Quality of care in teaching nursing homes: findings and implications.

ABSTRACT

This article explores policy implications and selected methodological topics relating to long-term care (LTC) quality. We first discuss the Teaching Nursing Home Program (TNHP), in which quality of care in teaching nursing homes (TNHs) was found to be superior to the quality of care in comparison nursing homes (CNHs). A combination of outcome and process/structural measures was used to evaluate the effects of care and underlying reasons for superior TNH outcomes. Second, we explore policy and analytic ramifications. Conceptual, methodological, and applied issues in measuring and improving the quality of LTC are discussed in the context of TNH research and related research in home care.