Understanding Implicit and Explicit Bias: A Journey Toward Self-Discovery
“Of all forms of inequity, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhuman.” -Martin Luther King, Jr., National Convention of the Medical Committee for Human Rights, Chicago, 1966 (Source: Caring for the Ages)
Source: Caring for the Ages - December 28, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Linda J. Keilman Tags: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Source Type: news
Keep Calm and Carry On: Managing Residents ’ Anxiety While Managing Our Own
Anxiety in post-acute and long-term care is experienced by residents and staff alike. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, research has reported evidence of a nationwide surge in anxiety ( “Stress in America 2023: A Nation Grappling With Psychological Impacts of Collective Trauma,” American Psychological Association, Nov. 1, 2023, https://bit.ly/40HTQs8) as well as an uptick among residents and staff in PALTC (J Am Med Dir Assoc 2023;24:862–867.e1; Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2021; 37:10.1002/gps.5648). But when a resident’s anxiety brushes up against our own anxiety and stress, what are we to do? (Source: Caring for the Ages)
Source: Caring for the Ages - December 28, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Lisa Lind Tags: Behavioral Health Source Type: news
Society President ’s Reflections on 2023 Accomplishments
I am excited to share an update with Caring for the Ages readers on the work that the board of AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine has been doing over the past six months. In addition to speaking at state/regional chapter meetings and visiting our representatives on Capitol Hill, we have been busy engaging in new strategic initiatives that will secure the future of our medical society and the members we serve. (Source: Caring for the Ages)
Source: Caring for the Ages - December 28, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Milta Oyola Little Source Type: news
Holding on at the End: How One Patient Needed Closure to Pass On
As providers in long-term care, we often face challenges at the end of a patient ’s life. These challenges include medical care and also psychosocial assessments that can help the team determine what the patient needs. Some needs can be harder to figure out, including the need for closure before death. The following case study offers an example of one woman’s need and how it came to be fulfilled. (Source: Caring for the Ages)
Source: Caring for the Ages - December 28, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Fatima A. Naqvi Source Type: news
JAMDA Update on Journal Editors and Activities
As of January 2023, we have assumed the roles of coeditors in chief of the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. We follow in the footsteps of Sheryl Zimmerman, PhD, and Philip Sloane, MD, CMD, who did an amazing job through the challenging years of COVID-19. Under their leadership, the journal impact factor impressively increased up to 7.802, and the journal ranks eighth out of 54 journals with a focus on geriatrics and gerontology. Our goal is to continue with their philosophy and have JAMDA ’s impact translate to real-world clinical application and ongoing innovations in post-acute and long-term care....
Source: Caring for the Ages - December 28, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Barbara Resnick, Paul Katz Source Type: news
The Last Patient of the Day
Fourteen years ago this month, my first “Meditations on Geriatric Medicine” column appeared in Caring for the Ages (January 2010). It was titled, “The Power of Story,” and I wrote then that the personal stories to which we are all privy as we go about our professional lives as caregivers contain within them the opportunity for per sonal growth. Nowadays, this process of viewing the caregiver–patient relationship through the lens of storytelling is its own medical subspecialty, narrative medicine. (Source: Caring for the Ages)
Source: Caring for the Ages - December 28, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Jerald Winakur Tags: Meditations on Geriatric Medicine Source Type: news
Practice Group Network: From Expert Insights to Street Smarts and Beyond
Managing the business aspects of a post-acute and long-term care practice isn ’t something that is taught in schools, and it doesn’t come with an instruction manual. AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine’s Practice Group Network (PGN) fills the gaps in knowledge and information and helps practice groups survive and thrive in an ever-changing wo rld of changing payment models, staffing challenges, stringent regulations, razor-thin profit margins, a growing aging population, and increasing patient acuity. (Source: Caring for the Ages)
Source: Caring for the Ages - December 28, 2023 Category: Health Management Tags: News from the Society Source Type: news
Using the 5Ms Framework to Optimize Hospital-to-SNF Care Transitions
All training programs for both undergraduate and graduate medical education include rich exposure to the hospital and clinic environments. The level of exposure to community-based care settings such as skilled nursing facilities is much more variable, potentially leading to gaps in knowledge related to the dynamics of transitional care in these settings. Moreover, about 20% of hospital stays end with a discharge to a SNF, which means that medical students, residents, fellows, and attending physicians may be routinely discharging patients to a health care setting where they themselves have never practiced (J Am Med Dir Asso...
Source: Caring for the Ages - October 31, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Shauna Assadzandi, Benjamin Canter, Aval Na-Ree S. Green Tags: Transitions of Care Source Type: news
Building a Stronger Direct Care Workforce: The Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition Is Taking Action Now
In our recent conversations with nursing home residents, we frequently hear about the challenges of short staffing. “There aren’t enough,” one resident said about certified nurse assistants (CNAs). Another resident said that in the face of low and often changing staffing, “You feel alone with your problems.” (Source: Caring for the Ages)
Source: Caring for the Ages - October 31, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Alice Bonner, Isaac Longobardi Source Type: news
National POLST Collaborative Evolves
POLST, known as Portable Medical Orders, has been a tool to help patients receive goal-concordant care for about 30 years since its development in Oregon (then called “Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment”). POLST calls for a quality, shared decision-making conversation between patients, loved ones, and their medical providers that results in a portable medical order set that will follow the patient across care settings. The POLST process “emphasi zes eliciting, documenting and honoring patients’ preferences about the treatments they want to choose or decline during a medical emergency or as their health ...
Source: Caring for the Ages - October 31, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Kim Callanan Tags: Partner Perspective Source Type: news
Unpacking Geographic Health Disparities
Dear Dr. Diane: In my role as a clinical manager, I cover a large territory that includes PALTC facilities in rural and suburban areas. I notice that there are many residents with chronic conditions in my rural facilities, and I think that the disparities we see are mostly secondary to where residents are residing. Is geography the biggest disparity? And how should I be tackling health care disparities overall? (Source: Caring for the Ages)
Source: Caring for the Ages - October 31, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Diane Sanders-Cepeda Tags: Dear Dr. Diane Source Type: news
As Assisted Living Evolves, Medical Directors Can Have a Positive Impact
Assisted living (AL) is the largest provider of long-term care in the United States, recently overtaking nursing homes in providing custodial care. The glaring difference between these levels of care is the degree of consistency and the amount of regulation over the care provided. Nursing homes across the country have a stringent set of guidelines they must follow in order to be eligible to receive compensation from the Centers for Medicaid& Medicare Services. The AL industry is much different. (Source: Caring for the Ages)
Source: Caring for the Ages - October 31, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Sarah Howd Source Type: news
Technology Takes on Diabetes With Continuous Glucose Monitors
As with so many areas of health care, technology is changing the face of diabetes management. Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices automatically track blood glucose levels throughout the day and night, then transfer this information to a cell phone or dedicated reader. This information can help the care team make more appropriate, informed decisions about care as well as prevent negative outcomes such as hypoglycemia. (Source: Caring for the Ages)
Source: Caring for the Ages - October 31, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Joanne Kaldy Source Type: news
Diabetes Clinical Practice Guideline Highlights Simplification, Deintensification of Treatment
An updated diabetes clinical practice guideline (CPG) from AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine is in the works, and it will reflect the changes in standards of care for diabetes since the 2016 version of the document. “While 2016 wasn’t that long ago, it seems like decades ago when you look at the evolution of diabetes management. There have been many new innovations in treatment we didn’t have before,” said Ed Davidson, PharmD, MPH, a member of the committee working on the CPG update. (Source: Caring for the Ages)
Source: Caring for the Ages - October 31, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Joanne Kaldy Source Type: news
This Won ’t Hurt a Bit: Keeping Pace With Updated Vaccine Guidance
Moving into the winter, it ’s the perfect time to take a fresh look at vaccine guidance for older adults and post-acute and long-term care facility staff. “Clinicians need to stay current on available vaccines and updates on guidance and schedules,” said Stephen Creasy, PharmD, director of clinical services at PharMeric a. Jeanne Manzi, PharmD, BCGP, FASCP, director of LTC clinical services at Managed Health Care Associates, added, “Patients and their families need to be educated about vaccines. No vaccine is 100% effective; but if someone is vaccinated against a particular disease, the illness should be milder, an...
Source: Caring for the Ages - October 31, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Joanne Kaldy Source Type: news
