The housekeeping department accounts for a large part of a facility's budget—and an even larger part of its infection control program. But even the most sophisticated cleanliness initiatives will go down the drain if staffers aren't properly trained in the specific protocols for each cleaning product. Read More »
When a facility shuts its doors the business suffers, the community suffers and, ultimately, the residents caught in the middle are the ones who pay the price with the stress of relocation and the uncertainty of their futures. Read More »
Newly published research in the New England Journal of Medicine challenges widely held beliefs about the transmission of a common infection and how to stop it. Read More »
Those working in long-term care have three important reasons to get vaccinated against the flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And employers have compelling evidence to require or at least encourage vaccination. Read More »
Care, staffing, and workflow processes and tools all are changing as technology and the healthcare system adapt to one another, according to one expert. Read More »
If your "get up and go" has gotten up and gone, get it back in gear—and solve what will surely become one of skilled nursing's biggest challenges in the future. Read More »
An alternative to fee-for-service programs may help nursing homes provide appropriate, affordable care for elderly residents with significant cognitive impairment, new research suggests. Read More »
The American Psychiatric Association takes a stance against using antipsychotics as a first-line treatment option for the agitation and behavioral outbursts common in those with dementia. Read More »
In the midst of World Alzheimer’s Month and a day before Alzheimer’s Action Day, the World Alzheimer Report 2013 has been released, containing seven recommendations to address the disease globally. Read More »
As Falls Prevention Awareness Day approaches, experts offer tips staff members can implement to improve resident safety as well as insights into how falls contribute to vision-related costs to the government, private insurers and individuals. Read More »
Improved policies and payment models could see more individuals being treated in skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities as the country looks for ways to reduce costs and unnecessary hospitalizations, one expert believes. Read More »
Highlights of recent updates to the RAI User’s Manual relevant to Section M: Skin Conditions and how these changes help to address the prevention and care of pressure ulcers. Read More »
The “superbugs” pose a serious threat to older people, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the findings of the CDC are not all bad—the incidence of MRSA infections is declining. Read More »
Administrators and healthcare professionals have roles to play when it comes to delivering person-centered care to nursing home residents, according to new research. Read More »
"It is really remarkable to see." That's how one senior living community employee describes the 2013 Long-Term Living OPTIMA Award-winning SAIDO Learning program designed to reduce or reverse the effects of dementia. In this audio podcast, she details a typical session and explains how the program affects not only residents but also the volunteers who work with them. [4:05] Read More »
The SAIDO Learning program is designed to stimulate the prefrontal cortex, resulting in activity that can be measured by two standard cognitive tests. Read More »
A simple, easy-to-learn program that can minimize or even reverse the effects of cognitive decline from dementia? One senior services network put skepticism aside and agreed to serve as the sole U.S. clinical trial site. Seeing is believing, the organization says. Read More »
The journey to bring the SAIDO Learning approach to treating Alzheimer's disease and dementia from Japan to the United States began in 2010, nine years after the technique had been developed overseas. This timeline details the process. Read More »
The Eliza Jennings Senior Care Network is Long-Term Living's 2013 OPTIMA Award winner, honored for bringing a memory care program from a distant land to the United States and integrating the program's vision into the person-centered care delivered across its provider network. Read More »
Today, drugstores, supermarkets, wholesale clubs and discount stores advertise their flu, pneumonia and shingles vaccines. But, as Long-Term Living resident blogger Kathy Mears reminds us, immunization can avoid or minimize contracting a very painful case of herpes zoster, otherwise known as shingles. Read More »
Seniors seeking emergency department assistance within 30 days of common surgical procedures experience problems that can lead to readmission, creating a revolving door effect and a lowering of Medicare reimbursement to hospitals. Read More »
An academic powerhouse and several senior living service providers are joining forces to try to find ways to increase the quality of long-term care while decreasing unnecessary healthcare spending. Read More »
Potty-mouthed? Mournful? These are some of the adjectives being used to describe a new show depicting life and work in a senior living facility. Read More »
Increased isolation, decreased quality of life, mood changes and depression are associated with a particular eye disease in seniors, Johns Hopkins researchers have found. Read More »
