National surveillance using a clinical quality indicator for prolonged antipsychotic use among older Australians with dementia who access aged care services.

OBJECTIVES: Dementia guidelines recommend antipsychotics are only used for behavioral and psychological symptoms when non-drug interventions fail, and to regularly review use. Population-level clinical quality indicators (CQIs) for dementia care in permanent residential aged care (PRAC) typically monitor prevalence of antipsychotic use but not prolonged use. This study aimed to develop a CQI for antipsychotic use >90 days and examine trends, associated factors, and variation in CQI incidence; and examine duration of the first episode of use among individuals with dementia accessing home care packages (HCPs) or PRAC. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study, including older individuals with dementia who accessed HCPs (n = 50,257) or PRAC (n = 250,196). Trends in annual CQI incidence (2011-12 to 2015-16) and associated factors were determined using Poisson regression. Funnel plots examined geographical and facility variation. Time to antipsychotic discontinuation was estimated among new antipsychotic users accessing HCP (n = 2367) and PRAC (n = 15,597) using the cumulative incidence function. RESULTS: Between 2011-12 and 2015-16, antipsychotic use for >90 days decreased in HCP recipients from 10.7% (95% CI 10.2-11.1) to 10.1% (95% CI 9.6-10.5, adjusted incidence rate ratio (aIRR) 0.97 (95% CI 0.95-0.98)), and in PRAC residents from 24.5% (95% CI 24.2-24.7) to 21.8% (95% CI 21.5-22.0, aIRR 0.97 (95% CI 0.96-0.98)). Prior antipsychotic use (both cohorts) and being male and greater socioeconomic disadvantage (PRAC cohort) were associated with higher CQI incidence. Little geographical/facility variation was observed. Median treatment duration in HCP and PRAC was 334 (interquartile range [IQR] 108-958) and 555 (IQR 197-1239) days, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: While small decreases in antipsychotic use >90 days were observed between 2011-12 and 2015-16, findings suggest antipsychotic use among aged care recipients with dementia can be further minimized.

Challenges to the operation of Brazilian LTCIs and changes in oversight.

BACKGROUND: Despite 18 years since health surveillance regulations were promulgated in Brazil to govern Long-Term Care Institutions for Older Adults (LTCIs), many institutions fail to comply with the Differentiated Regime for Public Procurement (Resolution No. 502/2021) due to structural and operational conditions. This study aimed to investigate Brazilian LTCI managers' understanding of challenges that significantly impact institutional operation and gather suggestions for enhancing RDC No. 502/21. METHODS: A cross-sectional, exploratory, and qualitative study was conducted, involving 90 managers or technical supervisors from Brazilian LTCIs. Data were collected using a self-administered Google Forms instrument and analyzed through Thematic Analysis based on the Organizing for Quality (OQ) framework. RESULTS: The most impactful challenges for LTCIs were healthcare, financing, human resources, relationship with oversight bodies, and family members. DISCUSSION: Proposed improvements for RDC No. 502/21 included enhanced professional training, infrastructure revision, increased financial support from the state, realistic oversight/regulations, and tailored monitoring approaches. CONCLUSION: LTCIs in Brazil face numerous challenges, and the suggested improvements aim to adapt regulations to institutional realities. However, considering the regulations' variability and purposes, further investigation is warranted.

Reform and reverberation: Australian aged care policy changes and the unintended consequences for allied health.

INTRODUCTION: Allied health has a valuable role in providing services to people living in residential aged care. The recent Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety included several important recommendations relating to the nursing, personal care, and allied health workforce and the care that they provide. The purpose of this paper is to review these recommendations and the Australian Government's policy responses and explore the emerging changes in allied health service provision in residential aged care. METHODS: Data from the four available Quarterly Financial Reports from the 2022-2023 financial year were extracted and analysed in relation to staff costs and time per person per day across personal care, nursing, and allied health workers. Supplementary data sources including the 2020 Aged Care Workforce Census were accessed to provide contextual data relating to individual allied health professions, including occupational therapy. RESULTS: The analysis shows a modest increase in median registered nurse minutes per person per day, and cost per person per day, from the first to second quarter, and again in the third and fourth. By contrast, median time and cost for allied health declined. From 5.6 minutes per person per day in the first quarter, reported allied health minutes fell to 4.6 minutes per person per day in the second quarter, an 18% decrease, and by the fourth quarter was 4.3 minutes per person per day. This is just over half the Australian average of 8 minutes reported to the RCACQS in 2019. CONCLUSION: Under recent residential aged care reforms, aged care providers have regulatory incentives to concentrate their financial resources on meeting the mandated care hours for registered nurses, enrolled nurses, personal care workers, and assistants in nursing. These same reforms do not mandate minutes of allied health services. Although providers of residential aged care in Australia continue to employ and value allied health, we argue that mandating care minutes for personal and nursing care without mandating the provision of allied health creates a perverse incentive whereby access to allied health services is unintentionally reduced.

Safety Concerns for Persons with Dementia in Senior Housing: A Qualitative Study with Korean American Caregivers in Los Angeles.

Subsidized senior housing helps many socioeconomically disadvantaged older adults pursue independent living and aging in place. However, cognitive impairment or dementia poses a critical challenge to many residents' ability to live independently and safely. Focusing on Korean American dementia caregivers, a group known to be vulnerable to caregiving burden but understudied, we explored the safety of persons with dementia in senior housing from the perspectives of caregivers. Qualitative data from nine caregivers whose care recipients were current or former residents of subsidized senior housing in Los Angeles were analyzed by the constant comparative method. Major concerns emerged were: (1) fire risks, (2) wandering, (3) physical injury (e.g., self-harm, falls), and (4) potential neglect. Caregivers also mentioned errors in the self-administration of medications, potential financial exploitation, and interpersonal conflicts. These concerns provide implications for services and programs for the safety of persons with dementia who live in senior housing.

Expanding frontiers of risk management: care safety in nursing home during COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Nursing homes provide long-term care and have residential-oriented hospitalizations characterized by medical, nursing and social-care treatments for a typically geriatric population. In the current emergency phase, the problem of infections in residential structures for the elderly is taking on considerable importance in relation to the significant prevalence rates of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). SAFETY IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES: Prevention and control measures for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in nursing homes should be planned before a possible outbreak of COVID-19 occurs and should be intensified during any exacerbation of the same. Each facility should identify a properly trained contact person-also external-for the prevention and control of infections, who can refer to a multidisciplinary support committee and who is in close contact with the local health authorities. The contact person should collaborate with professionals in order to prepare a prevention and intervention plan that considers national provisions and scientific evidence, the requirements for reporting patients with symptoms compatible with COVID-19 and the indications for the management of suspected, probable or confirmed cases of COVID-19. DISCUSSION: Adequate risk management in residential structures implies the establishment of a coordination committee with dedicated staff, the implementation of a surveillance program for the rapid recognition of the outbreaks, the identification of suitable premises and equipment, the application of universal precautions, the adaptation of care plans to reduce the possibility of contagion among residents and the protection of operators and staff training initiatives.

Federal requirements for nursing homes to include certified nursing assistants in resident care planning and interdisciplinary teams: A policy analysis.

Starting in 2016, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services implemented the first phase of a 3-year multi-phase plan revising the manner in which nursing homes are regulated. In this revision, attention was placed on the importance of certified nursing assistants (CNAs) to resident care and the need to empower these frontline workers. Phase II mandates that CNAs be included as members of the nursing home interdisciplinary team that develops care plans for the resident that are person-centered and comprehensive and reviews and revises these care plans after each resident assessment. While these efforts are laudable, there are no direct guidelines for how to integrate CNAs in the interdisciplinary team. We recommend the inclusion of direct guidelines, in which this policy revision clarifies the expected contributions from CNAs, their responsibilities, their role as members of the interdisciplinary team, and the expected patterns of communication between CNAs and other members of the interdisciplinary team.

"It's Been a Whole New World": Staff Perceptions of Implementing a Person-Centered Communication Intervention During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has challenged the way nursing homes deliver person-centered care (PCC). Preferences for Activity and Leisure (PAL) Cards are a tool to communicate residents' important preferences to staff. Monthly interviews (N = 32) were conducted with champions who were conducting a PAL Card quality improvement project in Tennessee nursing homes (N = 11) between March and August 2020. Three major themes emerged: Structural Changes (e.g., halting admissions, adding an isolation unit), Resident Burden (e.g., physical isolation, loneliness), and Provider Burnout (e.g., increased workload, mental exhaustion). Further, providers expressed the benefits to using PAL Cards, specifically in regard to blunting the negative impact of each theme. Results showed the overall negative impact of COVID-19 on nursing home communities. Nursing staff experienced greater burden than other staff, reflecting their prominent role in providing direct care to residents with COVID-19. Staff reported that PAL Cards helped promote PCC. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 47(5), 9-13.].

Ethical care during COVID-19 for care home residents with dementia.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on care homes in the United Kingdom, particularly for those residents living with dementia. The impetus for this article comes from a recent review conducted by the authors. That review, a qualitative media analysis of news and academic articles published during the first few months of the outbreak, identified ethical care as a key theme warranting further investigation within the context of the crisis. To explore ethical care further, a set of salient ethical values for delivering care to care home residents living with dementia during the pandemic was derived from a synthesis of relevant ethical standards, codes and philosophical approaches. The ethical values identified were caring, non-maleficence, beneficence, procedural justice, dignity in death and dying, well-being, safety, and personhood. Using these ethical values as a framework, alongside examples from contemporaneous media and academic sources, this article discusses the delivery of ethical care to care home residents with dementia within the context of COVID-19. The analysis identifies positive examples of ethical values displayed by care home staff, care sector organisations, healthcare professionals and third sector advocacy organisations. However, concerns relating to the death rates, dignity, safety, well-being and personhood - of residents and staff - are also evident. These shortcomings are attributable to negligent government strategy, which resulted in delayed guidance, lack of resources and Personal Protective Equipment, unclear data, and inconsistent testing. Consequently, this review demonstrates the ways in which care homes are underfunded, under resourced and undervalued.

The Rights of Elders in Ireland during COVID-19.

This article reflects on COVID-19 restrictions imposed on elders in Ireland through the lens of the right to private and family life (Article 8 ECHR), focusing on stay at home orders and recommendations advising elders to avoid social contact. Furthermore, we examine restrictions on visiting nursing homes given the high death toll in that setting. In our analysis, we zero in on the principles of foreseeability and proportionality, highlighting areas of concern and aspects that we submit should be considered in a proportionality assessment. Ultimately, we argue that it is a mistake to view the COVID-19 pandemic solely as an emergency. In this manner, the solutions suggested through the law - restrictions on movement and visitation bans - are too narrow and fail to address the underlying structures, such as, issues in the healthcare system, the limited home help for elderly and poor conditions in nursing homes.

Construction and Validation of Risk-adjusted Rates of Emergency Department Visits for Long-stay Nursing Home Residents.

BACKGROUND: Long-stay nursing home (NH) residents are at high risk of having emergency department (ED) visits, but current knowledge regarding risk-adjusted ED rates is limited. OBJECTIVES: To construct and validate 3 quarterly risk-adjusted rates of long-stay residents' ED use: any ED visit, ED visits without hospitalization or observation stay (outpatient ED), and potentially avoidable ED visits (PAED). RESEARCH DESIGN: The authors calculated quarterly NH risk-adjusted ED rates from 2011 Q2 to 2013 Q3 national Medicare claims and Minimum Data Set data. Using random-effect linear regressions, the authors validated these rates against Nursing Home Compare overall 5-star quality ratings and examined their associations with hospitalization rates to provide a quality context. SUBJECTS: Resident-quarter observations (7.3 million) from 15,235 unique NHs. RESULTS: Risk-adjusted rates of any ED, outpatient ED, and PAED averaged 9.7%, 3.4%, and 3.2%, respectively. Compared with NHs with 1 or 2 stars overall rating, NHs with ≥3 stars were significantly associated with lower rates of any ED visit, outpatient ED, and PAED (ß, -0.23%, -0.16%, and -0.11%, respectively; all P<0.01). Pearson Correlation coefficients between hospitalization rates and rates of any ED visit, outpatient ED, and PAED were 0.74, 0.31, and 0.46, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The moderately negative associations of 5-star ratings with ED rates provide supportive evidence to their validity. Outpatient ED and PAED were moderately correlated to hospitalizations suggesting they provided more information about quality than any ED.

Commentary: COVID in care homes-challenges and dilemmas in healthcare delivery.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected care home residents internationally, with 19-72% of COVID-19 deaths occurring in care homes. COVID-19 presents atypically in care home residents and up to 56% of residents may test positive whilst pre-symptomatic. In this article, we provide a commentary on challenges and dilemmas identified in the response to COVID-19 for care homes and their residents. We highlight the low sensitivity of polymerase chain reaction testing and the difficulties this poses for blanket screening and isolation of residents. We discuss quarantine of residents and the potential harms associated with this. Personal protective equipment supply for care homes during the pandemic has been suboptimal and we suggest that better integration of procurement and supply is required. Advance care planning has been challenged by the pandemic and there is a need to for healthcare staff to provide support to care homes with this. Finally, we discuss measures to implement augmented care in care homes, including treatment with oxygen and subcutaneous fluids, and the frameworks which will be required if these are to be sustainable. All of these challenges must be met by healthcare, social care and government agencies if care home residents and staff are to be physically and psychologically supported during this time of crisis for care homes.

The contribution of electronic health records to risk management through accreditation of residential aged care homes in Australia.

BACKGROUND: The Australian government has implemented a compulsory aged care accreditation system to guide and monitor the risk management approach in registered residential aged care (RAC) homes. This research assessed the contribution of electronic health records (EHR) to risk management in RAC homes in relation to the extent that aged care accreditation fulfils its role. METHODS: A convenience sample of 5560 aged care accreditation reports published from 2011 to 2018 was manually downloaded from the Accreditation Agency web site. A mixed-method approach of text data mining and manual content analysis was used to identify any significant differences in failure to meet accreditation outcomes among the RAC homes. This took account of whether EHR or paper records were used, year of accreditation, and size and location of the homes. RESULTS: It appears that aged care accreditation was focused on structure and process, with limited attention to outcome. There was a big variation between homes in their use of measurement indicators to assess accreditation outcomes. No difference was found in outcomes between RAC homes using EHR and those using paper records. Only 3% of the RAC homes were found to have failed some accreditation outcomes. Failure in monitoring mechanism was the key factor for failing many accreditation outcomes. The top five failed outcomes were Human Resource Management, Clinical Care, Information Systems, Medication Management and Behavioural Management. CONCLUSIONS: Sub-optimal outcomes have limited the effectiveness of accreditation in driving and monitoring risk management for care recipient safety in RAC homes. Although EHR is an important structure and process component for RAC services, it made a limited contribution to risk management for accreditation in Australian RAC homes. Either EHR was not effective, or the accreditation process was not robust enough to recognize its influence. Aged care accreditation in Australia needs to develop further outcome-based measures that are supported by robust data infrastructure and clear guidance.

Evaluation of quality improvement intervention with nurse training in nursing homes: A systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: Quality improvement may be a promising approach to improve the quality of care in nursing homes, and nurse training is a key step in a successful quality improvement practice. The implementation of training measures may be related to the quality of quality improvement practice. Little is known about the quality of quality improvement practice or effective nurse training measures that affect the quality of quality improvement interventions in nursing homes. AIMS: The aim of this review was to assess the quality of available quality improvement intervention designs and present effective nurse training measures that contribute to a high-quality quality improvement intervention. METHODS: We searched the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Library for articles published before March 2019. quality improvement intervention quality was evaluated using a standardised assessment tool. Descriptive synthesis was used for the analysis. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) Checklist was used for transparency. RESULTS: We included 12 articles, 1 was rated as perfect quality and 7 good quality. Out of these 8 studies, 3 features primarily reflected differences in quality: compliance, sustainability and replication ability of the interventions. They were affected by measures included provision of advanced training, available training resources, feedback process, building quality improvement teams, setting up mentors and nursing leadership training. Other recommended measures included external cooperation and leadership empowerment. CONCLUSION: A high-quality quality improvement intervention should consider how to improve compliance, sustainability and replication ability. Adapting measures that are compatible with nurse training may ensure a successful implementation of quality improvement programmes that are conducive to the effective improvement of service quality. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Quality improvement programmes should take into account measures that are compatible with nursing staff training. These measures should help improve the quality of interventions and promote care service of nursing homes.

Systematic critical realist review of interventions designed to improve end-of-life care in care homes.

The demand for high-quality end-of-life care is rising. Frequently evidenced concerns about the provision of end-of-life in care homes relate to inter-disciplinary communication and engagement in advance care planning. A number of interventions employing different mechanisms have been designed to address these issues. Therefore, the aim of this systematic critical realist review was to describe and explain the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve end-of-life care in care homes. Electronic searches were conducted in ScienceDirect, MEDLINE, PubMed, PsychINFO, and CINAHL from January 2000 to August 2018. Forty one studies were included in the review. While most of the evidence identified in this review was not strong, there was evidence to suggest that education and inter-professional collaboration can be effective intervention mechanisms for improving end-of-life care in care homes. High staff turnover was a significant contextual mechanism impacting on the sustainability of interventions. In terms of human agency, it is important to note a consistent finding related to the dedication and enthusiasm of care home staff who deliver end-of-life care.

Reducing pressure ulcers in care homes in Barnet: a quality improvement project.

Pressure ulcers are increasingly seen as an untoward event for patients. While there has been a strong focus on patients in the acute sector, community services have also had to be increasingly innovative in addressing this issue. Carers in care homes in the London borough of Barnet were identified as needing additional support to improve their knowledge and skills surrounding pressure ulcer prevention and treatment. An informal pilot training session showed that carers felt better equipped in terms of identifying new pressure ulcers and were able to escalate issues to district nurses in record time. Subsequently, there was a noticeable reduction in the reporting of pressure ulcers of categories 2 and above. In the present article, the authors describe the quality improvement project undertaken at Barnet care homes to prevent pressure ulcers.

The Distribution of Regulation in Aged and Dementia Care: A Continuum Approach.

The regulation of care services has become the principal means by which the state influences provision. In this article we examine the regulation of dementia care within organizations to show how some care activities attract more regulation than others. While often perceived to be overwhelming, regulation is in fact unevenly distributed at the system, organization and, in particular, the care practice levels. In practice, some areas of care are heavily regulated, while others are less so. Drawing on research interviews with staff (N = 60) at three levels of care provider organizations-senior managers, facility managers, and direct care workers-a continuum of regulation, with regulations collecting around some care activities and not others, is developed. This is used to plot how different care activities are affected by regulation. Understanding how regulations collect around some activities and not others shows where flexibility and innovation in care are possible. This has implications for the discretion care workers can exercise in daily care, effective organizational strategies for managing care and regulation, and regulatory policy. Current debates around regulation should shift from notions of good/bad and more/less regulation to an analysis of how regulation creates areas that are closely controlled and those that allow practice innovation.

COVID-19 and Long-Term Care Policy for Older People in Canada.

Older people are especially vulnerable to COVID-19, including and especially people living in long-term care facilities. In this Perspective, we discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on long-term care policy in Canada. More specifically, we use the example of recent developments in Quebec, where a tragedy in a specific facility is acting as a dramatic "focusing event". It draws attention to the problems facing long-term care facilities, considering existing policy legacies and the opening of a "policy window" that may facilitate comprehensive reforms in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We are Alone in This Battle": A Framework for a Coordinated Response to COVID-19 in Nursing Homes.

As of May 2020, nursing home residents account for a staggering one-third of the more than 80,000 deaths due to COVID-19 in the U.S. This pandemic has resulted in unprecedented threats to achieving and sustaining care quality even in the best nursing homes, requiring active engagement of nursing home leaders in developing solutions responsive to the unprecedented threats to quality standards of care delivery during the pandemic. This perspective offers a framework, designed with the input of nursing home leaders, to facilitate internal and external decision-making and collective action to address these threats. Policy options focus on assuring a shared understanding among nursing home leaders and government agencies of changes in the operational status of nursing homes throughout the crisis, improving access to additional essential resources needed to mitigate the crisis' impact, and promoting shared accountability for consistently achieving accepted standards in core quality domains.

A cross-sectional study exploring the relationship between regulator quality ratings and care home residents' quality of life in England.

BACKGROUND: The quality of life of people receiving health and social care is an important indicator of service quality, but the relationship between patient experience and outcomes and regulator quality ratings in England is unknown. In 2013, the health and social care regulator in England, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), introduced a new ratings system and by February 2017, all social care services were inspected and awarded new quality ratings (outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate). This study aimed to explore whether quality ratings were associated with residents' quality of life, controlling for confounding variables. METHODS: We conducted a nested, cross-sectional study, collecting social care-related quality of life (SCRQoL) data for 293 older care home residents in 34 care homes (20 nursing and 14 residential) in the South East of England. CQC ratings and other resident and home-level variables were also collected for the analysis. Multilevel modelling explored whether residents' social care-related quality of life (SCRQoL) was associated with regulator ratings, controlling for confounding variables. RESULTS: Outstanding and good homes were collapsed into one category and compared with homes requiring improvement. Nationally, only 2 % of care homes for older people are rated as inadequate and it was not possible to capture sufficient numbers for the analysis. We recruited one but it was re-inspected during the fieldwork period and its rating changed to requires improvement. The random intercept multilevel model, which accounted for 16.93% of the differences in SCRQoL within homes and 69.80% between, indicated that better SCRQoL was significantly associated with being female, better functioning, no dementia diagnosis, fewer communication difficulties, and living in a care home rated as outstanding/good by CQC. Size of home and registration category were not significant predictors. CONCLUSIONS: This study found evidence that quality ratings are associated with residents' SCRQoL. As well as aiming to improve quality and ensure minimum standards, quality ratings have the potential to inform user choice and help the public compare care homes based on quality. Future research to establish the generalisability and replicability of the results is required.

Prognostic Models Associated with 6-Month Survival of Patients Admitted to Nursing Homes.

BACKGROUND: Health status and the needs presented by people admitted to nursing homes make it necessary to contemplate aspects such as prognosis to offer quality palliative care. OBJECTIVE: To compare the prognostic utility in nursing homes of two prognostic models of 6-month survival based on the Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI) or Palliative Performance Status (PPS) instruments and palliative needs indicators. METHODS: A longitudinal prospective observational and analytical cohort study of survival and prognostic models in 88 patients with palliative needs (assessed by the NECPAL-ICO-CCOMS©) from an Andalusian (Spain) nursing home was performed. Sociodemographic and clinical variables were assessed, and 6 months later, in September 2017, survival was checked. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed using the R-Commander program (version 3.2.2). RESULTS: Two models of the logistic regression analysis met the fit criteria. The two models combined the Surprise Question, the presence of persistent symptoms, and the clinical indicators of severity from the NECPAL tool, in addition to the Charlson Comorbidity Index, and varied only in terms of the latter variable, including the PPI in the first model and the PPS in the second. In the first model, significant associations were identified between 6-month survival and the persistent symptoms variable (OR = 7.78, p = 0.025, 95% CI = 1.45-60.92) and PPI (OR = 1.94, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 1.21). In the second model, 6-month survival was also significantly associated with the persistent symptoms variable (OR = 4.57, p = 0.045, 95% CI = 1.07-22.41) and the PPS (OR = 0.93, p = 0.001, 95% CI = 0.88-0.96). CONCLUSIONS: Prognostic models such as ours that include variables commonly included in clinical assessments can help nursing home professionals prioritize and ensure adequate mobilization of palliative care resources, which are very limited in these institutions.