The growth in home care positions, both home health aides and personal care aides, is expected to far surpass positions for nursing aides, as more elders demand—and states seek to provide—home and community-based services. Read More »
With approximately 2.5 million people dying each year, the need for quality palliative and hospice services is at an all-time high. There is an increased focus on palliative and hospice care by the public and private sectors to ensure that high-quality end-of-life care is available to our aging population. Read More »
The top leaders of the major long-term healthcare associations gathered recently during the American College of Health Care Administrators (ACHCA) Annual Convocation to take on the challenges of providing care to older adults and disabled individuals in a time of tightening resources, fewer workers and an influx of residents. Read More »
In many LTC communities, the basic need for excellent service has been overshadowed by a single-minded adherence to numerous state and federal regulations, medical regimens and cost pressures, even though service and an environment conducive to healthy living were stated objectives of the organizations. Somehow, companies have not been paying attention to their own core values. Read More »
In Pennsylvania, a nursing home, unwilling to wait for a woman's Medicaid approval and reimbursement, sues her son to recover the $93K debt. It's called the "filial responsibility law" and it's on the books in 30 states. Read More »
Without faith in the mix, living in a facility would be vast wasteland for me even though there are other things to do and much in the world to learn. It helps me to have faith in something larger than myself. Faith gets me through most days. Read More »
HHS declares May 19 as the first-ever National Hepatitis Testing Day. Millions of Americans carry the virus, presenting a danger to themselves and others. Read More »
Bill Strickland’s personal story is one of rising above his own impoverished circumstances through a combination of intellectual gifts, street smarts, opportunities and serendipity to create a movement that has lifted the lives of others. It offers lessons for our own lives and our larger communities—and especially our senior communities. Read More »
Many developers and architects are putting old building to new purposes. In Los Angeles, an abandoned hospital will shake off its horror-story reputation to provide a new lease on life for low-income seniors. Read More »
A rapidly evolving regulatory, demographic and clinical landscape are top of mind for many of the 1,000-plus senior living executives in attendance at this year’s ALFA (Assisted Living Federation of America) Conference & Expo, being held in Dallas Wednesday through Friday. Read More »
Effective, data-driven risk management is proactive, rather than just reactive, and begins with the development of facility-wide policies and procedures that include standards of practice and care protocols. Read More »
Omnicare, the nation’s second largest LTC pharmacy provider, has agreed to a $50 million civil settlement with the Department of Justice following a Drug Enforcement Agency investigation of complaints Read More »
An interdisciplinary approach to restorative care can improve quality measures as evidenced by a program instituted at Renaissance Gardens at Riderwood, an Erickson Living Community in Silver Spring, Md. Read More »
Nurses, CNAs and orderlies miss more days of work due to work-related musculoskeletal disorders than any other group. Nowhere is this truer than in the LTC setting. Read More »
Following a procedure to have a kidney stone removed at a large university hospital, Kathy wonders why appropriate equipment could not be made available for a patient's most basic needs. Read More »
Many older adults with dementia live and die in community settings rather than nursing homes, contradicting the commonly held view that most people with dementia eventually move to nursing homes and die there. Read More »
Sometimes life gets too busy or too distracting to learn the "little" things that make up a person. Biographies are wonderful opportunities to reminisce and share the smaller moments of life with loved ones. Read More »
Skilled nursing facilities are gearing up to absorb nearly $800 million in Medicare cuts in 2014, according to a new analysis from Avalere Health and the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care. Read More »