In our first installment of the 2016 Leaders of Tomorrow award winners, we honor Debra Gallimore, RN, Director of Nursing at Skyline Health and Rehabilitation Center in Floyd, Va. She may be one of the youngest DONs the community has had, but you'll have a difficult time finding someone who knows more about her staff's job roles—she's done most of them herself. Read More »
National Healthcare Decisions Day is Apr. 16, and as most skilled nursing facilities know, an advance directive may be a little piece of paper, but it’s a big conversation process. Read More »
A budget proposal by Massachusetts lawmakers would spend at least $35.5 million on nursing homes, specifically, on wages and benefits for employees. Read More »
Texas has one of the highest turnover rates for nursing home employees. The facilities are having trouble staying competitive with Wendy’s or McDonald’s, which can offer hourly workers a job with better pay and less stress. Read More »
Adults age 62 to 85 are using more concurrent medicines and dietary supplements than ever, a new JAMA study says, enhancing the need for detailed medication reviews to avoid drug interactions. Read More »
The sixth annual Boomer Expectations for Retirement report from the Insured Retirement Institute found baby boomers are less confident about and how well they have prepared financially for retirement. Read More »
Long-Term Living’s Leaders of Tomorrow awards celebrate five nominated individuals who go out of their way to change the status quo of senior care, try new strategies and innovative approaches and serve as inspirations to their peers. Read More »
A good antibiotic stewardship program is more than a leaflet or two about drug resistance. New guidelines from two leading infectious disease bodies offer specific strategies to implement stewardship programs and improve antibiotic efficacy, including ways to handle staff training and the challenge of C. diff. Read More »
The university wants to build a continuing care retirement community on campus. The CCRC could appeal to the roughly 30,000 alumni age 65 and up dwelling in Arizona who want to relive their college years. Only, this time class is optional. Read More »
Skilled nursing providers in rural areas need better access to broadband connectivity to keep up with the rapidly changing senior care landscape, providers said in testimony before the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. Read More »
Medicare is trying a new way of calculating the reimbursement for certain drugs, including expensive drugs to treat cancer. After barely a month, the pilot has riled physicians on both sides of the issue. Read More »
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will test a new payment model that encourages doctors to focus on health outcomes rather than volume of visits or tests. Read More »
A pilot study by Ecumen found residents exposed to bright lights for at least 30 minutes a day had fewer sleep disturbances, behavioral episodes and needed less antipsychotic medication—all without any adverse side effects to the light. Read More »
Researchers examined the effects of aging on cognitive functioning. They found normal age-related memory and cognition decline may occur at an earlier age and at a faster rate in healthy older men compared to healthy older women. Read More »
Researchers have found that Alzheimer’s disease impairs the part of the brain that regulates metabolism. That means people with dementia may be more likely to develop diabetes. Read More »
Combination treatments, such as using an extended-release pill and an inhaled product, are a standard practice in therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). But new research shows that many people with COPD may not benefit from the addition of a corticosteroid inhalant. Read More »
The Department of Justice announced the launch of 10 regional interagency task forces designed to protect seniors in nursing homes by holding operators accountable for the quality of care they provide. Read More »
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has imposed steep fines and threatened to terminate Woodbriar Health Center from its programs if serious problems are not resolved by next week. Read More »
The Center for Innovation has invested more than $30 million for Indiana University’s project to reduce avoidable hospitalizations for nursing home residents by providing higher levels of care on site. Read More »
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High-tech pressure ulcer reduction
By Christopher Barnum, PhD, CEO, Gel OvationsAmerican medicine may be slow to adopt new technology, but pressure ulcer prevention calls for high-tech interventions. Learn More »
Michael Rossato-Bennett, the writer, director and producer of the award-winning documentary “Alive Inside,” will speak at the Institute for the Advancement of Senior Care’s Memory Care Forum in Philadelphia on how music therapy can improve the quality of life for people with dementia. Read More »
A new drug treatment for Parkinson’s disease psychosis has been given a major thumbs-up by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) committee, a crucial step in the agency's drug-approval process. If the drug eventually receives full FDA approval, it will be the first treatment of its kind, researchers say. Read More »
The National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners has named a former OPTIMA award winner the educator of the year for educating—and inspiring—frontline staff on dementia care. Read More »
A group of health information technology nerds enjoyed finding obscure and absurd ICD-10 codes like toxic effect of venom of bees, intentional self-harm. They thought others might, too, so they found their favorites, formed a publishing company and illustrated them for your amusement. Read More »
From 1994 to 2014, the population of California nursing home residents under age 65 increased by nearly 40 percent. So, too, did the number of reported problems directly related to the resident population mix. Read More »
