The overall theme of her program of research is improving older adults' health and quality of life. Her earliest investigations have included multiple studies of nursing home culture and issues involving care of nursing home residents with dementia. Her research-based book, entitled Nursing Home Ethics, reviews the conditions for which nursing home care becomes a necessity and discusses practical approaches to the many everyday ethical issues that arise in long-term care. Studies involving older institutionalized persons and their families have focused on social networks and social support, delivery of palliative care, and spiritual nurturance.