When I first spoke with Music & Memory founder Dan Cohen last year, he had big plans for his new program that would put iPods with personalized playlists in Alzheimer’s and other dementia patients’...
A band for every nursing home
By
Mary Gustafson
Jul 19, 2012
Nursing home residents — especially long-term residents — deserve to have the best entertainment that money can buy. Gary Gamponia, the director of the Los Angeles-based Pay It Forward jazz band, has...
The Main Thing
By
Gary Tetz
Jul 18, 2012
How do we handle the growing numbers of things we’re already supposed to know, i.e. electronic health records, MDS 3.0, etc., and the even larger number of things we don’t know yet that we...
It’s no time for providers to stick their heads in the sand
By
James M. Berklan
Jul 11, 2012
Some things I believe and some things I know. And I believe I know there is nothing more important for long-term care providers to do than getting better prepared for an intensified push to decrease rehospitalization...
The family secrets that hold back long-term care
By
John O'Connor
May 21, 2012
Several years ago I called some industry experts with a simple request. I asked if there was a place where I could find some basic benchmarks about industry spending. Didn’t think I was looking for...
A Father’s Day gift — from a father
By
James M. Berklan
May 16, 2012
Now that Mother’s Day has passed, it’s on to the next best thing, Father’s Day. This year, one long-term care professional has created an extra special twist to it, even though it’s...
Successfully decreasing antipsychotics use
By
Elizabeth Newman
May 01, 2012
If you’re wondering if anyone outside the profession is paying attention to the antipsychotics-use debate in long-term care, allow me to direct your attention to Boston.
‘Alive Inside’ a viral video
By
Mary Gustafson
Apr 19, 2012
Last week, a funny thing happened: For once, I was not the first person I know to post a nursing home-related story to my Facebook page.
A call for more chocolate: Will it ease swallowing problems?
By
By Faerella Boczko, MS, CCC-SLP, BRS-S and Siobhan McKeon, MS, CCC-SLP
Apr 03, 2012
What affect would the addition of chocolate have for seniors with difficulty swallowing? That’s what we set out to learn.
Stop the ‘siloed’ policy making for skilled nursing
By
Alan G. Rosenbloom
Mar 21, 2012
Last week, three reports issued by three separate government agencies made incongruent recommendations — or no recommendations at all — related to skilled nursing facility (SNF) patient care and policy....