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The present study evaluated the ability of 5 different fear classification procedures to discriminate between 3 fear levels and to correlate with 6 commonly used dependent measures of fear. A standardized fear assessment procedure was administered on 2 separate trials to 71 women participants. Following the completion of the assessment trials, the participants’ data were scored and regrouped according to 5 fear classification procedures (behavioral, self-report, skin conductance level, skin response amplitude, and heart rate). This design permitted each procedure to be evaluated to the same target stimulus and at the same point in time. The classifications of participants on the basis of behavior and skin conductance response were found to be most effective selection procedures with self-report, skin conductance level, and heart rate being the least. Reliability of the findings was assessed by a test-retest procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Northern California Chronic Care Network for Dementia brings together Northern California's major providers of managed care, community-based care, consumer education, and advocacy in new partnerships to improve the care of persons with dementia enrolled in managed care plans and their family caregivers. These partnerships are part of a national initiative entitled the Chronic Care Network for Alzheimer's Disease (CCN/AD) sponsored by the National Chronic Care Consortium and the Alzheimer's Association. This initiative selected eight promising provider-consumer partnerships across the country to implement and evaluate a new model of coordinated care for people with dementia and their families. This paper describes the Northern California network's partnerships and its intervention and challenges. The intervention is grounded in the key components of the CCN/AD model: “identification of patients with possible dementia, diagnostic assessment, care management and family caregiver information and support.” These components, in turn, are translated into protocols and pathways designed to create timely, comprehensive, appropriate, and effective systems of care services that address the unique needs of dementia patients and their caregivers over the course of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dementia is a common disorder affecting an estimated 20 to 47 percent of persons over the age of 85.1 In addition No the pervasive cognitive deficits found in dementia, various behavioral disturbances are common.2 Wandering is one of the most troubling behaviors associate with dementia and has been found to lead to institutionalization and increased risk for injury. It continues to Tee common practice for wanderers to be physically or chemically restrained in order to prevent them from leavings home. This practice leads to extreme limitations on nobility and freedom for the client as well as extra demands on caregivers. To develop less restrictive and efficient interventions it is essential to understand how to assess, predict, and alter wandering patterns.4 We examined the relationship between cognitive impairments and wandering. Neuropsychological tests were administered to 29 residents of two special care units. Exiting attempts, the level of activity, and staff ratings of wandering were correlated with measures of global impairments (as measured by the Mini Mental State Examination) as well as focal deficits (assessed by the Token Test, the Benton Visual Retention Test-revised, the nine item dementia form of the California Test of Verbal Learning, and the Information Subtest of the WAIS-R).The Mini Mental State Examination was the best predictor of staff ratings of wandering. Poor performance on the CVLT-AD best predicted the level of activity. Exiting did not significantly correlate to staff ratings of wandering or cognitive deficits. Data were analyzed also by means of a principal components analysis and entered into a multiple regression equation. Neuropsychological tests loaded heavily on one factor relating to global deterioration which was predictive of staff ratings of wandering as well as behavioral observations of activity. Exit-seeking behavior was not associated with this index of the severity of dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]