Literature Review

E-book: "Combating loneliness in senior living residents: A call to action"McKnights Senior Living; 4/24/24Discover in [this] e-book:

Extra: CMS publishes rule outlining final staffing requirements McKnights Long-Term Care News, by Kimberly Marselas; 4/22/24 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it would exempt nursing homes from having registered nurse coverage for up to 8 out of 24 hours a day “under certain circumstances,” unveiling a critical new detail in the second part of today’s staffing rule rollout. A director of nursing also can count toward the rule’s 24/7 RN requirement, CMS said, noting a change that providers will likely appreciate given their persistent challenges hiring RNs across the country. “The RN onsite 24 hours a day, seven days a week requirement ensures that there is an RN available to help mitigate, and ultimately reduce, the likelihood of preventable safety events, particularly during evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays,” CMS said. ...

Change in long-term care: Nursing homes across U.S. closing limaohio.com, by Precious Grundy; 4/19/24... According to the American Health Care Association website, more than 1,000 nursing homes have closed in the United States since 2015. ... According to the Population Reference Bureau website, in 2050 the population older than 65 will increase from 58 million (in 2022) to 82 million in just a few decades. The topic of long-term care will remain in questions. The American Health Care Association also said nursing homes across the United States have closed due to staffing shortages. ... Older adults now have the option of a home health aide, assisted living facilities and family caregivers.Editor's Note: How is this trend playing out in your service area? How do these closures impact your referral sources? Your hospice patients in skilled nursing facilities and memory care units? Accuity of patient care needs in the home, assisted living?  Hospital-in-the-home? The palliative care services you provide?

$1 billion class action settlement will trigger transition of 2,400 nursing home residents to other settingsMcKnights Senior LIving, by Kimberly Bonvissuto; 4/19/24The $1 billion settlement of a class action lawsuit has the potential to see 2,400 Massachusetts nursing home residents move into other residential and community settings in the next decade. The options include assisted living communities, although state senior living experts say that it’s unlikely many of those transitions will be to assisted living. The state agreed to settle the suit, initially filed in 2022 by six disabled nursing homes residents who argued that a lack of state resources “trapped” them in nursing homes despite their wishes to return to community-based care settings.

Rate growth slows for SNFs, home care McKnights Senior Living, by Kathleen Steele Gaivin; 4/17/24 Rates for both nursing home care and home healthcare grew more slowly in March than in February, according to Altarum’s monthly Health Sector Economic Indicators brief, released Tuesday. Nursing home rates increased by 4%, year over year, compared with 4.4% in February, while rates for home healthcare grew by 3.1%, down from 3.4% in February, George Miller, Altarum fellow and senior researcher, told the McKnight’s Business Daily on Tuesday. 

Pilot program leads to 42 percent reduction in resident falls McKnights Senior Living, by John O'Connor; 4/15/24 A tech-based pilot program has helped Allegro Senior Living reduce resident falls by 42%, the company announced Thursday. As a result, the Grayslake, IL-based firm plans to expand the program to more of its 16 communities. For the pilot, Allegro partnered with SafelyYou. The tech-based firm uses a blend of AI video technology and around-the-clock remote clinical support. The combination helps  detect falls and identify underlying causes.

Oaks sells nursing home to national operator The Times and Democrat, by Gene Zaleski; 4/13/24 The Oaks Healthcare, the nursing home segment of The Oaks of Orangeburg (SC), has sold its nursing home services to Cascade Capital Group, a Skokie, Illinois-based private health care real estate investment and asset management firm. ... The Oaks will become PACS' 25th nursing home in the state and will join over 220 other nursing homes that PACS operates throughout the country. ... [The Oaks of Orangeburg manager] Clay Fowler said the changes will enable a greater focus on the PACE program. The program was rebranded as the Orangeburg Senior Helping Center-A PACE Healthcare Program in February 2022.

Alleged DNR mix-up death highlights concerns for nursing homes McKnights Long-Term Care News, by Josh Henreckson; 4/11/24 The untimely death of a Connecticut nursing home resident in September was the result of mistakenly applying a roommate’s do-not-resuscitate order, alleges a lawsuit filed by that resident’s daughter last week. The potential mix-up illuminates struggles faced by nursing homes across the country when it comes to managing the increasingly complex needs of their patients. 

Improved onboarding process could boost worker retentionMcKnights Senior Living, by Kathleen Steel Gaivin; 4/8/24As long-term care providers navigate post-pandemic workforce challenges, they also need to improve the onboarding process, according to the results of a new survey by Viventium. ... The study detailed in the company’s 2024 Caregiver Onboarding Experience Report solicited responses from 175 administrators and caregivers in skilled nursing, assisted living, independent living, home health, home care and hospice care in November and December. The survey, Viventium said, found a “shockingly low bar for what passes as a ‘good’ onboarding experience, with strong indications that raising that bar could correlate to higher retention rates.”Editor's Note: See the article in today's newsletter, "A day in the life: Hospice nurse" for the importance of onboarding hospice nurses to to differences between long-term care and hospice care.

CMS provides first look at shorter, Risk-Based Survey process McKnights Long-Term Care News, by Kimberly Marselas; 4/4/24 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Wednesday revealed initial information about a potential “Risk-Based Survey” option that could be available to some of the nation’s best performing nursing homes. ... CMS said in an update to its nursing home provider enrollment page Wednesday that it is working with states to test this process over the next several months. ... CMS said the proposed risk-based survey, or RBS, approach would allow “consistently higher-quality facilities” to receive a more focused survey, while still ensuring compliance with health and safety standards. 

Lutheran Senior Services/Diakon agreement forms one of largest US nonprofit LTC organizations McKnights Senior Living, by Kathleen Steele Gaivin; 3/29/24 Diakon Senior Living operations and its four continuing care retirement / life plan communities will become part of Lutheran Senior Services under an agreement ... that the organizations say will create one of the largest nonprofit senior living and care organizations in the country. The transaction is pending regulatory approvals and is expected to close this summer.

How to look after your mental health while packing up Mum or Dad’s home The Conversation, 3/31/24 So Mum or Dad has died, or moved to aged care, and now you’ve got to pack up their house. It’s a huge job and you’re dreading it. It’s normal to feel grief, loss, guilt, exhaustion or even resentment at being left with this job. So how can you look after your mental health while tackling the task? 

14 Joint Commission patient safety goals for post-acute facilities Becker's Hospital Review, by Mariah Taylor; 3/21/24 The Joint Commission released a breakdown of patient safety goals for post-acute care facilities in 2024. The organization published an easy-to-read resource outlining goals for nine sectors of healthcare, including nursing facilities, surgery, hospitals and behavioral care. For post-acute facilities, the goals mostly revolved around identifying patients correctly, using medicines safely, and preventing infections and falls. Here are the patient safety goals for post-acute facilities: ...