Vol XXII, February `06

"I learned from my study that clinical research often has challenges/barriers that you don't expect and that you often need to be creative in problem solving. I also learned that there are numerous ways to evaluate an individual problem, such as a sleep disorder," said Gammack. She stated, "My study demonstrated some statistically significant outcomes and that natural light therapy can help in some aspects of sleep for older adults. I hope to have further interaction with Annual Symposium participants who are interested in this topic and who may want to have collaborative efforts with me in the future."

Chaim Tarshish, BA, ABD, another award recipient whose topic was "A Memory Enhancement Intervention for Long Term Care Residents at Risk for Dementia," said, "I picked this topic because I have been doing work in computer simulation modeling that looks at the role of the hippocampus in memory."

The 2006 QI winners are:

Daniel Bluestein, MD, CMD
Measuring Response to Dementia Therapy: What Matters to Caregivers
Westminster-Canterbury
Virginia Beach, Virginia

Elizabeth M. Galik, PhDc, CRNP
Testing the Feasibility and Impact of the Res-Care-CI
Copper Ridge
Sykesville, Maryland

Zareen Syed, MD
Oral Health Care in Elderly Demented Patients in the Long Term Care Setting
St. Louis University
St. Louis, Missouri

The Pfizer QI Awards program supports initiatives that focus on facility staff education, quality improvement programs, research on interventions and treatment, and health literacy to directly enhance the quality of care provided to long term care patients.