Infection control experts throw support behind healthcare vaccine mandates
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 01, 2021
Voluntary vaccination policies are not a sure path to herd immunity in healthcare facilities, APIC says. The infection control advocate has endorsed vaccine mandates as a condition of employment.
Safety means ‘seeing the virus’: Atria recounts rollout of 18,000 tests early in pandemic
By
Alicia Lasek
Jun 09, 2021
Finding a way to conduct COVID-19 testing among 31,000 residents and staff members across multiple states helped the senior living giant to “seal out” outbreaks and show that its communities were safe...
Docs push for new COVID-19 funding as signs point to rebound in U.S. omicron cases
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 17, 2022
The alternative is to risk leaving patients without access to needed vaccines, treatments and testing, the American College of Physicians has told Congress.
Seniors’ misconceptions about advanced cancer may reduce use of hospice services: study
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 02, 2022
Older adults with advanced cancer often misjudge the time they have left to live. This may increase their chances for unnecessary hospitalization and likelihood to neglect hospice care, investigators say.
Intervention clears short-stay residents’ rooms of multi-drug resistant organisms
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 23, 2021
A trial in six Michigan nursing homes that included chlorhexidine bathing significantly reduced the prevalence of drug-resistant organisms in the residents’ rooms when compared with control nursing homes,...
Ten-year stroke mortality higher among Black Medicare recipients
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 22, 2021
A notable disparity in long-term death rates after ischemic stroke suggests that clinicians may need to take a closer look at the post-stroke recovery period — especially during the first year, researchers...
High optimism levels tied to ‘exceptional longevity’
By
Alicia Lasek (f3)
Jun 10, 2022
Optimism appears to promote good health and long lifespans across diverse racial and ethnic groups, according to a large study using data from the Women’s Health Initiative.
Harms of overdiagnosis outweigh benefits of mammography after age 75: study
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 24, 2021
Overdiagnosis and overtreatment after late-life screenings may harm more older women than are helped — especially those with multiple comorbidities, investigators say.
Physical, occupational therapy tied to better resident outcomes across all PALTC settings
By
Alicia Lasek
Apr 07, 2021
Most patients in post-acute care settings reap functional benefits and see reduced rehospitalization from physical therapy and occupational therapy, finds a new study across 1.4 million Medicare beneficiaries.
Antibiotics use spiked in nursing homes early in pandemic, studies find
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 16, 2021
Nursing homes saw a big jump in certain antibiotic prescriptions early in the pandemic, and more than half of hospitalized COVID-19 patients received antibiotics in the first six months, researchers say.