The role of nursing home admission and dementia status on care for diabetes mellitus.

Objectives: To study the role of nursing home (NH) admission and dementia status on the provision of five procedures related to diabetes mellitus.

Design: Retrospective cohort study using data from a large prospective study in which an expert panel determined the prevalence of dementia.

Setting: Fifty-nine Maryland NHs.

Short-stay nursing home rehabilitation patients: transitional care problems pose research challenges.

A clinical intervention pilot study to improve depression care for short-stay nursing home Medicare-reimbursed rehabilitation patients funded by the National Institute on Aging was conducted. Despite solid theoretical and clinical grounding and the support of a large nursing home company, several roadblocks to implementation were encountered, including involving patients and families, communication between providers, involving community primary care physicians, staff time constraints, and conducting research with short-stay patients. Although frustrating from a research standpoint, these roadblocks closely reflect problems identified by the American Geriatrics Society as impeding the delivery of high-quality transitional care in geriatrics.

Informal caregiver involvement and illness detection among cognitively impaired nursing home residents.

Background: The participation of informal caregivers in the care of nursing home (NH) residents has the potential to positively impact care, especially for cognitively impaired residents whose own ability to advocate for their care is often limited. This study examined relationships between the level of informal caregiver involvement (ICI) in the NH and the degree to which residents' common medical conditions were detected by facility staff.

Methods: One hundred pairs of cognitively impaired residents and their primary informal caregivers were enrolled from three facilities in the Baltimore, Maryland area.

Mortality and adverse health events in newly admitted nursing home residents with and without dementia.

Objectives: To evaluate the association between dementia and mortality, adverse health events, and discharge disposition of newly admitted nursing home residents. It was hypothesized that residents with dementia would die at a higher rate and develop more adverse health events (e.g.

Families filling the gap: comparing family involvement for assisted living and nursing home residents with dementia.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the sociodemographics, self-rated health, and involvement levels of family caregivers of residents with dementia in residential care/assisted living (RC/AL) versus nursing home settings.

Design And Methods: We conducted telephone interviews with the family caregivers most involved with 353 residents of 34 residential care and 10 nursing home facilities. We measured involvement by caregiver self-report of monthly out-of-pocket spending, involvement and burden ratings, and the frequency of engaging in eight specific care activities.

Dementia as a risk factor for falls and fall injuries among nursing home residents.

Objectives: To compare rates of falling between nursing home residents with and without dementia and to examine dementia as an independent risk factor for falls and fall injuries.

Design: Prospective cohort study with 2 years of follow-up.

Setting: Fifty-nine randomly selected nursing homes in Maryland, stratified by geographic region and facility size.

Measuring the frequency of contact between nursing home residents and their family and friends.

Background: The involvement of family and friends in nursing home care represents an important resource for an overburdened long-term care system. However, little guidance exists for researchers interested in measuring family involvement.

Objectives: This methodological report provides an overview of approaches to measuring family involvement in nursing home care and examines agreement between family and staff on the frequency of visits and telephone calls to a resident by family and friends.