Nursing home residents are often vulnerable to health care-associated infections that can significantly increase morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately, not must is known about common practices that can prevent these kinds of infections in this setting. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) mandates that all skilled nursing facilities have…
As the older adult population and cost of health care continues to rise worldwide, the focus of health care policy has been redrawn on health promotion and disability prevention among elderly people. When older adults begin experiencing age-related physiological decline, such as slower gait speed, they tend to compensate well…
As older adults continue to age, they become more vulnerable not only to diseases and disability, but also to cognitive frailty. Cognitive frailty is defined as the simultaneous development of physical frailty and cognitive impairment. An older adult who experiences late-life depression can be susceptible to both physical frailty and cognitive…
As the older population in the United States continues to grow, an increasing number of older adults are receiving long-term services and supports (LTSS) in their communities, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes. One of the greatest concerns regarding LTSS is the quality of services provided to this vulnerable population.…
Although dementia is prevalent among the older adult population, a recent study has found that singing or listening to music can be beneficial to older adults with this cognitive disease. Many older adults that live in assisted living facilities and nursing homes suffer from dementia. The illness not only affects…
Obesity is becoming an increasing problem for the older adult population, and that includes residents in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. These care facilities are having more and more difficulty caring for this new group of severely obese patients. According to a recent article published in The New York…
Older adults in nursing homes and assisted living facilities are now vulnerable to a new kind of abuse—abusive photos on social media. ProPublica recently reported 35 cases since 2012 in which staff members of these care facilities secretively posted pictures or videos of residents, some of whom were without clothing.…
It is well known that maintaining a physically active lifestyle is beneficial to health, but new research shows a further advantage—older adults who walk or jog more often perform better on memory tasks than their sedentary counterparts. The study, published in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, implied that…
Video game players can all rejoice—new research has shown that playing 3D video games can enhance memory, possibly offering a new way to maintain mental functioning as we age. Previous studies claimed that video games encourage a sedentary lifestyle, while violent video games have been associated with aggressive behavior and…
A recent study published in Neurology has shown that walking speed of older adults can be indicative of their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers hypothesized that slow walking speed may be associated with plaque buildup in the brain, even if an older adult does not show external symptoms…