Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its action plan for nursing home improvement. CMS is responsible for establishing standards for national nursing home care by developing the standards, inspecting homes, and collaborating with other organizations to help ensure standards are met. The CMS action plan lays out the 2008 goals and milestones for improving nursing home standards including plans on improving treatment and management of bedsores and pressure ulcers, ways to improve feeding by using dedicated feeding aides, and other means of improving nursing home care.

Read the full action plan here.

The Centers Medicare and Medicaid Services Nursing Home Compare website has added a new section that allows viewers to see information on nursing homes and identify homes that have drawn increased federal scrutiny for complaints and other forms of nursing home abuse and neglect. The website includes a listing of Special Focus Facilities which are nursing homes that receive increased federal inspection as a result of past poor performance. Notably, five Illinois nursing homes made the list. Embassy Health Care Center in Wilmington, IL and Harrisburg Care Center of Harrisburg, IL are both on the “not improved” list. Facilities that have shown improvement include Alden Park Strathmoor in Rockford, Berkshire Nursing & Rehab in Forest Park, and International Village in Chicago.

See here for the report and view the website here.

After Illinois experienced an earthquake today, it is important to know what nursing homes should do in the event of an earthquake to ensure resident safety and prevent nursing home injuries. The Central United States Earthquake Consortium has a useful publication on nursing homes and earthquakes. Luckily, nursing homes tend to have fewer structural obstacles than hospitals. However, it is not unlikely that a nursing home in Illinois has not prepared an earthquake plan. Nursing homes should be sure to secure nonstructural items like bookshelves, pianos, and large room dividers that could shift during an earthquake and cause nursing home resident injuries.

For more, click here.

Lisa Nerenberg, who has been involved in the field of elder abuse prevention since 1983, publishes a blog with posts concerning financial exploitation, identity theft, cognitive impairment and undue influence, care giving issues and cultural and gender issues. A recent post, "Geriatricians, Angry and Otherwise," is a provocative commentary which highlights useful and interesting readings. The readings cover a wide range of topics, including, "the social and economic factors that contribute to elder abuse, including ageism in healthcare, inadequate pensions, and poverty," and a surgeon's description of the field of geriatrics. In addition, Nerenberg includes interesting references to global trends in elder abuse.

Click here to read Lisa Nerenberg's blog

"Who Moved My Dentures? Musings on Aging" is a new blog that has proven to be relevant, informative and straightforward. Author Anthony Cirillo, author of a book with the same title, is an elder advocate who works to assure the dignity and respect of seniors. Postings cover many topics including nursing home and long-term care information.

Click here to read the blog

A recent study may be of interest to nursing home residents: The study’s results suggest that elderly Americans who take certain blood pressure drugs may also be protecting themselves from declines in memory and other brain function. The drugs that researchers believe are preventative are part of a class known as ACE inhibitors. The study found a link between taking these drugs and lower rates of mental decline. This is in addition to a previous study about the effects of inhibitor medication on dementia.

For the full article.

Prices for 10 of the most prescribed brand-name medications have shot up an average of 6.8% since December under Medicare private insurance plans, while wholesale prices for the same drugs have only risen 3%. For example, the cost of a month’s supply of cholesterol-controlling Lipitor had climbed 9.6% percent. Premiums for Medicare drug plans have jumped 13 percent over the past year.

For the full article.

Drew Velting, a New York Psychologist, will be taking his geriatric-friendly, stand-up comedy show on the road to observe National Nursing Home Week (May 13-19). Over a span of two weeks, the comedian will entertain residents and staff at elder care centers. He loves performing at nursing homes and is convinced that laughter promotes hope and recovery.

For the full article.

Recently, the NCCNHR represented nursing home residents, family members, and other consumer advocates at a Senate Aging Committee hearing. Executive Director Alice Hedt made recommendations about improving conditions in nursing homes and preventing nursing home abuse and neglect. Now is the time for Congress to act on those recommendations. You can help by doing the following:

Write your Congressman, expressing support for recommendations made by NCCNHR.

Identify opportunities for you to share your experiences with enforcement and staffing through letters to the editor, talk shows, and radio shows. This will get the press to focus on nursing home issues. Share your efforts with Jessica Brill at jbrill@nccnhr.org.

For more information on the National Citizen’s Coalition for Nursing Home Reform.

The number of pressure ulcers throughout the U.S. remains unacceptably high. A recent study in the April 2007 American Journal of Nursing examined the incidence and high cost of pressure ulcers and presents the results of an implemented protocol to reduce the occurrence of the widespread problem. Clinical nurse specialists institute a Pressure Ulcer Prevention Protocol Interventions (PUPPI) at the Ohio State University Medical Center. The protocol is a nursing initiative that involves assessing risk and nutritional status, providing skin care, documenting, and giving referrals as needed. Pressure ulcer protocols have shown a decrease in incidence by almost 90% in nursing homes and almost 25% in critically ill patients.

For the full article.

The Senate Special Committee on Aging will hold an oversight hearing on Wednesday, May 2 regarding “The Nursing Home Reform Act Turns Twenty: What Has Been Accomplished, and What Challenges Remain?” NCCNHR Executive Director Alice Hedt will testify.

The hearing will be held at 10:30 am on May 2nd at 628 Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.

You can hear the webcast live from the Senate Special Committee on Aging website.

Join elder care advocates from across the nation at the National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform (NCCNHR) annual meeting from October 21-24, 2007 at the Hilton Crystal City. The theme is: Quality Care No Matter Where.

The NCCNHR is a nationwide grassroots organization concerned with encouraging citizens and advocates to fight for quality long term care and prevent nursing home abuse.

To learn more about the conference.

From 2003 through 2005, Medicare beneficiary mortality rates associated with bedsores rose 9.03%, according to a recent Healthgrades study. For elder Americans residing in nursing homes, bedsores are common indicators of nursing home neglect.

For the full study.

Although mortality due to medical malpractice is relatively rare, patient safety incidents play a role in the mortality of Medicare beneficiaries. Patient safety indicates used in the Healthgrades study include: accidental puncture or laceration, complications of anesthesia, decubitus ulcers, failure to rescue, foreign body left in during procedure, latrogenic pneumothorax, selected infections due to medical care, various post-operative care incidents, and transfusion reactions. Although the rate has declined in the recent years, the 16 patient safety incidents studied by Healthgrades may have contributed to 247,662 deaths from 2003 through 2005. This is approximately a 21.35% mortality rate in Medicare patients potentially attributable to the development of one or more patient safety incidents.

For the full study.

According to a recent Healthgrades study, the most commonly occurring patient safety incidents include failure to rescue, decubitus ulcers, and post-operative respiratory failure. These three incidents accounted for almost 72% of all patient safety incidents from 2003 through 2005. The study further explained that some of these incidents were also the most costly. Decubitus ulcers and post-operative respiratory failures accounted for 50.70% of all excess attributable costs from 2003-2005. Decubitus ulcers (bedsores) are common evidence of nursing home neglect, often attributable to staffing shortages or lack of training.

To read the full study.

On April 16, the Supreme Court of the United States is scheduled to hear oral arguments in a case in which Ms. Coke, a 73-year old immigrant from Jamaica, is the sole plaintiff. She is challenging Labor Department regulations that say in-home elder care attendants are not covered by federal minimum-wage and overtime laws. Ms. Coke, who for 20 years cared for clients in their homes, states that she loved her work, but the money was not good at all. She often worked three or four 24-hour days, hardly ever receiving time-and-a-half for overtime.

The stakes in this case are considerable because in-home care is one of the nation’s fastest growing occupations. The elderly population continues to grow and in-home care provides an alternative to nursing homes, where costs can be high and nursing home abuse and neglect occurs.

For the full article.

Insurance premiums have soared for older Americans, but do older Americans actually get to use their insurance? Sometimes no. Elderly Americans are being faced with a huge hurdle when trying to use their long-term care that they saved for; that hurdle is their insurance company. The New York Times this week published a piece on long-term care denial by insurance companies for elderly Americans. The article featured Mary Rose Derks, who scraped together $100 each month for an insurance company that promised to eventually pay for an assisted living home.

Continue reading "Elderly Americans denied care by their insurers" »

A Minnesota conference this week aims at advising on how to personalize nursing home care. One St. Paul nursing home has aspired to look like “home”: complete with a kitchenette, hundreds of books, breakfast cooked to order, and a cat named Flicka. A 92 year-old resident stated that while she’d rather not be in a nursing home at all, she would choose the St. Paul personalized home over any other.

The conference comes at a time when state agencies and the good nursing homes are seeking to oust bad nursing homes guilty of nursing home abuse and neglect from the industry. The conference seeks to push a “culture change” in the industry to help families who often feel frustrated with the institutionalized care their loved ones receive.

For the full article.

As we know, the death rate from falling has risen sharply since the 1990’s. There are several popular myths about falling that have been debunked.
1. Facts aren’t a big deal: Actually, one in three people age 65+ experience a fall serious enough to require medical attention.
2. Falls are just a part of growing older: Older bodies do change over time, but there is much you can do to protect against falling.
3. So long as I stick close to home, I can avoid falling: Over half of all falls take place right in the person’s home.
4. The best way to avoid falling is to stay seated and avoid physical activity: Inactivity actually increases the risk. Inactivity reduces the reserve of energy, muscle tone, and alertness.
5. Only balance exercises are effective for protecting against falling: Four types of exercise (aerobic, strengthening, balance, and flexibility) combine for an effective fall prevention exercise program.
6. Once lost, muscle strength and flexibility cannot be regained: Exercise can at least partially restore strength and flexibility.
7. Exercise must be strenuous to prevent against falls: Believe it or not, every little bit helps.
8. Medications cannot increase the risk of falling: The side effects of some medications can actually put us at a greater risk of falling, such as dizziness, fatigue, confusion, or weakness.

For more information.