Environment and face-hand test performance in the institutionalized elderly.
Long term institutionalized elderly people were tested over nine months on the Face Hand (FH) test. Orinally other neuropsychological tests also were to be given, but most patients could only respond to FH at first. Experimental subjects were transferred either to an enriched stimulation environment or a token economy program while control subjects remained in custodial care settings. Analysis of variance interaction between experimental condition and time of testing indicated significant improvement in performance in the enriched environment compared to the token economy and control groups. In supplementary analyses on a subsample capable of other tests at the end of nine months, FH correlated significantly with some neuropsychological measures and not with social skills.
D000368:Aged; D003482:Custodial Care; D004777:Environment; D005145:Face; D006225:Hand; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization; D008875:Middle Aged; D008884:Milieu Therapy; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011581:Psychological Tests; D014040:Token Economy; D014110:Touch