System of Least Prompts to Promote Independence in Activities of Daily Living for Older Adults

Abstract

As we age, certain predictable but avoidable changes occur. One change being that older adults come to rely on others for more and more of their daily care. Maintaining functional independence, to the extent that it's desirable, increases life satisfaction. The goal of this study was to increase independent dressing behavior for six residents diagnosed with cognitive impairments. A multiple baseline design was used to evaluate the effects of a brief training procedure for nursing staff in an assisted living facility to implement the System of Least Prompts (SLP) procedure. Generalization of independent behavior to an untargeted ADL was also assessed. A significant increase in independent dressing behavior and generalization of independent behavior to an untrained ADL was evident. Notably, resident dressing time did not increase following implementation of the SLP procedure. These results provide evidence of the effectiveness and efficiency of SLP in increasing independent behavior for older adults with cognitive impairments.