers have suggested that such facilities fail to maintain the residents' independent behavior. Others contend that behavior is plastic and can be…

This document presents data on three studies requested by Virginia State Senate Joint Resolution No. 148 and carried out by the Virginia Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation in cooperation with other agencies. The three studies included in the report are: (1) an assessment of the appropriateness of housing young adults (ages 18-22)…

A program created to help mentally retarded adults move from a state facility to an independent living situation in Jackson, Mississippi, is described. The three stages of the program are outlined as follows: (1) new clients are housed in a cluster unit of apartments close to staff housing, during which time they are assessed according to the…

An indication of the failure of the mental health system in this country is reflected in the increasingly visible homeless population, many of whom suffer from some form of untreated mental illness. Public policy priorities have shifted from proactive, treatment-oriented policies to reactive, punitive institutionalization. The…

This document contains a preliminary report on the implementation of Wisconsin's Community Options Program (COP), a program designed both to divert persons from entering nursing homes and to deinstitutionalize current nursing home residents who can be effectively served by community-based alternatives. The introduction of this report provides a…

This document is a report evaluating the Community Options Program (COP) operated in Wisconsin in 1982 and 1983. The report states that the program is designed to reduce the institutionalization of disabled persons by supporting these persons in the community, thereby decreasing expenditures for long term support and slowing the demand for nursing…

The Roving Leaders Center, one of the Dade County (Florida) Public Schools' Educational Alternative Outreach Programs, is designed as a last resort beyond the opportunity schools. Although it originally involved counselors who visited the schools, it now consists of a classroom, recreation room, offices, and reception area. It is staffed by a…

In order to determine what support services may prevent or delay institutionalization of developmentally disabled (DD) children, 128 families with DD children under age 5 and living at home were interviewed concerning currently received and recommended support services. In addition, 52 families with institutionalized DD children (of all ages)…

During 1983-84, the Public Law 89-313 program served 2,053 students who were formerly educated in State-operated or State-supported schools through the following components and subcomponents: the Regional Services Instructional Support Unit; Citywide Services, consisting of Instructional Supplies and Equipment and Hearing Education Services; and…

The author responding to criticism of an earlier article attempts to clarify his previous remarks on the reliability and validity of measures of body image in mentally handicapped persons. (LC)

A program to teach the techniques of behavior modification to attendants working with severely and profoundly retarded institutionalized residents has been developed and tested. (Author)