Resident Care

Sunrise Senior Living donates $75k to Alzheimer’s Association

Sunrise Senior Living will make a donation to the Alzheimer's Association's Brain Ball in honor of national honoree Thomas J. DeRosa, CEO of Welltower, Inc. Read More »

Working challenged

When an aide quits unexpectedly, it can really disrupt a nursing home's routines. SNF resident blogger Kathleen Mears tells how two aides managed to do the work of three when a sudden staff shortage caught everyone by surprise. Read More »

Brookdale resident dances her way to ‘The Ellen Show’

A Brookdale Senior Living program director recognizes a resident’s love for dancing and Ellen DeGeneres, so when she won the chance to grant the wish of a resident’s lifetime, she had to go to Los Angeles.  Read More »

Is tweeting golden for seniors?

A new clinical research project is pairing college students with seniors to teach each other about Twitter. As seniors learn how to use the social media platform, students learn whether being connected improves emotions, language and cognitive function in older adults. Read More »

Post Acute Medical buys HealthSouth’s Beaumont Rehab Hospital

The Beaumont, Texas, location increases Post Acute Medical's market foothold in specialty post-acute care in the state. Read More »

Hand hygiene and superbugs

New residents arriving from a hospital often have multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) on their hands that can spread quickly across the LTC facility, yet resident hand washing is still overlooked as a protocol, a JAMA study says. Read More »

Nursing depositions—Duty or disaster?

Being asked to give a deposition doesn’t have to be a scary experience with the right documentation skills and preparedness. Read More »

Studying the brain on the MIND diet

The National Institute of Aging is funding a study to see whether the Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet is an effective strategy to slow cognitive decline and reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.   Read More »

Protein injection ‘promising’ as new Alzheimer’s treatment

Researchers have discovered a protein that can "digest plaque" and reverse cognitive decline in mice. But how do we translate the idea to humans? Read More »

Seniors tell their stories to ward off memory loss

Older Americans say it's important to maintain or improve brain health. The Administration for Community Living, in partnership with Oakland, Calif.-based Statebridge senior theatre company, is helping seniors take center stage and share their stories.  Read More »

Study: Injections improve knee osteoarthritis without surgery

Does the next promising treatment for OA reside inside our own blood? The surprising results from a new study say it's definitely worth researching. Read More »

2016 Leaders of Tomorrow: Awa Diouf

In our fourth installment of the Leaders of Tomorrow award winners, Awa Diouf is leading the culture change in memory care activities programming at The Residence at Watertown in Watertown, Mass.  Read More »

UnitedHealthcare pulls out of most state health marketplaces

The largest private insurer in the country has announced it will be ending its participation in most state healthcare marketplace exchanges, but it has some new plans for the future. Read More »

2016 Leaders of Tomorrow: Rachel Pankratz, PT, WCC

In our second installment of the Leaders of Tomorrow award winners, Rachel Pankratz, PT, WCC, director of therapy at Larksfield Place, Wichita, Kans., shows what can be done when physical therapy and clinical teams combine efforts in the mission of proactive resident care. Read More »

Advanced dementia doesn’t lead to more ED visits, study shows

Residents with mild or no dementia are more likely to make a trip to the emergency department than residents with severe dementia, says a new study by the Regenstrief Institute and the Indiana University Center for Aging Research. Read More »

2016 Leaders of Tomorrow: Debra Gallimore, RN

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 »

Having ‘the talk’ about death

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 »

JAMA study: Drug interaction risk doubles for older adults since 2006

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 »

Tap dancing at any age

An 85-year-old Navy veteran always wanted to learn to tap. He decided it was finally time to dance.  Read More »

Infectious disease orgs release new guidelines for antibiotic stewardship, combating C. diff

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 »

Arizona State University to build CCRC on campus

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 »

Light therapy helps people with dementia sleep

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 »

Older women have less cognition loss—and less quickly—than men

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 »

New clues in the link between Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes

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 »

COPD study: inhaled corticosteroids may not be for everyone?

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 »

Innovation program to reduce nursing home hospitalizations

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 »

New drug could become first FDA-approved treatment for Parkinson’s disease pyschosis

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 »

AMDA names 2016 medical director of the year

A St. Petersburg, Fla. senior living medical director is AMDA's top CMD for 2016. Read More »