Feds scramble to boost availability of COVID-19 tests
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 15, 2020
The House has passed a bill that includes Medicare waivers to allow free testing for all, while the White House has funded fast-track test development.
California nursing home visitors must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 12, 2021
The state is requiring that all indoor visitors to skilled nursing facilities and other healthcare settings prove full vaccination or negative SARS-CoV-2 test results. Facility operators must have a plan...
Music intervention rejuvenates certain regions of the older brain: study
By
Alicia Lasek
Apr 24, 2023
Listening to music and playing a musical instrument may help to avert brain aging in the areas related to these actions, researchers in Switzerland and Germany have found.
Q&A: Clinical best practices when gauging residents’ end-of-life preferences — a POLST expert weighs...
By
Alicia Lasek
Apr 29, 2021
There’s a clear need to improve the quality of Physician’s Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment, or POLST, in nursing homes, says Susan E. Hickman, Ph.D. An expert on the subject, she spoke with...
All nursing home staff in Massachusetts must get COVID-19 shots
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 05, 2021
The state is requiring staff and contract employees in all of its 378 facilities to receive a vaccination, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Wednesday.
Nursing home residents consume too many inflammation-causing foods, study finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 30, 2023
There is room for improvement in the diets of nursing home residents who consume a high proportion of foods linked to inflammation, according to a new study of data across 32 nursing homes.
Small building proponents embrace Biden’s nursing home overhaul plan
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 07, 2022
The proposed phase-out of multiple-occupancy rooms is crucial to helping prevent uncontrolled infectious disease outbreaks, the Green House Project says.
Feds uncover coronavirus’s heavy toll on assisted living
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 20, 2020
As of Oct. 15, 22% of assisted living communities in 39 states reported cases of COVID-19 among residents and staff members. Rates ranged widely, from 1.3% of communities in Iowa to 93% of Connecticut...
LTC docs urge peers to rapidly increase use of COVID-19 antibody drugs
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 03, 2021
Industry geriatricians have compiled resources for their LTC peers who have not yet come on board with monoclonal antibody treatments. Resident immunity to COVID-19 is declining, and mAbs may prevent hospital...
Clinical briefs for Friday, Jan. 13
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 13, 2023
COVID-19 pneumonia requires longer ventilation, but outcomes similar to other pneumonias … Six daily minutes of intense exercise vs. fasting could delay dementia onset: study … Protein may be biomarker...