Agitation in older persons with dementia: A research synthesis

(1) Caregiver stress can result in rapid turnover of qualified personnel thus negatively affecting the care of elderly agitated clients. Three areas of nursing research address the treatment of agitation in demented elders. Subject-centered studies address the effect of interventions such as massage, familiar voices, and light. Environment-centered studies address settings such as dining room location. Caregiver-centered studies address variables such as staff educational level and staff-client ratio. In spite of the promising findings testing these interventions, physical and chemical restraints are still being used ineffectively and often indiscriminantly to treat agitation in cognitively impaired elders.