The American Medical Directors Association (AMDA) Foundation, the non-profit research and education arm of AMDA, invites you to meet two dogs that have a key role in caring for long term care facility residents. Come meet Sophie and Tessa and hear from their owner, a facility medical director, and other physicians about the power of pets in their ...

If your residents are not complying with their metformin medication schedule, it could be the smell, which has been described as similar to dead fish. Many diabetics report nausea when taking the commonly prescribed drug, but doctors have not associated it with the odor. Read more here.

 The recruitment period of the Phase 2 Advancing Excellence in America's Nursing Homes Campaign ended at midnight January 31, 2010. The Campaign signed up. 5,860 nursing homes, including 1,132 new participants and 4,728 re-enrollees (now charter members of the Campaign), are now members of the Phase 2 Campaign, reports Carol Benner, ScM. ...

  In a report on medical complicity in human rights violations, Human Rights Watch includes lack of pain relief as an example of torture. ''Our report found that fewer than 4 percent of the roughly 1 million terminal cancer patients in India who suffer severe pain every year were able to receive adequate treatment. Even though the majority ...

Two new studies from The New England Journal of Medicine indicate that nursing home residents may be receiving futile care measures at the end of their lives. In one study, doctors examined health records of 3,702 nursing-home residents across the nation who started dialysis between 1998 and 2000. While the average age was 73, many had other ...

With the H1N1 virus lurking in our office (so far, one confirmed case), experts agree that aside from vaccination, the best defense is thorough handwashing. Check out this video from the Washington Post that shows proper handwashing technique. We hear these messages all the time, but truthfully, we could all probably do a better job ...

This is a guest blog by Anthony Cirillo, FACHE, ABC: A new study suggests that physicians are fairly ignorant about how to act toward patients when they run out of treatment options.  According to Anthony Back, lead author and professor of medicine at the University of Washington, once doctors refer a patient to hospice care, they end all ...

Are you paying enough attention to your residents' cognitive wellness? Read my latest column on the ADVANCE Web site.

Decreased mobility, functional impairment, and multiple losses frequently lead to depression. It has been well established in the literature that the suicide rate among people over 65 is higher than any other age group. For more on this serious issue, read the information provided on the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention's Web site.Chronic ...

I can clearly remember the day, 15 years ago, when I learned that my Grandmother had Alzheimer's Disease.  I was in nursing school, out of state, when my mother called to tell me about the diagnosis.   Prior to the diagnosis my family had suspected that her forgetfulness was not normal.  We knew something was wrong, but we were ...