Optimizing Resident Care in Assisted Living Communities

A primary goal of assisted living communities is to help residents maintain their health and wellbeing. One method by which this is accomplished is that caregivers continually monitor residents for cues that might signal problems or concerns, and then respond appropriately. The critical role of knowledge in caregiving has been recognized in the literature, but the existent research has demonstrated that those who provide care directly to assisted living residents may be lacking critical facets of knowledge. Although psychological science has recognized the value of comparing novices to experts for the purposes of understanding and training skill development (e.g., Chi, 2006; Rogers, Maurer, Salas, & Fisk, 1997), the literature in this area has not examined caregiving as a function of expertise or experience. Therefore, we contend that a research priority should be to investigate the cognitive processes involved in detecting resident issues, including problem detection (i.e., using cues to make a judgment about whether there is a need to be concerned), and decision making (i.e., responding in some form to resolve concerns).