Publications

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Strengthening a Palliative Approach in Long-Term Care (SPA-LTC): A New Program to Improve Quality of Living and Dying for Residents and their Family Members

JAMDA
March 1, 2016
Residents living and dying in long-term care (LTC) homes represent one of society's most frail and marginalized populations of older adults. The average length of stay within LTC has decreased significantly in recent years making LTC a major...

Roadmap to Quality: Effective Medication Reconciliation Minimizes Errors in a Long-Term Care Setting

JAMDA
March 1, 2016
Medication reconciliation commonly known as “med rec,” is identified by the Joint Commission as a process of “accurately and completely reconciling medications across the continuum of care.” The Joint Commission established National Patient Safety...

Reduction of Falls in Nursing Home by Improvement in Fall Assessment Accuracy and Early Nursing Interventions Leading to Improved Quality of Life and Substantial Cost Reduction and Improved Quality of Life

JAMDA
March 1, 2016
Fall is any event that leads to an unplanned, unexpected contact with a supporting surface. Between half and three-quarters of NH residents fall each year and about 10% to 20% of NH falls cause serious injuries; and 2% to 6% of those cause fractures...

Reducing Fear of Falling in a Long-Term Care Facility in Mexico City by Aligning the Weighing Scale with Ground Level and Preventing the Resident from Stepping Up

JAMDA
March 1, 2016
FOF is a common condition that contributes to falls and loss of independence. It affects over 50% of the institutionalized elderly. Among the main contributing factors that cause FOF are comorbidities such as hypertension, cognitive impairment and...

Reducing Emergency Room Referrals in Response to Nursing Home Calls: A Quality Improvement (QI) Update

JAMDA
March 1, 2016
Emergency Room (ER) transfers of patients from nursing homes for inappropriate reasons are expensive, worsens patient outcomes, hastens functional decline and decreases the quality of life. In reviewing call center calls for our group it was noted...

Psychotropic Medication Usage and the Presence/Absence of Geriatric Psychiatry Services in Skilled Nursing Facilities

JAMDA
March 1, 2016
There has been the recent phenomenon of specialists seeing patients onsite in our institutions. With the increase in specialized units for dementia patients with behaviors, there has been an increase in the onsite visitation of psychiatrists. At one...

Pressure Ulcer Reduction Begins with Appropriate Screening

JAMDA
March 1, 2016
Preventative interventions for pressure ulcer begin with identification of high-risk individuals. The Program of All-Inclusive Care of the Elderly (PACE) is a comprehensive care model for older adults with multiple chronic conditions. Centra, a non-...

PRASS: Patient Risk Assessment and Stratification Screening Tool (PRASS): A Novel Tool in Transitional Care

JAMDA
March 1, 2016
The Transitional Care (TC) Quality Improvement and Innovation Project was launched to ensure a safe and comprehensive transfer of elderly patients as they navigate levels of care. It aims to improve overall outcome and as such reduce the 30 day post...

Meaningful Communication Between Medical Providers and the Skilled Nursing Facility

JAMDA
March 1, 2016
It was identified that nursing staff were inundating physicians with fax updates which caused frustration on the physician's part and time lost for the nurses in terms of preparing the faxes, monitoring for response, processing orders, and following...

Increasing Mobility in the Nursing Home Through Implementation of a Restorative Program

JAMDA
March 1, 2016
Nursing homes (NH) provide care to a unique subset of population that is medically, functionally, and cognitively impaired. There is evidence that the majority of residents are physically inactive. It is important to work with residents to achieve...