Making a positive difference in the lives of nursing home residents with Alzheimer disease: The lifestyle approach

Many persons with Alzheimer disease (AD) receive care outside their home, t emporarily at a day care center or permanently in an assisted living arrang ement or in a skilled nursing facility. How persons with AD live, and the p otential to improve the lives of persons with AD, is a rich resource for co nducting interdisciplinary research in AD. This paper presents the "lifesty le approach" which is a method of easing the transition from his/her home i nto a nursing home setting. The lifestyle approach helps establish a daily routine for residents that is familiar and that fills their days with meani ngful activities. Little research has been initiated to study how to increa se the quality of life of nursing home residents with (AD). Each component of the lifestyle approach is presented and suggestions for studies to suppo rt or refute the author's opinion are made to stimulate research in this ar ea.