COM Division of Geriatrics Research Projects
Learning by Living Nursing Home Immersion
Learning by Living Nursing Home Immersion is known internationally for “admitting” medical students into nursing homes to live the life of an elder resident for two weeks complete with diagnoses that warrant standard procedures of care such as toileting, bathing, eating pureed foods, and relying on staff for transfers.
View the Learning by Living Nursing Home Immersion Project Narrative
48-Hour Hospice Home Immersion
The 48 Hour Hospice Home Immersion research “immerses” students into the local 18-bed acute care hospice home for 48 hours sleeping in a bed where others have died before. Students are integrated into the interprofessional staff team. During this intensive research, students care for patients, provide family support, and upon a patient’s death conduct post-mortem care. Both projects utilize ethnographic-biographic research designs.
View the 48-Hour Hospice Home Immersion Project Narrative
Falls and Proprioception-Balancing Act
Balancing Act is evidenced informed for increasing balance and reducing falls. This NIH-funded project focused on older adults with vision impairment. Other funded projects include Oral Health research for nursing home residents living in the six Maine Veterans Homes, the Thriving in Place (TIP) Project in the greater Sanford area to find ways for older adults to age optimally in their homes, osteoporosis research focused on cost-effectiveness of fracture prevention in rural women, and older adult veteran support research.
Faculty
