Publications by authors named "Hana Dampf"
Objectives: Resident pain has been a common quality challenge in congregate care for older adults, and organizational context may explain variations in resident pain beyond resident-level factors. Most studies have focused on nursing homes (NHs), largely neglecting assisted living (AL). AL residents are at similar risk for pain as NH resident, but with AL providing fewer services and staffing resources.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Assisted living (AL) is an increasingly common residential setting for persons with dementia; yet concerns exist about sub-optimal care of this population in AL given its lower levels of staffing and services. Our objectives were to (i) examine associations between AL setting (dementia care vs. other), COVID-19 pandemic waves, and prevalent antipsychotic, antidepressant, anti-dementia, benzodiazepine, and anticonvulsant drug use among residents with dementia/cognitive impairment, and (ii) explore associations between resident and home characteristics and prevalent medication use.
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- A study examined how COVID-19 affected hospitalization rates for older adults in assisted living (AL) compared to nursing homes (NH) during different pandemic waves in Alberta, Canada.
- Results showed that hospitalization rates decreased in both AL and NH during waves 1 and 4, but AL did not experience a decline during wave 2, unlike NH.
- The findings indicated that while NH residents faced more delayed hospital discharges, AL residents had a significant increase in hospitalizations that resulted in death, particularly during wave 2.
Objectives: Assisted living (AL) is a significant and growing congregate care option for vulnerable older adults designed to reduce the use of nursing homes (NHs). However, work on excess mortality in congregate care during the COVID-19 pandemic has primarily focused on NHs with only a few US studies examining AL. The objective of this study was to assess excess mortality among AL and NH residents with and without dementia or significant cognitive impairment in Alberta, Canada, during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, relative to the 3 years before.
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- The study investigates the impact of COVID-19 pandemic waves on the use of various medications among residents in assisted living facilities in Alberta, Canada, focusing on differences between dementia care and other settings.
- Researchers analyzed data from January 2018 to December 2021, revealing significant increases in antipsychotic use during pandemic waves, particularly among residents in dementia care, as well as modest increases in antidepressant use.
- Overall, while some medication use increased or decreased during the pandemic, opioid use did not show significant changes, highlighting varied medication management responses in different assisted living settings.
Introduction: Family/friend caregivers play an essential role in promoting the physical and mental health of older adults in need of care - especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and especially in assisted living (AL) homes, where resident care needs are similarly complex as in long-term care homes but fewer staffing resources and services are available. However, little research is available on caregiver involvement and concerns with care of AL residents prior to and during waves 1 and 2 of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study addressed this important knowledge gap.
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