For most older adults in long-term care, nursing homes are the last places they will ever live, and many give up hope on ever returning to home.

However, a Cornell evaluation project finds that a person-centered approach shows great promise in helping nursing home residents move back to the community, allowing nearly 60 percent of study participants to successfully return home.

Researchers in the College of Human Ecology evaluated Project Home, a pilot program in Syracuse, N.Y., funded by the New York State Department of Health. They report on their findings in an upcoming article in the Journal of Case Management.

"It's very common for older adults to express their desire to return home," said co-principal investigator Rhoda Meador, associate director of outreach and extension in the College of Human Ecology. "The idea with Project Home is that, with extra support and focus on an individual's unique needs, those wishes can become possible." Read the full story