California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

Nursing Homes Must Implement Infection Control and Prevention Programs

January 4, 2016 | by Law Offices of Ben Yeroushalmi

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 an infection prevention and control (IPC) program. However, about 38% of nursing homes in the United States receive a citation for deficiency regarding infection control every year.

Trunk Posture Correction Interventions Can Prevent Further Gait Speed Decline in Older Adults

December 31, 2015 | by Law Offices of Ben Yeroushalmi

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 by relying on environmental modification and posture adaptation.

Long-Term Care Staff Must be Aware of Patients Who Are Susceptible to Cognitive Frailty

December 30, 2015 | by Law Offices of Ben Yeroushalmi

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 impairment, especially speed of processing and executive functioning.

Nursing Home and Assisted Living Staff Must Provide Patients Quality Care

December 29, 2015 | by Law Offices of Ben Yeroushalmi

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. Due to the fact that quality of life tends to decline with age, it is important that these services work to maintain or improve older adults’ quality of life as efficiently as possible. A recent study was conducted in hopes of advancing knowledge about changes in various dimensions of quality of life pertaining to health among older adults using long-term services and supports across the different care settings.
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Music and Singing Can Benefit Patients with Dementia

December 28, 2015 | by Law Offices of Ben Yeroushalmi

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 cognitive abilities, but also mood and behavior. According to a new study conducted at the University of Helsinki, Finland and published In the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, the use of music can improve dementia care for patients in different stages of the disease.

The Rising Problem of Obese Patients in Nursing Homes

December 28, 2015 | by Law Offices of Ben Yeroushalmi

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 Times, the number of obese older adults becoming nursing home residents is growing faster than the ability of nursing homes to handle them. “We don’t have adequate staff. We don’t have adequate equipment. We don’t have adequate knowledge,” says Cheryl Phillips, senior vice president of LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit sponsors of services for elderly people.

Patient Privacy Threatened by Nursing Home Workers Posting Explicit Photos on Social Media

December 26, 2015 | by Law Offices of Ben Yeroushalmi

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. These photos are not only embarrassing and dehumanizing for these older adult victims, they are breaching their privacy, stripping them of their dignity, and, even, breaking the law.

Older Adults Can Improve Memory Simply by Taking More Steps

December 23, 2015 | by Law Offices of Ben Yeroushalmi

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 physical activity could prevent age-related memory decline and neurodegenerative dementias like Alzheimer’s disease.

Playing 3D Games Can Boost Memory Function in Older Adults

December 22, 2015 | by Law Offices of Ben Yeroushalmi

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 diminished self-control. However, many recent studies have shown that video games may have some health benefits. A study published by Medical News Today earlier this year reported that Tetris could decrease cravings, while other studies showed that story-based video games could benefit people with autism. Now, a study conducted at the University of California-Irvine (UCI) shows that video games could benefit people with dementia or other cognitive conditions related to memory, enhancing memory performance by as much as 12%.

New Research Shows Association Between Walking Speed and Risk of Alzheimer’s disease

December 21, 2015 | by Law Offices of Ben Yeroushalmi

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 of Alzheimer’s disease.