Quality of Care and Nursing Homes.
The US General Accounting Office recently examined quality of care and its relation to staffing and costs in nursing homes. In the report, which examined freestanding nursing homes in Ohio, Mississippi and Washington, it was found that "nursing hours per resident day - especially nurses' aide hours - were related to quality of care deficiencies, with homes providing more nursing hours being less likely to have identified quality problems than homes providing fewer nursing hours". Report # GAO-02-431R, US GAO, Washington, D.C. 20548

"Use It Or Lose It?" Reduce Risk of Alzheimer's Disease.
Scientists at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center and Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, IL, in a study involving 700 dementia-free participants age 65 and over, found that frequent participation in cognitively stimulating activities was associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Elizabeth Koss, Ph.D., Assistant Director of the National Institute on Aging's AD Centers Program, said, "This study provides important new evidence that there may be something to the notion of increased cognitive activity and reduced risk of AD. Further research should help better sort out whether cognitive activities can be prescribed to reduce AD and why that may be so." http://www.nia.nih.gov/news/pr/2002/0212.htm

© 2002, Florida Coalition for Optimal Mental Health & Aging