Variations in death notification of nursing home residents to Australian Coroners

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 357-363
Author(s):  
Joseph Elias Ibrahim ◽  
Chebiwot Kipsaina ◽  
Cathy Martin ◽  
David Leo Ranson ◽  
Lyndal Bugeja

ObjectivesTo examine the impact of changes to the reporting requirements in coronial legislation on the nature and frequency of nursing home resident deaths reported to Coroners.DesignNational retrospective study of a population cohort of nursing home resident deaths.SettingAccredited Australian nursing homes between July 2000 and June 2013.ParticipantsResidents who died in nursing homes accredited by the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency reported to Coroners.Main outcome measuresWe explored three death-reporting models in the nursing home setting: comprehensive model, selective ‘mechanism of death’ model and selective ‘age of death’ model. These models were examined by manner of death subgroups: natural, falls-related and other external causes using the outcome measure of deaths notified to the Coroner per 1000 residents. We used an interrupted time series analysis using generalised linear regression with a negative binomial probability distribution and a log link function.ResultsThe comprehensive model showed the proportion of reportable deaths due to natural causes far exceeded those from falls and other external cause. In contrast, the selective notification models reduced the total number of reportable deaths. Similarly, the selective ‘age of death’ model showed a decline in the reportable external cause deaths.ConclusionsVariation in the causes, locations and ages of persons whose deaths are legally required to be notified to Coroners impacts the frequency and nature of deaths of nursing home residents investigated by Coroners. This demonstrates that legislation needs to be carefully framed and applied to ensure that the prevention mandate of Coroners in Australia is to be achieved.

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s66-s67
Author(s):  
Gabrielle M. Gussin ◽  
Ken Kleinman ◽  
Raveena D. Singh ◽  
Raheeb Saavedra ◽  
Lauren Heim ◽  
...  

Background: Addressing the high burden of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in nursing homes is a public health priority. High interfacility transmission may be attributed to inadequate infection prevention practices, shared living spaces, and frequent care needs. We assessed the contribution of roommates to the likelihood of MDRO carriage in nursing homes. Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of the SHIELD OC (Shared Healthcare Intervention to Eliminate Life-threatening Dissemination of MDROs in Orange County, CA) Project, a CDC-funded regional decolonization intervention to reduce MDROs among 38 regional facilities (18 nursing homes, 3 long-term acute-care hospitals, and 17 hospitals). Decolonization in participating nursing homes involved routine chlorhexidine bathing plus nasal iodophor (Monday through Friday, twice daily every other week) from April 2017 through July 2019. MDRO point-prevalence assessments involving all residents at 16 nursing homes conducted at the end of the intervention period were used to determine whether having a roommate was associated with MDRO carriage. Nares, bilateral axilla/groin, and perirectal swabs were processed for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE), extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)–producing Enterobacteriaceae, and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). Generalized linear mixed models assessed the impact of maximum room occupancy on MDRO prevalence when clustering by room and hallway, and adjusting for the following factors: nursing home facility, age, gender, length-of-stay at time of swabbing, bedbound status, known MDRO history, and presence of urinary or gastrointestinal devices. CRE models were not run due to low counts. Results: During the intervention phase, 1,451 residents were sampled across 16 nursing homes. Overall MDRO prevalence was 49%. In multivariable models, we detected a significant increasing association of maximum room occupants and MDRO carriage for MRSA but not other MDROs. For MRSA, the adjusted odds ratios for quadruple-, triple-, and double-occupancy rooms were 3.5, 3.6, and 2.8, respectively, compared to residents in single rooms (P = .013). For VRE, these adjusted odds ratios were 0.3, 0.3, and 0.4, respectively, compared to residents in single rooms (P = NS). For ESBL, the adjusted odds ratios were 0.9, 1.1, and 1.5, respectively, compared to residents in single rooms (P = nonsignificant). Conclusions: Nursing home residents in shared rooms were more likely to harbor MRSA, suggesting MRSA transmission between roommates. Although decolonization was previously shown to reduce MDRO prevalence by 22% in SHIELD nursing homes, this strategy did not appear to prevent all MRSA transmission between roommates. Additional efforts involving high adherence hand hygiene, environmental cleaning, and judicious use of contact precautions are likely needed to reduce transmission between roommates in nursing homes.Funding: NoneDisclosures: Gabrielle M. Gussin, Stryker (Sage Products): Conducting studies in which contributed antiseptic product is provided to participating hospitals and nursing homes. Clorox: Conducting studies in which contributed antiseptic product is provided to participating hospitals and nursing homes. Medline: Conducting studies in which contributed antiseptic product is provided to participating hospitals and nursing homes. Xttrium: Conducting studies in which contributed antiseptic product is provided to participating hospitals and nursing homes.


2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith A. O'Brien ◽  
J. Jaime Caro

Objective: To estimate comparative mangement levels and the annual cost of caring for a nursing home resident with and without dementia. Method: Data from the 1995 Massachusetts Medicaid nursing home database were used to examine residents with Alzheimer's disease, other types of dementia, and no dementia to determine care and dependency levels. Massachusetts Medicaid 1997 per-diem rates for each of 10 designated management levels were applied accordingly to residents in each level to estimate annual care costs. Costs from this analysis are reported in 1997 U.S. dollars. Results: Of the 49,724 nursing home residents identified, 26.4% had a documented diagnosis of dementia. On average, a resident with dementia requires 229 more hours of care annually than one without dementia, resulting in a mean additional cost of $3,865 per patient with dementia per year. Conclusions: Dementia increases the care needs and cost of caring for a nursing home resident.


Pharmacy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 160
Author(s):  
Jayne E. Kelleher ◽  
Peter Weedle ◽  
Maria D. Donovan

Background: Antipsychotic medications are often used ‘off-licence’ to treat neuropsychiatric symptoms and disorders of aging and to manage behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia despite the warnings of adverse effects. Objective: To establish the prevalence of and documented indication for antipsychotic medication use in the Irish nursing home setting. Setting: This study was conducted in six nursing homes located in Co. Cork, Ireland. Method: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was employed. All patients who met the inclusion criteria (≥65 years, residing in a nursing home on a long-term basis) were eligible for inclusion. There were 120 nursing home residents recruited to the study. Main Outcome Measure: The prevalence of antipsychotic medication use in nursing home residents (with and without dementia). Results: The overall prevalence of antipsychotic prescribing was found to be 48% and patients with dementia were significantly more likely to be prescribed an antipsychotic compared to those without dementia (67% vs. 25%) (χ2 (1, N = 120) = 21.541, p < 0.001). In the cohort of patients with dementia, there was a trend approaching significance (p = 0.052) of decreasing antipsychotic use with increasing age (age 65–74 = 90%; age 75–84 = 71%; age 85 and over = 58%). An indication was documented for 84% of the antipsychotic prescriptions in this cohort. Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight that high rates of antipsychotic medication use remains an issue in Irish nursing homes. Further work should explore factors in influencing prescribing of these medications in such settings.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. e033937
Author(s):  
Shino Ikeda-Sonoda ◽  
Nao Ichihara ◽  
Jiro Okochi ◽  
Arata Takahashi ◽  
Hiroaki Miyata

ObjectivesThere is growing concern regarding quality of work life (QWL) among care staff in nursing homes. However, little is known about the impact of QWL on nursing home residents’ functional performance. Recent literature suggests that job satisfaction and happiness of healthcare workers reflect their perceived QWL and impact the quality of their care. This study examined the association between job satisfaction and global happiness with change in functional performance of severely disabled elderly residents in nursing homes.DesignA retrospective cohort study of nursing home residents combined with a questionnaire survey of their care staff.SettingEighteen nursing homes in Japan.ParticipantsData were collected from 1000 residents with a required care level of 3–5 and from 412 care staff in nursing homes between October 2017 and March 2018.Outcomes and explanatory variablesFunctional performance was structurally assessed with ICF (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health) staging, composed of 52 items concerning activities of daily life, cognitive function and social participation, at baseline and 6 months later. Deterioration and improvement of functional performance were dichotomously defined as such change in any of the items. QWL of care staff was evaluated with a questionnaire including questions about job satisfaction and global happiness.ResultsFunctional performance deteriorated and improved in 23.0% and 12.7% of residents, respectively. Global happiness of care staff was associated with lower probability of residents’ deterioration (adjusted OR, 0.61; CI 0.44 to 0.84). There was no significant correlation between job satisfaction or happiness of care staff and improvement of residents’ functional performance.ConclusionThese results suggest that QWL of care staff is associated with changes in functional performance of elderly people with severe disabilities in nursing homes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noah M Ivers ◽  
Monica Taljaard ◽  
Vasily Giannakeas ◽  
Catherine Reis ◽  
Evelyn Williams ◽  
...  

BackgroundAlthough sometimes appropriate, antipsychotic medications are associated with increased risk of significant adverse events. In 2014, a series of newspaper articles describing high prescribing rates in nursing homes in Ontario, Canada, garnered substantial interest. Subsequently, an online public reporting initiative with home-level data was launched. We examined the impact of these public reporting interventions on antipsychotic prescribing in nursing homes.MethodsTime series analysis of all nursing home residents in Ontario, Canada, between 1 October 2013 and 31 March 2016. The primary outcome was the proportion of residents prescribed antipsychotics each month. Balance measures were prescriptions for common alternative sedating agents (benzodiazepines and/or trazodone). We used segmented regression to assess the effects on prescription trends of the newspaper articles and the online home-level public reporting initiative.ResultsWe included 120 009 nursing home resident admissions across 636 nursing homes. Following the newspaper articles, the proportion of residents prescribed an antipsychotic decreased by 1.28% (95% CI 1.08% to 1.48%) and continued to decrease at a rate of 0.2% per month (95% CI 0.16% to 0.24%). The online public reporting initiative did not alter this trend. Over 3 years, there was a net absolute reduction in antipsychotic prescribing of 6.0% (95% CI 5.1% to 6.9%). Trends for benzodiazepine prescribing did not change as substantially during the period of observation. Trazodone use has been gradually increasing, but its use did not change abruptly at the time of the mass media report or the public reporting initiative.InterpretationThe rapid impact of mass media on prescribing suggests both an opportunity to use this approach to invoke change and a warning to ensure that such reporting occurs responsibly.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 683-687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Pineles ◽  
Chris Petruccelli ◽  
Eli N. Perencevich ◽  
Mary-Claire Roghmann ◽  
Kalpana Gupta ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVETo directly observe healthcare workers in a nursing home setting to measure frequency and duration of resident contact and infection prevention behavior as a factor of isolation practiceDESIGNObservational studySETTING AND PARTICIPANTSHealthcare workers in 8 VA nursing homes in Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Washington, and TexasMETHODSOver a 15-month period, trained research staff without clinical responsibilities on the units observed nursing home resident room activity for 15–30-minute intervals. Observers recorded time of entry and exit, isolation status, visitor type (staff, visitor, etc), hand hygiene, use of gloves and gowns, and activities performed in the room when visible.RESULTSA total of 999 hours of observation were conducted across 8 VA nursing homes during which 4,325 visits were observed. Residents in isolation received an average of 4.73 visits per hour of observation compared with 4.21 for nonisolation residents (P<.01), a 12.4% increase in visits for residents in isolation. Residents in isolation received an average of 3.53 resident care activities per hour of observation, compared with 2.46 for residents not in isolation (P<.01). For residents in isolation, compliance was 34% for gowns and 58% for gloves. Healthcare worker hand hygiene compliance was 45% versus 44% (P=.79) on entry and 66% versus 55% (P<.01) on exit for isolation and nonisolation rooms, respectively.CONCLUSIONSHealthcare workers visited residents in isolation more frequently, likely because they required greater assistance. Compliance with gowns and gloves for isolation was limited in the nursing home setting. Adherence to hand hygiene also was less than optimal, regardless of isolation status of residents.Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2018;39:683–687


2014 ◽  
Vol 143 (12) ◽  
pp. 2588-2595 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. GROSHOLZ ◽  
S. BLAKE ◽  
J. D. DAUGHERTY ◽  
E. AYERS ◽  
S. B. OMER ◽  
...  

SUMMARYThe US Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires nursing homes and long-term-care facilities to document residents' vaccination status on the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI). Vaccinating residents can prevent costly hospital admissions and deaths. CMS and public health officials use RAI data to measure vaccination rates in long-term-care residents and assess the quality of care in nursing homes. We assessed the accuracy of RAI data against medical records in 39 nursing homes in Florida, Georgia, and Wisconsin. We randomly sampled residents in each home during the 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 influenza seasons. We collected data on receipt of influenza vaccination from charts and RAI data. Our final sample included 840 medical charts with matched RAI records. The agreement rate was 0·86. Using the chart as a gold standard, the sensitivity of the RAI with respect to influenza vaccination was 85% and the specificity was 77%. Agreement rates varied within facilities from 55% to 100%. Monitoring vaccination rates in the population is important for gauging the impact of programmes and policies to promote adherence to vaccination recommendations. Use of data from RAIs is a reasonable approach for gauging influenza vaccination rates in nursing-home residents.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 233372141989745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oonagh M. Giggins ◽  
Julie Doyle ◽  
Ken Hogan ◽  
Mable George

Purpose: Achieving adequate levels of illumination to stimulate the circadian system can be difficult in a nursing home. The aim of this study was to examine the impact that a 4-week cycled lighting intervention had on activity, sleep, and mood in older adults living in a nursing home. Patients and methods: Ten residents were given an activity monitor to objectively measure activity and sleep, and subjective mood scores were also recorded during the study period. The cycled lighting intervention was designed to mimic normal natural daylight. Results: Some participants responded positively to the lighting intervention showing improvements in activity levels, sleep, and mood, while others showed no change or a continued decline. Conclusion: Although the results are inconclusive, a cycled lighting intervention remains a potentially promising intervention in the nursing home setting. Further studies with more robust measurements and a larger, more homogeneous cohort are required to investigate this further.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 869-870
Author(s):  
Sungjae Hong ◽  
Shannon Meija

Abstract The impact of COVID-19 has been greatest in vulnerable US populations. This study examines the cumulative geographical and racial disparities of COVID-19 cases in nursing homes. Analysis of COVID-19 Nursing Home Data from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services was limited to weekly reports from the nursing homes that reported the ratio of black residents, from 2020-05-31 to 2021-01-17 (N=268,222 from 8,026 nursing homes). The outcomes were weekly COVID-19 cases and death per 1,000 occupied beds. Nursing homes were categorized by a geographic (rural vs. urban) and racial composition (&gt;50% of residents are black vs. else). Elapsed time and county-level weekly COVID-19 cases and deaths/1,000 people were the key covariates. Multilevel zero-inflated negative binomial regression revealed evidence of cumulative COVID-19 disparity between rural and urban nursing homes. At the earliest time, COVID-19 incidence was lower in rural nursing homes than in urban nursing homes (IRR=0.406 for cases, 0.034 for death). The significant interaction with time implied that, over and above evolving disease prevalence, rural nursing homes became more likely than urban nursing homes to experience COVID-19 over time (IRR=1.057 for cases, 1.193 for death). Nursing homes, with &gt;50% black residents, were more likely to experience COVID-19 than their counterparts at the earliest time (IRR=1.339 for cases, 5.630 for death), but independent of local disease prevalence, this disparity decreased over time (IRR=0.973 for cases, 0.972 for death). Our findings suggest that racial and geographic factors contribute to the cumulation of disadvantage during the COVID-19 crisis at the second half of 2020.


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