Scholars@Duke
Lisa Pepper Gwyther

Lisa Pepper Gwyther

Associate Professor Emeritus in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Adult Psychiatry & Psychology
lisa.gwyther@duke.edu
Box 3600 Med Ctr, Durham, NC 27710
750 Weaver Dairy Rd Apt 3107,, Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Selected Publications

Partnering to cope with pain: A pilot study of a caregiver-assisted pain coping skills intervention for patients with cognitive impairment and dementia.

Journal Article Palliat Support Care · December 2022 OBJECTIVE: To develop a new caregiver-assisted pain coping skills training protocol specifically tailored for community-dwelling persons with cognitive impairment and pain, and assess its feasibility and acceptability. METHOD: In Phase I, we conducted inte ... Full text Link to item Cite

Unique Care Needs of People with Dementia and Their Caregivers during Transitions from Skilled Nursing Facilities to Home and Assisted Living: A Qualitative Study.

Journal Article J Am Med Dir Assoc · September 2022 OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to describe unique care needs of people with dementia (PWD) and their caregivers during transitions from skilled nursing facilities (SNF) to home. DESIGN: A qualitative study using focus groups, semistructured inter ... Full text Link to item Cite

Racially diverse participant registries to facilitate the recruitment of African Americans into presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease studies.

Journal Article Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · August 2020 IntroductionThe Alzheimer's Disease Prevention Registry (ADPR) of the Joseph and Kathleen Bryan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Duke University has been successful in achieving a racially diverse and "research ready" cohort of cognitively h ... Full text Cite

Helping Dementia Caregivers Manage Medical Problems: Benefits of an Educational Resource.

Journal Article Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen · May 2018 BACKGROUND/RATIONALE: Family caregivers of people with dementia must attend to medical care needs of their relative, yet few available resources address comorbidities in dementia. Consequently, caregivers feel ill-equipped when medical concerns arise. In r ... Full text Link to item Cite

Preface

Book · January 1, 2018 Cite

Resilience in Aging: Concepts, Research, and Outcomes, Second Edition

Book · January 1, 2018 This updated and expanded second edition of Resilience in Aging offers a comprehensive description of the current state of knowledge with regard to resilience from physiological (including genetic), psychological (including cognitive and creative), cultura ... Full text Cite

Building Resilience in Persons with Early-Stage Dementia and Their Care Partners

Chapter · January 1, 2018 The benefits of an early diagnosis of dementia are well documented. According to a 2015 Alzheimer’s Association policy brief, early detection and diagnosis offers a number of benefits for affected individuals and their families (Alzheimer’s Association, 20 ... Full text Cite

Conclusion: The Key to Successful Aging

Chapter · January 1, 2018 This book provides a comprehensive look at the many aspects of resilience and the ways in which older adults can develop resilience, be resilient, and overcome challenges experienced throughout the aging process. The chapter authors provide several differe ... Full text Cite

Innovation in care for individuals with cognitive impairment: Can reimbursement policy spread best practices?

Journal Article Alzheimers Dement · October 2017 There is now an unprecedented opportunity to improve the care of the over 5 million people who are living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and many more with cognitive impairment due to brain injury, systemic diseases, and other causes. The i ... Full text Link to item Cite

New or Worsening Symptoms and Signs in Community-Dwelling Persons with Dementia: Incidence and Relation to Use of Acute Medical Services.

Journal Article J Am Geriatr Soc · April 2017 OBJECTIVES: To understand the range of symptoms that present to family caregivers of community-dwelling persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). DESIGN: Six-month longitudinal prospective study to identify the incidence of new or wors ... Full text Link to item Cite

Supporting Family Caregivers of Older Americans.

Journal Article N Engl J Med · December 29, 2016 Full text Link to item Cite

Age-Friendly Communities Initiative: Public Health Approach to Promoting Successful Aging.

Journal Article Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · December 2016 Older adults consistently prefer aging in place, which requires a high level of community support and services that are currently lacking. With a rapidly aging population, the present infrastructure for healthcare will prove even more inadequate to meet se ... Full text Link to item Cite

Report on milestones for care and support under the U.S. National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease.

Journal Article Alzheimers Dement · March 2016 INTRODUCTION: Under the U.S. national Alzheimer's plan, the National Institutes of Health identified milestones required to meet the plan's biomedical research goal (Goal 1). However, similar milestones have not been created for the goals on care (Goal 2) ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Duke Employee Elder Care Consultation: Meeting employees where they are

Journal Article Generations · December 1, 2015 Employees find help with elder caregiving decisions, as well as ongoing community support, in a unique program at the Duke Center for Aging. ... Cite

Cognitive aging: Progress in understanding and opportunities for action

Book · August 21, 2015 For most Americans, staying "mentally sharp" as they age is a very high priority. Declines in memory and decision-making abilities may trigger fears of Alzheimer's disease or other neurodegenerative diseases. However, cognitive aging is a natural process t ... Full text Cite

From evidence to practice: using the RE-AIM framework to adapt the REACHII caregiver intervention to the community.

Journal Article Dementia (London) · January 2015 This article describes how the multi-step mid-course assessment of the REACH II community translation project in North Carolina was guided by the RE-AIM framework, and summarizes adaptations made to enhance the feasibility of adoption and maintenance while ... Full text Link to item Cite

Fidelity Decision Making in Social and Behavioral Research: Alternative Measures of Dose and Other Considerations.

Journal Article Soc Work Res · September 2014 This article advances the discussion of treatment fidelity in social and behavioral intervention research by analyzing fidelity in an intervention study conducted within participating long-term care settings of the Collaborative Studies of Long-Term Care. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Dementia in relation to family caregiver involvement and burden in long-term care.

Journal Article J Appl Gerontol · August 2014 To better understand the process and outcomes of family involvement for long-term care residents with varying stages of dementia, we analyzed family and staff data for 467 residents of 24 residential care/assisted living and nursing-home settings. Adjusted ... Full text Link to item Cite

Community engagement in diverse populations for Alzheimer disease prevention trials.

Journal Article Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord · 2014 The recruitment of asymptomatic volunteers has been identified as a critical factor that is delaying the development and validation of preventive therapies for Alzheimer disease (AD). Typical recruitment strategies involve the use of convenience samples or ... Full text Link to item Cite

Resilience in early-stage dementia: Lessons learned from early-stage alzheimer education and support groups

Journal Article Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation · January 1, 2014 A diagnosis of an early-stage dementia poses risks to lifelong resilience in individuals with a diagnosis of dementia and their family care partners. The unique social engagement and support needed for sustained resilience in individuals with early-stage d ... Full text Cite

Differences in assisted living staff perceptions, experiences, and attitudes.

Journal Article J Gerontol Nurs · January 2014 Research within residential care/assisted living (RC/AL) settings has shown that the attitudes of personal care (PC) staff toward their organization and its residents and families can affect the quality of resident care. This article describes the percepti ... Full text Link to item Cite

Families Matter in Long-Term Care: Results of a Group-Randomized Trial.

Journal Article Seniors Hous Care J · 2013 This group-randomized trial implemented and evaluated an intervention to reduce staff burden and improve family and resident outcomes by helping families create meaningful roles for themselves in residential care/assisted living and nursing homes. Across 2 ... Link to item Cite

Comparing families and staff in nursing homes and assisted living: implications for social work practice.

Journal Article J Gerontol Soc Work · 2013 Nursing homes and residential care/assisted living settings provide care to 2.4 million individuals. Few studies compare the experience of, and relationships between, family and staff in these settings, despite ongoing family involvement and evidence that ... Full text Link to item Cite

Advancing Alzheimer's disease diagnosis, treatment, and care: recommendations from the Ware Invitational Summit.

Journal Article Alzheimers Dement · September 2012 To address the pending public health crisis due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related neurodegenerative disorders, the Marian S. Ware Alzheimer Program at the University of Pennsylvania held a meeting entitled "State of the Science Conference on the Adva ... Full text Link to item Cite

Resilience in aging: Concepts, research, and outcomes

Journal Article Resilience in Aging: Concepts, Research, and Outcomes · December 1, 2011 Resilience in Aging Concepts, Research, and Outcomes Barbara Resnick, Karen A. Roberto, and Lisa P. Gwyther, editors While medical advances are prolonging the lives of countless older adults, longevity can come at a steep price, such as chronic pain, fatig ... Full text Cite

Video-based coping skills to reduce health risk and improve psychological and physical well-being in Alzheimer's disease family caregivers.

Journal Article Psychosom Med · November 2010 OBJECTIVE: To determine whether video-based coping skills (VCS) training with telephone coaching reduces psychosocial and biological markers of distress in primary caregivers of a relative with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia (ADRD). METHODS: A con ... Full text Link to item Cite

Dementia Special Care Units in Residential Care

Chapter · April 1, 2010 This chapter focuses on dementia special care units (SCUs), largely as they have emerged in nursing homes, but also in some programs licensed as assisted living. SCUs in nursing facilities developed in response to concerns expressed by families, advocates, ... Full text Cite

Challenges and opportunities: recruitment and retention of African Americans for Alzheimer disease research: lessons learned.

Journal Article Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord · 2010 For more than 3 decades, the recruitment and retention of African Americans for research in Alzheimer disease have been regarded as difficult undertakings with poor results. The typical explanation for failure to respond to research participation options i ... Full text Link to item Cite

A FAMILY-FRIENDLY ALZHEIMER'S STRATEGIC PLAN

Journal Article GERONTOLOGIST · October 1, 2009 Link to item Cite

Sleep quality varies as a function of 5-HTTLPR genotype and stress.

Journal Article Psychosom Med · 2007 OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that allelic variation in 5HTT gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) genotype was associated with sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, PSQI) as a main effect and as moderated by the chronic stress of caregivi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Discontinuing medications for a resident with advanced Alzheimer's Disease

Journal Article Annals of Long-Term Care · May 1, 2006 Cite

Associations among perceptions of social support, negative affect, and quality of sleep in caregivers and noncaregivers.

Journal Article Health Psychol · March 2006 The authors used structural equation modeling to examine associations among perceptions of negative affect, social support, and quality of sleep in a sample of caregivers (n = 175) and noncaregiver control participants (n = 169). The authors hypothesized t ... Full text Link to item Cite

Complementary and alternative therapies for Alzheimer's disease: A conference summary

Journal Article Alzheimer's Care Quarterly · January 1, 2006 Cite

Mood disorders in the medically ill: scientific review and recommendations.

Journal Article Biol Psychiatry · August 1, 2005 OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this review is to assess the relationship between mood disorders and development, course, and associated morbidity and mortality of selected medical illnesses, review evidence for treatment, and determine needs in clinical practic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Social work competencies in palliative and end-of-life care.

Journal Article J Soc Work End Life Palliat Care · 2005 Social workers from clinical, academic, and research settings met in 2002 for a national Social Work Leadership Summit on Palliative and End-of-Life Care. Participants placed the highest priority on the development and broad dissemination of a summary docu ... Full text Link to item Cite

A multinational review of recent trends and reports in dementia caregiver burden.

Journal Article Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord · 2004 This systematic review of the literature focuses on the influence of ethnic, cultural, and geographic factors on the caregivers of patients with dementia. In particular, we explore the impact of cultural expectations on five important questions: 1) Do the ... Full text Link to item Cite

Promoting a good death for persons with dementia in nursing facilities: family caregivers' perspectives.

Journal Article JONAS Healthc Law Ethics Regul · June 2003 The experience of dying from Alzheimer's disease (AD) in a nursing home setting is a poorly understood phenomenon. Fifty-seven family member caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease, who had died as a resident in a national nursing home chain, partic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Dementia, Religion, and Spirituality

Journal Article Dementia · January 1, 2003 Full text Cite

Physician-patient communication about over-the-counter medications.

Journal Article Soc Sci Med · August 2001 The purpose of this study was to describe physician-patient communication about over-the-counter medications using a data set comprised of audio-tapes and transcripts of 414 primary care medical visits. The data set was collected during 1995 at the family ... Full text Link to item Cite

Ethnicity and physician-older patient communication about alternative therapies.

Journal Article J Altern Complement Med · August 2001 OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to describe ethnic differences in physician-patient communication about alternative therapies, using a data set comprised of audiotapes and transcripts of primary care medical visits. METHODS: The data set was coll ... Full text Link to item Cite

Practice parameter: management of dementia (an evidence-based review). Report of the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology.

Journal Article Neurology · May 8, 2001 OBJECTIVE: To define and investigate key issues in the management of dementia and to make literature-based treatment recommendations. METHODS: The authors searched the literature for four clinical questions: 1) Does pharmacotherapy for cognitive symptoms i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Physician-Patient Communication About Alternative Medicines

Journal Article Complementary Health Practice Review · January 1, 2001 Full text Cite

Family issues in dementia: finding a new normal.

Journal Article Neurol Clin · November 2000 Caring for individuals with dementia poses significant hazards and can have lasting effects on the health, well being, and quality of life of family members. Families need guidance from physicians to support and maintain the dignity of the patient with dem ... Full text Link to item Cite

Social issues of the Alzheimer's patient and family.

Journal Article Am J Med · April 27, 1998 Families caring for a person with Alzheimer's disease (AD) soon discover that it is unlike any other illness. Coping with a degenerative brain disease is much different than dealing with a physical disability. AD is more disruptive to, and has greater impa ... Full text Link to item Cite

Alzheimer's disease: Making progress through a multidisciplinary approach

Journal Article American Journal of Medicine · April 27, 1998 Full text Cite

Treatment of agitation in elderly persons with Dementia: A summary of the expert consensus guidelines

Journal Article Journal of Psychiatric Practice · January 1, 1998 Agitation frequently accompanies dementia, causing severe stress for caregivers and often leading to institutionalization. There are limited controlled data concerning the best methods of treating this agitation, which led the authors to undertake a survey ... Cite

Care-giver stress

Journal Article Current Opinion in Psychiatry · January 1, 1998 Recent research on care-giver stress focuses extensively on its predictors and health consequences, especially for family members of persons with dementia. This review highlights findings from four areas of care-giver stress research: care-giver health out ... Full text Cite

Diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer disease and related disorders. Consensus statement of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, the Alzheimer's Association, and the American Geriatrics Society.

Journal Article JAMA · October 22, 1997 OBJECTIVE: A consensus conference on the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer disease (AD) and related disorders was organized by the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, the Alzheimer's Association, and the American Geriatrics Society on January ... Link to item Cite

The perspective of the person with Alzheimer disease: which outcomes matter in early to middle stages of dementia?

Journal Article Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord · 1997 As more persons with Alzheimer disease are diagnosed earlier in the disease progression, their perspectives, values, and preferences warrant closer attention from clinicians, service planners and providers, and the research community. Demographic changes s ... Link to item Cite

When "the family" is not one voice: conflict in caregiving families.

Journal Article J Case Manag · 1995 Caregiving families rarely have one voice. This article presents a theoretical framework for normative family conflict in chronic care, identifies types of family conflict, and describes educational and case management models to prevent, identify, buffer, ... Link to item Cite

Special care unit research: ethical issues.

Journal Article Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord · 1994 Link to item Cite

Special care unit research: ethical issues.

Journal Article Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord · 1994 Link to item Cite

Managing challenging behaviors at home.

Journal Article Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord · 1994 Link to item Cite

SERVICE DELIVERY AND UTILIZATION - RESEARCH DIRECTIONS AND CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Conference STRESS EFFECTS ON FAMILY CAREGIVERS OF ALZHEIMER'S PATIENTS · January 1, 1994 Link to item Cite

ELDER CARE - FAMILY TRAINING AND SUPPORT - BARUSCH,AM

Journal Article GERONTOLOGIST · December 1, 1992 Link to item Cite

Special care units for persons with dementia.

Journal Article J Am Geriatr Soc · December 1991 Full text Link to item Cite

Letting go: separation-individuation in a wife of an Alzheimer's patient.

Journal Article Gerontologist · October 1990 Conflicts surrounding separation-individuation issues may affect decision making and reluctance to use available help among older spouse caregivers for Alzheimer's patients. This paper describes an intermittent, focused social work intervention to help ove ... Full text Link to item Cite

Day care for persons with dementia: the impact of the physical environment on staff stress and quality of care.

Journal Article Gerontologist · August 1989 This study considers the impact of the physical environment on work-related stress and quality of care in a day care center that integrates demented people and other frail elderly persons. The researcher examined positive and negative differences before an ... Full text Link to item Cite

Overcoming barriers. Home care for dementia patients.

Journal Article Caring · August 1989 Barriers to appropriate in-home service use by Alzheimer's families may be caregiver based, agency based, or policy based. Agency-based barriers are best addressed by modified services and training to meet the unique care demands of cognitively impaired pa ... Link to item Cite

The Prevention of Elder Abuse: An Educational Model

Journal Article Family Relations · January 1989 Full text Cite

A prescription for promoting social work research in a university hospital.

Journal Article Health Soc Work · 1988 The social work profession recognizes that research is vital to furthering its status and goals. However, the best methods to interest and engage clinicians in research are uncertain. This article posits a conceptual framework for implementing research in ... Full text Link to item Cite

Early-onset Alzheimer's disease: clinical predictors of institutionalization and death.

Journal Article Neurology · June 1987 Follow-up observations were made of 92 white patients with early-onset Alzheimer's disease to determine the demographic, clinical, and neuropsychological factors predictive of institutionalization or death. The cumulative mortality rate 5 years after entry ... Full text Link to item Cite

Elder Abuse: Conflict in the Family

Journal Article Journal of Gerontology · March 1, 1987 Full text Cite

Failure of long term high-dose lecithin to retard progression of early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Journal Article J Neural Transm Suppl · 1987 We conducted a six-month, randomized, double-blind trial of lecithin therapy in early-onset Alzheimer's disease. We hypothesized that such therapy would retard the progression of the clinical and neuropsychological manifestations of this illness. Of the 73 ... Link to item Cite

Introduction: What is respite care?

Journal Article Pride Inst J Long Term Home Health Care · 1986 Link to item Cite

Family therapy and the dementia patient.

Journal Article Am Fam Physician · May 1984 Caring for a relative with senile dementia often results in family problems. In this situation, the family usually turns to the physician for evaluation, advice, treatment and support. A specific strategy for family intervention is helpful and does not req ... Link to item Cite

Alzheimer's disease.

Journal Article N C Med J · July 1983 Link to item Cite

Care for the caregivers.

Journal Article J Gerontol Nurs · February 1983 Link to item Cite

In support of nursing homes.

Journal Article J Pract Nurs · October 1982 Link to item Cite

Nursing homes.

Journal Article JAMA · October 17, 1980 Link to item Cite