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Melissa Harris

Clinical Associate in the School of Nursing
School of Nursing

Selected Publications


Characterizing Emergency Department Disposition Conversations for Persons Living With Dementia: Protocol for an Ethnographic Study.

Journal Article JMIR Res Protoc · December 6, 2024 BACKGROUND: Almost 40% of persons living with dementia make an emergency department (ED) visit each year. One of the most impactful and costly elements of their ED care is the decision to discharge or admit them to the hospital-the "disposition" decision. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Health Experiences of LGBTQ+ People Living With Dementia and Their Care Partners: A Scoping Review of Research and Policy.

Journal Article Journal of aging and health · November 2024 ObjectivesThis scoping review aimed to synthesize research on the health experiences of LGBTQ+ people living with dementia (PLWD) and their caregivers, and the impact of health policies on this population.MethodsSix databases were searche ... Full text Cite

Family Involvement in the Care of Hospitalized Older Adults: Protocol for a Qualitative Evidence Synthesis.

Journal Article JMIR Res Protoc · May 10, 2024 BACKGROUND: Older adults are frequently hospitalized. Family involvement during these hospitalizations is incompletely characterized in the literature. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to better understand how families are involved in the care of hospitalized o ... Full text Link to item Cite

Financial Health of People Living With Dementia and Their Informal Care Partners: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study.

Journal Article JMIR Res Protoc · July 11, 2023 BACKGROUND: There is a growing body of academic literature focusing on the significant financial burdens placed on people living with cancer, but little evidence exists on the impact of rising costs of care in other vulnerable populations. This financial s ... Full text Link to item Cite

Health Experiences of Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Study.

Journal Article Western journal of nursing research · May 2023 This study characterizes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental and physical health of nurses. Qualitative data (collected using semi-structured interviews) were integrated with quantitative data (collected concurrently using the SF-12 Health Su ... Full text Cite

Health Experiences of Sexual and Gender Minority People Living With Dementia and Their Care Partners: Protocol for a Scoping Review.

Journal Article JMIR research protocols · March 2023 BackgroundPeople living with dementia and their care partners who identify as a sexual and gender minority (SGM) often experience specific health inequities and disparities due to discrimination related to age, cognitive impairment, and being SGM. ... Full text Cite

Usability and Acceptability of Social Robot Pets Among Community-Dwelling Veterans Living With Dementia and Their Caregivers.

Journal Article Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen · 2023 Social robot pets promote engagement and psychosocial well-being among older adults, yet little is known about their use among community-dwelling Veterans living with dementia. This programmatic evaluation used a within subjects, pre-post design to examine ... Full text Link to item Cite

Development of a Home-Based Stress Management Toolkit for Dementia Caring Dyads: Protocol for a Pilot Intervention Development and Feasibility Study.

Journal Article JMIR Res Protoc · December 14, 2022 BACKGROUND: People living with dementia (PLWD) and their care partners (dementia caring dyads) are at a heightened risk of experiencing stress-related symptoms and conditions. Yet, many dyadic stress management interventions have had limited uptake by heal ... Full text Link to item Cite

Feasibility and Acceptability of a Remotely Delivered Weighted Blanket Intervention for People Living With Dementia and Their Family Caregivers.

Journal Article Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society · November 2022 The COVID-19 pandemic amplified the need for interventions to support community-dwelling families living with dementia. This study examined the feasibility and acceptability of a remotely delivered weighted blanket intervention for people living with demen ... Full text Cite

Depressive Symptoms and Caregiving Intensity Before and After Onset of Dementia in Partners: A Retrospective, Observational Study.

Journal Article Medical care · November 2022 BackgroundCaring for a partner with dementia poses significant emotional burden and high care demands, but changes in impacts before and after dementia onset is unclear.ObjectiveExamine changes in depressive symptoms and hours of care pro ... Full text Cite

Time to dementia diagnosis by race: A retrospective cohort study.

Journal Article Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · November 2022 BackgroundNon-Hispanic Black individuals may be less likely to receive a diagnosis of dementia compared to non-Hispanic White individuals. These findings raise important questions regarding which factors may explain this observed association and a ... Full text Cite

Medicare spending associated with a dementia diagnosis among older adults.

Journal Article Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · September 2022 BackgroundOver 6 million Americans have Alzheimer's Disease or Related Dementia (ADRD) but whether spikes in spending surrounding a new diagnosis reflect pre-diagnosis morbidity, diagnostic testing, or treatments for comorbidities is unknown.M ... Full text Cite

Experiences of Family Caregivers of People with Dementia during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Journal Article Western journal of nursing research · March 2022 Although behavioral and psychological symptoms are burdensome for people with dementia and their caregivers, perceptions of family caregivers regarding management of these symptoms are unclear. This study explored the experiences of family caregivers regar ... Full text Cite

Associations Between Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias and Depressive Symptoms of Partner Caregivers.

Journal Article Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society · July 2021 Family members-mainly spouses and partners-are the primary caregivers for individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRDs), chronic progressive illnesses requiring increasing levels of care. We performed a retrospective observational anal ... Full text Cite

Development and preliminary testing of the collaboration for leadership and innovation in mentoring survey: An instrument of nursing PhD mentorship quality.

Journal Article Nurse education today · March 2021 BackgroundHigh-quality PhD nursing student mentorship facilitates student and program success. Extant literature recommends evaluating and improving mentorship to foster optimal PhD student development. However, a comprehensive measure capturing a ... Full text Cite

Acupuncture and Acupressure for Dementia Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms: A Scoping Review.

Journal Article Western journal of nursing research · October 2020 Due to the dangers associated with psychotropic medications, there is an urgent need for non-pharmacologic therapies to treat behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). Acupuncture and acupressure are safe and well-tolerated non-pharmacologi ... Full text Cite

Acceptability of a Dyadic Psychoeducational Intervention for Patients and Caregivers.

Journal Article Oncology nursing forum · May 2020 PurposeTo assess participants' acceptability of the FOCUS program, a psychoeducational intervention, delivered to multiple patient-caregiver dyads in a small-group format.Participants & settingA total of 72 adults diagnosed with cance ... Full text Cite