Includes bibliographical references and index.

We conducted a study to compare levels of social integration between nursing home residents living in a traditional nursing home unit with those living in a Dementia Special Care Unit. This study also set out to pilot test an objective measure useful for comparing social interactions of nursing home residents. In this case study, we discuss some of the challenges we encountered during participant observations in the nursing home setting. The challenges include working with frail participants, observing participants in their natural environment, and observing people with dementia. We end this case study by reviewing some of our lessons learned from data collection associated with this research project. These include reflections of how it is difficult to decide as an observer when to intervene in a potentially unsafe situation, how frequent debriefing is essential, and how things may not go as planned.

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