Resident care

How do they sleep at night?

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Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: How do they sleep at night? Perhaps you’ve heard about the administrator who spent a week as a resident in his long-term care facility. After being roused from sleep daily to receive medications that could have been dispensed later in the day, he banned his physicians … Read more

Disaster communication: A tale of two mothers-in-law

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Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Disaster communication: A tale of two mothers-in-law Both of my mothers-in-law live in long-term care communities in Florida. (I’ll keep the backstory about having two MILs a mystery.) One MIL lives in a place that was excellent about how they communicated with family members before, during … Read more

Calming fears of floods and other catastrophes

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Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Calming fears of floods and other catastrophes By now it’s likely that you, your staff, the residents and their families have seen the incredibly disturbing photo of assisted living residents in Dickinson, TX, sitting in waist-high floodwaters. Thankfully, all the older women in the picture have … Read more

Falls: A closer look

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Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News:   Falls: A closer look Part of my job as a geropsychologist is to conduct reviews of falls with my patients after they occur. Through discussion with the resident, I analyze what happened and assess how they’re doing after what can be a traumatic event. Together, … Read more

Why (culture) change is so hard and what to do about it

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Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Why (culture) change is so hard and what to do about it The team huddled around the nursing station talking in panicked whispers after the management meeting ended. “How do they expect us to do that?” a young nurse wondered. “Yeah,” an aide replied, “we’re stretched … Read more

The “last day” protocol

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Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: The “last day” protocol I waited outside the room until the rehab therapists finished talking to Jim, who’d been admitted to the nursing home the night before. I read over the basic info on his face sheet before my consult. Jim was an 87-year old widower … Read more

Suicide prevention in older adults

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Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Suicide prevention in older adults In preparing for a webinar on suicide prevention, I came across startling statistics about suicide rates among older adults. Despite the concern we often hear about teen suicide, the rate for elders is even higher. While older adults make up 12% … Read more

‘Healthwear’ and other culture changes

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Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: ‘Healthwear’ and other culture changes My mother has a knack for taking something awkward and, as she puts it, “turning it into a feature.” For example, the previous owners of our family home placed the living room couch in front of a protruding radiator so that … Read more

NYTimes: Fashion’s Newest Frontier: The Disabled and the Displaced

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In Fashion’s Newest Frontier: The Disabled and the Displaced, author Vanessa Friedman writes about clothing for people with disabilities, referred to as “healthwear.” Among the items now available are Magnaready‘s clothes with magnetic closures rather than difficult-to-manage buttons, and shirts by Care + Wear designed for people with medical ports so that they can stay … Read more

Super-utilizers: LTC has them too

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Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Super-utilizers: LTC has them too I was flying home after visiting some family elders last week (a story itself perhaps for another time) when I happened upon a Kaiser Health News article about “super-utilizers” of emergency room services. Research on Medi-Cal, California’s state health insurance for … Read more