Secrets to satisfied family members that providers should know
By
Allan S. Vann, Ed.D
Jul 16, 2014
One of the clearest lessons I’ve learned while being her advocate is that administrators who want to establish and maintain positive relationships with family caregivers of dementia residents must...
Dehydration: Therapy should help fight it
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Jul 15, 2014
The elderly are very vulnerable to dehydration and more than just the nursing staff have to be concerned about it. Not keeping an eye on appropriate hydration can cause a variety of serious problems.
Expanding horizons to include telemedicine in skilled nursing facilities
By
Viktoriya Friedman, MSPT
Jul 11, 2014
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, the author described how hospitals are using interactive video to give patients more access to medical care. So why not nursing homes?
The perfect picnic takes planning — please
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Jul 01, 2014
Happy Independence Day! This is such a pivotal period in everyone’s summer plans, and what a great time for weddings, family reunions and/or the perfect simple picnic. That goes for our frail seniors,...
The gems before you
By
Martie Moore
Jun 25, 2014
When I was a student nurse, I had a professor who said, “You will never know what gem is before you, unless you are willing to open your eyes and your heart.” Being young and excited about...
Leading from the heart
By
John P. Rauls
Jun 23, 2014
As a Methodist minister in the 1950s, my grandfather, along with my grandmother Rauls, set out on a mission to help retirees find housing plus healthcare under one roof. During that time period right in...
Tai chi: a trend worth pursuing?
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Jun 19, 2014
I was recently watching one of the news channels and they talked about a study that was conducted that showed that men who performed tai chi exercises lived longer. While I’m not a male, sign me...
Top 10 best practices for social media in LTC
By
Angie C. Davis and Steven W. Fulgham
Jun 04, 2014
Like it or not, social media is now seen as activity of daily living for your residents and employees. More than 55 million photos a day are uploaded to Instagram and shared.[1] If you thought Facebook...
Pay for performance, medical necessity and Jimmo
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Jun 04, 2014
Why would anyone mention value-based reimbursement, medical necessity and the Jimmo lawsuit in the same sentence? I feel they are all related, but it will be difficult to find the perfect balancing act...
Multistate corporations, listen up!
By
Steven Littlehale
May 30, 2014
It is not a numbers game. Well, I guess it kind of is. Let’s face it: It is now common practice to monitor your facilities’ Five Star ratings.