A Review on Community-Based Knowledge Transfer and Exchange (KTE) Initiatives for Promoting Well-Being in Older Adults.

Knowledge transfer and exchange (KTE) processes can facilitate evidence-informed community-based care for seniors, but understanding effective KTE in gerontology is limited. A scoping review was conducted to evaluate the current state of KTE in the community-based sector for seniors. Twelve articles met the inclusion criteria, which addressed a broad variety of topics including caregiving, elder abuse, falls prevention, home-rehabilitation, hospice and dementia care. Studies evaluated KTE practices (n = 8), developed a KTE intervention (n = 3), or explored research uptake (n = 1). Community-based initiatives for seniors informed by KTE processes are scarce, requiring further efforts at the research, practice and policy levels.

Developing a Research Agenda on Resident-to-Resident Aggression: Recommendations From a Consensus Conference.

This article provides an overview of the development of a research agenda on resident-to-resident aggression (RRA) in long-term care facilities by an expert panel of researchers and practitioners. A 1-day consensus-building workshop using a modified Delphi approach was held to gain consensus on nomenclature and an operational definition for RRA, to identify RRA research priorities, and to develop a roadmap for future research on these priorities. Among the six identified terms in the literature, RRA was selected. The top five priorities were: (a) developing/assessing RRA environmental interventions; (b) identification of the environmental factors triggering RRA; (c) incidence/prevalence of RRA; (d) developing/assessing staff RRA education interventions; and (e) identification of RRA perpetrator and victim characteristics. Given the significant harm RRA poses for long-term care residents, this meeting is an important milestone, as it is the first organized effort to mobilize knowledge on this under-studied topic at the research, clinical, and policy levels.

Intergenerational programs for persons with dementia: a scoping review.

Participation in intergenerational programs can have a positive impact on quality of life and well-being across age groups. We sought to examine the characteristics, goals, and outcomes of intergenerational programs for persons with dementia and children or youth. Six hundred and seventy-nine unique abstracts were identified through a search of 7 medical databases, 16 social science databases, 2 gray literature databases, and other sources. Twenty-seven articles met criteria for review. Articles must have gathered information on program design, goals, outcomes, or participants' perceptions. Overall, 3 themes emerged: program design, outcomes for child or youth participants, and outcomes for persons with dementia. Music, arts-based, and narrative programs were most common. Outcomes include effects on perceptions of aging and dementia, behavior, mood, engagement and sense of self. The use of qualitative and quantitative data, as well as descriptive articles, provided a richer picture of the relational features of intergenerational programs to emerge. The type of program had less of an impact on positive outcomes than if the activity was meaningful for participants and supported shared opportunities for relationship building and growth. The relationship-based skill set and scope of social work practitioners provides opportunity for the development, facilitation, and evaluation of intergenerational programs. The difficulties of establishing best practices due to methodological challenges and implications for further research are presented.