For families faced with the difficult decision of placing a loved one in a nursing home, a government rating system is often the only source of information to determine which facilities are the best. However, a January 2018 study of nursing homes in California, the nation’s largest system, by faculty at Florida Atlantic University and… Continue reading Some Nursing Homes Are Gaming the System to Improve Their Medicare Star Ratings
Tag: nursing homes
Could Calcium Hold the Key to Fighting C. diff, a Dangerous Hospital Infection?
Clostridium difficile (a bacterium also known as “C. diff“) lurks in hospitals and nursing homes, surviving the cleaning crews attempts to kill it by holing up in a tiny hard shell. It preys upon patients already weak from disease or advanced age. And when it reaches their guts, it breaks open its shell to unleash… Continue reading Could Calcium Hold the Key to Fighting C. diff, a Dangerous Hospital Infection?
Hospitalized Older Adults May Need More Help Selecting Skilled Nursing Facilities
More than 20 percent of all hospitalized older adults who use Medicare will be admitted to a skilled nursing facility following a stay in the hospital (also known as “post-acute care”). However, according to the American Geriatrics Society these men and women may be given too little information when it comes to choosing a post-acute… Continue reading Hospitalized Older Adults May Need More Help Selecting Skilled Nursing Facilities
Choosing Residential Care for An Alzheimer’s Patient
Sometimes you can no longer care for the person with Alzheimer’s disease at home. The person may need around-the-clock care. Or, he or she may be incontinent, aggressive, or wander. When that happens, you may want to look for another place for the person to live. According to the National Institutes of Health, You may… Continue reading Choosing Residential Care for An Alzheimer’s Patient
Preventing Apathy in Dementia Patients
Nursing home residents with dementia are less likely to be apathetic if they live in an appropriately stimulating environment, according to a multi-university study published in June 2015 in The Gerontologist. A release from Penn State notes that clear stimulus is found in an environment without competing background noise, and with a single straightforward stimulus.… Continue reading Preventing Apathy in Dementia Patients
High rates of MRSA Transmission Between Nursing Home Residents and Health-Care Workers
Healthcare workers frequently contaminate their gloves and gowns with drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA during routine care of nursing homes residents. That is the finding of a study published in May 2015 in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. A release from the society quotes… Continue reading High rates of MRSA Transmission Between Nursing Home Residents and Health-Care Workers
A Call to Action for End-of-Life Care in Nursing Homes
End-of-life care for nursing home residents has long been associated with poor symptom control and low family satisfaction. With more than one in four older Americans dying in a nursing home — including 70 percent of Americans with advanced dementia — an editorial by Kathleen Unroe, M.D., MHA, Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University Center for… Continue reading A Call to Action for End-of-Life Care in Nursing Homes
Preventing Unnecessary Hospitalizations of Frail Older Adults
A study from Indiana University and Regenstrief Institute researcher-clinicians reports on the first year of the implementation of OPTIMISTIC, an acronym for Optimizing Patient Transfers, Impacting Medical quality and Improving Symptoms: Transforming Institutional Care. The team developed and implemented this innovative program to prevent unnecessary hospitalizations of nursing facility residents. Their paper, “The OPTIMISTIC approach:… Continue reading Preventing Unnecessary Hospitalizations of Frail Older Adults