Study Questions for Active Observations

You do not need to answer every group of questions for each observation. Choose the set that most closely matches the type of sites at which you conducted your observations. If you observe in more than one site, please answer the questions associated with the setting in which each observation was conducted.

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Adult Day Care Observation

1. What is the source of clients at this facility?
2. What are the eligibility criteria for placement at this facility?
3. What are the various levels of care at this facility?
4. What disciplines are routinely represented at the facility?
5. At what level of status is the patient no longer eligible to be in the facility?
6. What types of programs or innovations are available for the patient at this facility?
7. What are the implications for caregivers who have patients at the facility?

Behavioral Health Facility Observation

1. What are the sources for clients for this facility?
2. What disciplines interact routinely with the patients?
3. How long can patients be maintained at the facility for inpatient care?
4. What types of behavioral problems do patients exhibit?
5. Are other disciplines (other than those on staff) available for consultations regarding
   patients?
6. What type of assessment is done?
7. What types of rehabilitation are conducted?
8. What criteria are used to determine that a patient is mentally stable and ready to
   release or transfer to another appropriate facility?
9. Is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary team approach used in patient care?

Long-term Care Facility Observation

1. What are the sources of clients for this facility?
2. What are the various levels of care available at the institution?
3. What is the system for dealing with changes in patient status?
4. What disciplines are routinely represented in this facility?
5. What disciplines are available for consultation at this facility?
6. What types of programs or innovations at this facility are unique and may not be found at
   other long-term care facilities?

Geriatric Inpatient Rehabilitation Observation

1. What are the criteria that are used to determine that a patient is medically stable and ready for transfer to this rehabilitation institute?
   
2. What criteria are used to determine a patient's functional status, and how is this information used to determine appropriateness for inpatient rehabilitation?
   
3. What disciplines are represented in the evaluation of patients in this rehabilitation facility? Who appears to be the team leader in this process? Does the team leader remain constant or does he/she vary? If the team leader varies, what factors predict the variation in leadership?
   
4. How are rehabilitation goals, objectives, and strategies determined in this facility? What modifications would you suggest?
   
5. What are the criteria used to determine that a patient is making adequate progress in rehabilitation?
   
6. What are the criteria used to indicate that patients have reached a plateau in their rehabilitation course or satisfied their rehabilitation goals?
   
7. Is the rehabilitation process multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary?
8. What are the major obstacles to communication and coordination between disciplines?
9. What sort of follow-up and other provisions are made for patients at the time of discharge?

Geriatric Assessment Observation

1. Which disciplines are represented during the assess- ment of each patient?
   
2. How do the disciplines interact with each other? Do they make their individual assessments then interact orally, in written form, or both?
   
3. How is the process of the evaluation explained to the patient?
   
4. What standard tools are used for assessing the patient's physical status, psychosocial functioning, and cognition?
   
5. How are the results of the assessment communicated to the patient and the patient's family?
   
6. How are the results of the assessment communicated to the patient's physician (if different from the person conducting the assessment)?
   
7. What system is in place to assure that the recommendations from the assessment are implemented?