Nursing Home Social Work Research

Robin Bonifas is Professor and Chair of the Social Work Department at Indiana State University, USA. She has over 15 years’ experience working with older adults in long-term care and inpatient psychiatric settings. She is a John A. Hartford Faculty Scholar and the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Gerontological Social Work. Mercedes Bern-Klug is Professor at the School of Social Work, University of Iowa, USA. She specializes in gerontology, with a focus on long-term services and supports for older persons and persons with disabilities She conducts research on how social workers and other health care providers can support older adults and their family members with the psychosocial implications of with medical decision-making in long-term care settings.

Introduction: Nursing Home Social Services Research 1. About a Third of Nursing Home Social Services Directors Have Earned a Social Work Degree and License 2. Serious Mental Illness in Nursing Homes: Roles and Perceived Competence of Social Services Directors 3. Social Services Involvement in Care Transitions and Admissions in Nursing Homes 4. Dementia Tops Training Needs of Nursing Home Social Services Directors; Discharge Responsibilities Are Common Core Functions of the Department 5. Structural Characteristics of Nursing Homes and Social Service Directors that Influence Their Engagement in Disaster Preparedness Processes 6. Social Service Directors’ Roles and Self-Efficacy in Suicide Risk Management in US Nursing Homes 7. More Evidence that Federal Regulations Perpetuate Unrealistic Nursing Home Social Services Staffing Ratios 8. Barriers to Psychosocial Care in Nursing Homes as Reported by Social Services Directors
9. Dementia Care Involvement and Training Needs of Social Services Directors in U.S. Nursing Homes