Despite the wealth of evidence to demonstrate the success of comprehensive non-pharmacologic interventions in the prevention of delirium in hospitalized patients, at our hospital these preventative measures are not standard practice. We developed a...
Over the past several years, the acuity level of patients discharged from the hospital to skilled nursing facilities (SNF) has increased significantly, and the role of the SNF has expanded. Increasingly, SNFs are caring for patients with higher...
Person-centered approaches to dementia care can improve quality of life but present significant challenges in implementation. Participation in activities has been shown to help improve engagement, attention, and affect in elders with dementia, as...
The elderly population, in particular those who reside in Long Term Care (LTC) facilities are at an increased risk from suffering from falls. Falls can lead to injury, diminished functional ability, loss of independence, even death. A large...
Greater than 25% of hospitalized Medicare patients are discharged to post-acute care facilities and yet one third of readmission from post-acute care facilities occur within the first week. Also, previous expert consensus indicates that early...
Alzheimer’s is the number one mental disorder diagnosed in the elderly with over 5.4 million people afflicted in 2016. According to Maplewood's records 43% of patients have dementia, 45% have depression and 21% have both. These two diagnoses have...
Antibiotic stewardship efforts are mandated in post-acute and long-term care (PA-LTC) settings secondary to high rates of inappropriate antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance. Urinary tract infections (UTI), respiratory tract infections (RTI),...
Polypharmacy, the inappropriate and excessive use of medications, is common in the PALTC setting. Polypharmacy contributes to adverse drug events (ADEs), manifesting as falls, cognitive decline, syncope, organ dysfunction, besides non-adherence,...
Polypharmacy can result in an increased risk of side effects and potential adverse events in long term care (LTC) residents. Recent research has emerged showing the benefits of removing unnecessary medications. New guidelines aim to identify which...
The 1987 Nursing Home (NH) Reform Act includes provisions for families of NH residents to hold private family council (FC) meetings within Medicare and Medicaid certified NH facilities. Literature on FCs including literature recommended by a local...
