California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

Beware of Nursing Home Facilities that Advertize False Claims Regarding their Care

July 17, 2015 | by Yeroushalmi Law

60% of Massachusetts nursing homes have been found to advertise misleading statements about their services. A review by the Alzheimer’s Association of Massachusetts and New Hampshire has reported that these nursing homes have claimed that they can meet the care needs of dementia patients when, in fact, this cannot be further from the truth. Inspections proved that more than 100 of these facilities did not meet state requirements.

Long-Term Care Facilities Should Incorporate a Protein-Rich Diet and Physical Activity For Frail Residents

July 16, 2015 | by Yeroushalmi Law

It is well known that physical frailty is highly prevalent among older adults. A recent study has shown that people with early frailty and decrease in muscle mass can enhance both muscle mass and chair-stand time over a duration of 13 weeks. Improvements in handgrip strength and gait speed were also shown. These findings support the research reports that nutritional support, either by itself, or in combination with exercise, can greatly influence the improvement of muscle function in frail older adults.

Nursing Homes Should Encourage Their Residents to Stay Active

July 14, 2015 | by Yeroushalmi Law

It is well-known that living an active lifestyle is beneficial to one’s overall health and well being. Unfortunately, inactivity among nursing home residents is prevalent and has shown to be especially deleterious for frail individuals. A risk factor for sedentary behavior in nursing home residents is a decline in physical fitness, which includes muscle strength, balance, and physical performance. Deterioration of physical fitness negatively effects the care dependency of older adults, which influences the workload of nursing staff. Research has shown that even in healthy older adults, 10 days of bed rest leads to an extreme decline on muscle function and aerobic capacity, and results in an overall reduction of physical activity. Long-term care facilities should implement exercise interventions that have shown to be successful in producing positive results. Physical activity does not need to be vigorous in order to produce beneficial results. Participation in daily activities already helps to maintain physical functioning and influences higher quality of life.

Nursing Homes Should Provide More Palliative Focused Care for their Residents

July 13, 2015 | by Yeroushalmi Law

In 2012, skilled nursing facility (SNF) care accounted for $26.8 billion of health care spending. SNFs are intended to provide a setting for stabilized transitions for older adults. However, research shows that between a quarter and half of Medicare recipients are readmitted from SNF rehabilitation back to the hospital within 30 days, amounting to $4.34 billion in expenses in 2006. These patients are often in poor health and well-being, with 1 in 11 elders dying while enrolled in SNF care. Although there is a great need, palliative care is not adequately used in SNFs.

Assisted Living Facilities Must Identify Preventable Causes for Hospitalization for Residents with Dementia

July 7, 2015 | by Yeroushalmi Law

The prevalence of older adults with dementia disorders is rising and presents significant difficulties to care providers and policy makers aiming to ensure cost-effective, high quality care for those that are aging. Assisted living facilities (ALFs) are increasingly admitting older adults with dementia, and who often have significant comorbidity. Currently, between 40% and 60% of residents in ALFs across the United States have been diagnosed with dementia. The rapid growth of ALFs over the past few years reflects the more affordable cost of this residential option compared to long-term (i.e. nursing home) care (LTC), as well as individual preferences for more comfortable, home-like environments.

Legal Action Filed Against National Nursing Home Chain that Abuses Residents

July 6, 2015 | by Yeroushalmi Law

Far too many nursing homes fail to keep their promise to provide quality care for their residents. With 300 Golden Living Centers nationwide, Golden Gate National Senior Care LLC is one such nursing home company that has failed to provide basic services to their vulnerable, older adult residents. Last Wednesday, authorities in Pennsylvania filed a legal action against the company, saying that Golden Living Center residents were left in soiled diapers for unacceptably long periods of time, were at high risk for bedsores, and were not bathed routinely. Residents were also not escorted to meals as required, often missing meals entirely, and staff have been proven to falsify records.

Residential Aged Care Facilities Should Identify Modifiable Markers to Mitigate the Need for Transfer to Hospital

July 1, 2015 | by Yeroushalmi Law

The number of frail, older adults who require care in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) is growing. Cognitive and functional impairment, as well as significant medical comorbidity, is common among this population and are, thus, vulnerable to sharp declines in health.

Gaining a Deeper Understanding about Nursing Home Residents’ Decision Making Abilities Can Improve Their Quality of Life

June 30, 2015 | by Yeroushalmi Law

Not only is it important for residents in long-term care facilities to have the power to make their own decisions in daily living for their well-being, the ethical and legal protection of their autonomy to make these decisions is imperative. Many nursing home residents’ ability to make their own decisions is impaired due to cognitive decline. A recent study identified potential markets of impaired decision making by exploring the link between a variety of nursing home resident characteristics (including gender, age, race, mood, falls, injuries, hospitalizations, duration of stay, number of activities of daily living (ADL) requiring assistance, and diagnoses of dementia, anxiety disorders, and depression) and impaired (vs independent) decision making.
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Nursing Homes Must Be Proactive in Helping Frail Residents Reach Optimal Physical and Nutritional Status

June 29, 2015 | by Yeroushalmi Law

Physical frailty is prevalent among older adults living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, as well as in the community. It is a medical syndrome with a variety of causes and contributors that is characterized by a decrease in strength, endurance, and weakened physiologic function that enhances a person’s vulnerability for needing increased dependency. Frailty has been associated with health-related detrimental events like mortality, disability in necessary activities of daily living (ADLs), and mobility disability, hospitalization, institutionalization, and falls in community-dwelling older adults. Unfortunately, there have not been many studies that have analyzed the commonality of frailty in institutionalized older adults and few interventions have focused on this vulnerable population.
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Tools Long-Term Care Facilities Can Use When Caring for Dementia Patients

June 11, 2015 | by Yeroushalmi Law

Dementia is prevalent among older adults and requires expert care and decision making that draws from sound evidence. Evidence-based practice (EBP) is strongly established in health care and aims to ensure the best outcomes by implementing what is shown to be effective from research in clinical practice and service delivery. Although there are issues regarding the interpretation and application of EBP, there seems to be a consensus about the importance of identifying and assessing the evidence for its significance for care provision.
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