The Time Has Come

Too much of the health care delivered in long-term care settings is not based on evidence. Long-term care organi-zations are not in the research business and usually lack research offi ces and expertise in research methods. Tradi-tionally, research questions are driven by a university re-searcher’s particular agenda rather than by the needs and questions of the individuals using long-term care services and working in these organizations. University faculty and student researchers traditionally design research studies and then look for appropriate settings for conducting the study. Many of these studies generate credible fi ndings, but may not tackle large, complex problems or be geared toward providing new evidence that directly helps staff or older adults. What would happen if instead there was a large-scal