Nursing Home Culture Influences Hospice Utilization

Hospice use among nursing home patients.

OBJECTIVES Among hospice patients who lived in nursing homes, we sought to: (1) report trends in hospice use over time, (2) describe factors associated with very long hospice stays (>6 months), and (3) describe hospice utilization patterns. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS We conducted a retrospective study from an urban, Midwest cohort of hospice patients, aged ≥ 65 years, who lived in nurs...

Social Support in Elderly Nursing Home Populations: Manifestations and Influences

The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of social support and the influencing factors on social support in nursing home environments. Observations and staff questionnaires from two central Florida nursing homes were used in this grounded theory study to answer the following questions: (1) How is social support manifested? and (2) What are influences on social support? Soci...

Nursing Home Culture Change and Social Work Practice

Nursing home culture change: legal apprehensions and opportunities.

There continue to be serious deficiencies in the quality of life available to many nursing home residents in the United States. One significant response to this undesirable situation is the nursing home "Culture Change" movement, which attempts to improve the nursing home environment-and consequently residents' quality of life-by making facilities less institutional and more homelike. One of th...

Supporting culture change: working toward smarter state nursing home regulation.

The traditional nursing home regulatory approach, which uses survey and enforcement to achieve performance improvement, has created tensions between providers and surveyors. It has had limited success in improving quality overall and not necessarily allowed innovation to flourish. This has been the perception of many homes wanting to undergo transformative "culture change" reforms. To move towa...