Literature Review

Senior living providers embrace role in CMS dementia care pilot program McKnights Senior Living; by Kimberly Bonvissuto; 7/11/24 Senior living providers named participants in the federal government’s new dementia care pilot program said they are excited to be part of a new effort to support people living with dementia and their family caregivers. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, CMMI, announced the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience, or GUIDE, model last summer. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services launched the eight-year GUIDE model on July 1 and published the program participant list on Monday [7/8]. Eligible model participants are Medicare Part B-enrolled providers eligible to bill for Medicare services and that provide, or will provide, ongoing care to people living with dementia. Eligible organizations include accountable care organizations, home health and hospice agencies, Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, and physician practices. Additional long-term care providers and other healthcare providers, however, can participate as partner organizations by contract with another Medicare provider/supplier to meet the program care delivery requirements. Assisted living residents who are Medicare beneficiaries may be part of the model. Editor's Note: Adding to our previously published posts about the new CMS GUIDE Program (7/10/24 and 7/11/24) and its use by hospice organizations, this article describes its use by senior living care providers. 

Illinois launches PACE services to provide better care integration for elderly population State of Reform - Illinois News; by Maddie McCarthy; 7/2/24 The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) officially launched in Illinois in June, and designated PACE centers have begun rolling out services to their members. ... “PACE is an integrated model of care that provides all the care and services covered by Medicare and Medicaid, as authorized by the interdisciplinary team, as well as additional medically-necessary care and services not covered by Medicare and Medicaid,” said the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) in a statement sent to State of Reform. Illinois has five regions offering PACE services: West Chicago, South Chicago, Southern Cook County, Peoria, and East St. Louis. HFS and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) awarded contracts to seven designated centers.

Chronic loneliness and the risk of incident stroke in middle and late adulthood: a longitudinal cohort study of U.S. older adults eClinical Medicine, Part of THE LANCET Discovery Science; by Yenee Soh, Ichiro Kawachi, Laura D. Kubzansky, Lisa F. Berkman, and Henning Tiemeier; 6/24/24 Loneliness has been implicated as a stroke risk factor, yet studies have examined loneliness at only one time point. The association of loneliness changes and risk of incident stroke remains understudied. Our aim was to examine the association of loneliness with incident stroke, particularly the role of loneliness chronicity. Chronic loneliness was associated with higher stroke risk independent of depressive symptoms or social isolation. Addressing loneliness may have an important role in stroke prevention, and repeated assessments of loneliness over time may help identify those particularly at risk.Editor's Note: This is the source research for an article we posted yesterday, 6/28/24, titled 

48 health systems with strong finances Becker's Hospital CFO Report; by Andrew Cass; 6/20/24 Here are 48 health systems with strong operational metrics and solid financial positions, according to reports from credit rating agencies Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investors Service released in 2024. Note: This is not an exhaustive list. Health systems were compiled from credit rating reports. [Click on the title's link for the list.] Editor's Note: This list is from larger "health systems," and does not reflect stand-alone hospice and palliative organizations.

Palliative care considerations in frail older adults Annals of Palliative Medicine; by Andrew E Russell, Rachel Denny, Pearl G Lee, Marcos L Montagnini; 6/6/24, online ahead of print...This paper aims to guide clinicians in providing patientcentered care for older adults with frailty in the outpatient setting. Through a comprehensive literature review, we describe the leading models of frailty, frailty screening tools used in the clinical setting, and the assessment and management of palliative care needs in frail patients. We also describe emerging models of care focusing on palliative care for older adults with frailty and discuss issues related to access to palliative care for this population.

Navigating Aging: New help for dealing with aggression in people with dementia Northern Kentucky Tribune; by Judith Graham, KFF Health News; 6/9/24Caring for older adults with dementia is stressful, especially when they become physically or verbally aggressive, wander away from home, develop paranoia or hallucinations, engage in inappropriate or repetitive behaviors, or refuse to let caregivers help them. Upward of 95% of patients experience these neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia, which tend to fluctuate over time and vary in intensity. They’re the primary reasons people with dementia end up in assisted living facilities or nursing homes. At some point, families and friends trying to help at home simply can’t manage. “When people think about dementia, they usually think about forgetfulness and memory impairment,” said Mary Blazek, director of the geriatric psychiatry clinic at the University of Michigan. “But it’s behavioral and psychological disturbances that are most disruptive to patients’ and caregivers’ lives.”

NYCHA, HPD and HDC celebrate completion of nearly 200 units of senior housing in Bed-Stuy New York Law School; by Veronica Rose; 5/28/24 On May 23, 2024, the New York City Housing Authority, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the New York City Housing Development Corporation celebrated the completion of the Atrium at Sumner project, a new eleven-story residence for seniors. ... Of these 190 units, 57 apartments have been reserved for seniors who formerly experienced homelessness, and 132 apartments are available to senior households at 50 percent area median income or less. ... On-site social services will be provided through Selfhelp’s Active Services for Aging Model with voluntary social work support for individual residents and a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE Center) on the ground floor open to residents. 

Home health, hospice veterans behind BoldAge PACE’s nationwide expansion Home Health Care News; by Andrew Donlan; 5/20/24 BoldAge PACE – a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) operator – is expanding, led by a leadership team filled with multiple home health and hospice veterans. In May, the company opened two new locations in Kentucky and Indiana, and the plan is to open up more locations in short order. As of right now, it has 14 locations spanning coast to coast, located in California, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, South Carolina, Florida and New Jersey. ... “I think there’s a lot of similarities [between PACE] and where hospice was in the ‘80s,” Russell Hilliard, the chief growth officer of BoldAge PACE, told Home Health Care News’ sister site Hospice News. ... Currently, there are 163 PACE organizations operating more than 300 centers, according to the National PACE Association. There are nearly 76,000 PACE participants across the country.

Sanction-free InnovAge faces new challenges in Colorado, California during fiscal Q3McKnight's Home Care; by Adam Healy; 5/14/24InnovAge posted a loss in its third fiscal quarter, but executives of the for-profit Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly provider said business will only continue to improve as temporary headwinds fall by the wayside. “The company’s third quarter results were largely consistent with our expectations,” Patrick Blair, president and chief executive officer, said during a third quarter earnings call last week, according to a transcript. “We continue to see ongoing performance improvement in every facet of our operations which is driving greater stability in our financial results and increased confidence in our ability to deliver high-quality care and a great participant experience while also growing our top and bottom lines.” During the quarter ended March 31, InnovAge lost $6.1 million. That compares to a $7.3 million loss during the third fiscal quarter of 2023. Revenues grew by nearly 12% year-over-year to $193 million.

Life Coordinated Commonwealth Pace holds ribbon cutting Marshall County Daily; by Staff Report; 5/10/24 Life Coordinated Commonwealth Pace held a Ribbon Cutting on Friday morning with special quest Governor Andy Beshear in attendance to launch the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the elderly in Western Kentucky. This is the first of three planned KY Pace centers which provide elders an option for in-home care versus nursing home care.  Life Coordinated Commonwealth Pace will serve qualifying PACE members in a six-county area in Western Kentucky that includes Marshall, Calloway, Graves, Hickman, Fulton and McCracken.

New dementia guide provides best Standards of Care from 100+ not-for-profit hospice, palliative and advanced illness organizations PR Newswire; by National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI); 5/9/24 The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI), the national voice for not-for-profit hospice care, in collaboration with Aliviado Health and the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), announces today the release of the NPHI "Dementia Care Resources Provider Guide." The new guide aims to improve the quality of life for patients with dementia, reducing hospitalizations, and easing the burden of advanced illness for families and caregivers. A dementia diagnosis poses substantial challenges for both patients and their families, impacting millions of Americans nationwide. Shockingly, the Alzheimer's Association reports that an estimated 6.7 million individuals in the U.S. currently live with dementia. 

Big Bend Hospice, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Partner on transformative approach to transitional careBusiness Wire; 5/2/24 Big Bend Hospice (BBH) and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) announced a partnership today to improve patient navigation within the healthcare system. This collaboration aims to streamline transitions between hospitals, doctor's offices, rehabilitation centers, and home care. The signing of the Affiliation Agreement creates a governance structure that will develop a transformative approach to improving transitions of care in the Big Bend community. Transitions of care involve a patient's movement between healthcare settings, such as doctor's offices, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, long-term care, home health, hospice, etc. This partnership establishes a network of connected healthcare services, creating a seamless patient journey regardless of specific needs.