Ating It Points of View or Opinions

ABSTRACT. . This study reports an experimentally designed evaluation of Reality Orientation. Twelve elderly residents were chosen for the experimental group and 13 residents were chosen for the'nli-treatment control grodp. Both classroom Reality Orientation and 24-hour Reality Orientation were introduced on the experimental floor. A pretest-posttest control group design was used with two instruments serving as the dependent measures: a 25 item structured interview measuring the amount of basic information the resident had concerning orientation to environment and a 30-item rating form completed by staff familar with the resident's daily fdnctioning. T-test comparisons of means for dependent samples indicated a significant increase in orientation to environment on the structured interview and a nonsignificant increase in orientation on the ratin4 form for the experimental group from pre-to posttest. The control group showed a nonsignificant decrease in orientation on both instruments. Comparison of means indicated a significant posttest difference on the structured interview and a nonsignificant difference on the rating form between the experimental and control group. Reality Orientation led to greater orientation and notio-dahie behavior change in residents and gave the largely subprofessional staff of this nursing home a productiv method for interacting with residents. (Author)