Care Home Owners Research Articles

The effect of hospital-to-home transitional care using a digital messaging application on the health outcomes of patients undergoing CABG and their family caregivers: a randomized controlled trial study protocol.

Given the increasing trend of care transition from healthcare settings to patients' own home, patients and their family caregivers should take more responsibilities for care at own home. This study is going to investigate the effect of a transitional care program from hospital to own home using a digital messaging application on patients' undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and their family caregivers' health outcomes. A parallel randomized controlled trial study will be conducted in a hospital in a metropolis located in southwestern Iran. Sampling will be performed sequentially and the eligible dyad of patients and family caregivers will be randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The intervention group will receive a transitional care program for 8 weeks using the WhatsApp on the mobile phone based on the person-centered care approach, but the control group will receive routine care for patient's transition. Data collection will be conducted at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and two months after the intervention using demographic questionnaire, Cardiac Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES), MacNew Heart Disease Health-Related Quality of Life questionnaire (MNHD-Q), Cardiac Symptom Scale (CSS), Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, and Caregiver Burden Scale (CBS). Descriptive and inferential statistics will be used for data analysis. The results of this study will allow evaluating the effectiveness of an innovative transitional care program to patients' own home using a digital messaging application. If the transitional program is shown feasible and effective it can be incorporated into existing care programs and stimulate further studies on the use of digital solutions for improving the continuity of care in own home.

The Care Quality Commission's new assessment framework

The Care Quality Commission is introducing a new assessment framework and compulsory use of its upgraded portal. Amanda Halliwell considers what is known so far, and how it will impact care home owners and managers

The importance and key points of wills for care home owners

The importance and key points of wills for care home owners

Developing a blended learning approach in care homes

Many care home managers and owners recognise the benefits of eLearning for their staff, but have no idea where to start. Adrian Ashurst discusses the importance of an excellent training package and outlines some strategies for success

Evaluating direct payments in residential care: the perspective of care home providers

This article reports findings from the evaluation of the Direct Payments in Residential Care Trailblazers in England (2014–16). It focuses on the perspective of residential care providers on implementing direct payments, which aimed to improve the level of choice and control over care available to their residents. The article explores the views of providers, using interviews and survey responses of care home managers and owners. Concerns expressed by providers include issues that have arisen in domiciliary care but also issues specific to residential care, especially challenges in facilitating greater choice and control in settings that provide care collectively for substantial numbers of residents.

Care Arrangements of Older Adults: What They Prefer, What They Have, and Implications for Quality of Life.

Meeting individual preferences for long-term services and supports (LTSS) is a policy priority that has implications for quality of care. Evidence regarding preferences is sparse. In addition, little is known regarding whether preferences and care arrangements match for those receiving care, and implications for quality of life. A random sample (n = 1,783 in 2012) of National Health and Aging Trends Study participants were asked the best care option for someone 80+ who needs help with personal care and mobility. Analyses examine variations in care preferences, the relationship of preferences to care arrangements, and the association of matched preference and care arrangements to quality of life indicators. Care preferences vary by demographics. Equal proportions (3 in 10) of older adults chose assisted living or continuing care retirement communities (CCRC), care in own home with family help, and care in own home with paid help, as the best options. Persons in assisted living/CCRC settings were significantly more likely to choose this option as best. Only 1 in 3 older persons receiving care are in arrangements that match preferences. No association with quality of life indicators was found. Aging in place remains the care preference of a majority, but close to one-third chose assisted living/CCRC, suggesting preferences are evolving. Aligning care preferences and arrangements is a policy goal, but many do not achieve a match and there remain gaps in understanding trajectories in preferences and care arrangements and implications for quality of life.

What is changing about the way we are regulated?

With a variety of inspecting changes soon to be implemented by the Care Quality Commission, Helena Frankova clarifies how nursing and care home owners can ensure their services are of the highest possible standard

What to do when you receive an employment tribunal claim

With changes being implemented in the way employees can pursue an employment tribunal claim, Mark Stevens advises care home managers and owners how to deal with any claims that are received

Calls for care home abuse penalties for owners

Paul Burstow's Bill to make care home owners criminally accountable in cases of abuse has received mixed response from the care sector. sue learner reports

Heading for a fall… an issue of bedrail regulation

This article looks at the background behind bed-rail regulation development and warns care home owners and managers that they have a legal requirement to implement systems to ensure

New tax relief changes for 2008 and the energy performance link

The paper considers the capital allowances system for the purchase of existing buildings and, more specifically, the proposed tax relief changes for 2008 which will divide allowances into 'integral features' and trade-related plant. The paper goes on to examine changes such as enhanced capital allowances, the annual investment allowance and the introduction and impact of energy performance certificates. The paper concludes with advice to care home owners and managers when addressing capital expenditure to consider these issues, which may lie outside the expertise of the construction team, but may significantly influence both cost and, in the future, energy performance.

New look and feel for 2008's Care Show Bournemouth

Nursing & Residential Care will be visiting The Care Show Bournemouth this April. The exhibition offers an excellent opportunity for care home owners, managers and carers to meet with key suppliers in the industry.

Older people deserve registered nurses

I was saddened to read in Hazel Heath’s article that care home owners are considering replacing registered nurses (RNs) with more affordable assistants (features November 15).

Managing the Mental Capacity Act

The purpose of this paper is to examine the care management implications of a number of Sections of the 2005 Mental Capacity Act. In particular this paper will critically review the role of the lasting power of attorney donee and examine by means of a scenario the range of problems that this impending legislation is likely to carry for care home owners and their staff.

Recognising and addressing elder abuse in care homes: views from residents and managers

In 2004, the author carried out a small scale study to find out the views of those living and working in private care homes in England about a range of issues connected to inspection, regulation and ways to better protect older people. This study reports on views from 19 managers and 19 residents about their understanding of abuse, their perceptions of the different forms of abuse and the possible action to deal with offending care staff. Although there was some consensus about the seriousness of certain types of abuse and how managers would investigate the allegation, the findings indicate that mandatory training for registered care home owners and managers is necessary to clarify their responsibilities in relation to their actions and the reporting of certain offences to relevant agencies. Residents' views also need to be taken seriously if they are to voice their opinions about life in a care home.

Time to overhaul funding system, say care home owners

Time to overhaul funding system, say care home owners

On the use of multi-state multi-census techniques for modelling the survival of elderly people in institutional long-term care

A good estimate of the length of stay (LOS) of elderly people in institutional long-term care (ILTC) is essential to both care providers (care home owners) and purchasers (local authorities in the UK) in order to forecast their resource availability and future requirements. Existing methods usually rely on cohort data, which needs to be collected on a continuous basis for several years and are often not available electronically. In this paper we develop an approach based on multi-census data to fit a Markov model in continuous-time for the LOS of elderly people in ILTC (residential and nursing care). We use 3 year placement data provided by London Borough of Merton Social Services to compare the estimates of the model parameters obtained using multi-census data with those derived from cohort data, hence to validate the multi-census approach in this context. The implications of the proposed multi-census approach and its advantages in the context of long-term care planning are discussed.

A bed crisis that can only get worse

The strained relationship between care home owners and the Scottish Executive is well documented, but it is beginning to have unintended and unfortunate consequences that will inevitably impact on one of the most vulnerable sectors of society.

The National Care Homes Association

The National Care Homes Association (NCHA) represents the interests of 4000 independent care home owners who look after older people, physically handicapped, mentally ill and children.

Private care home owners urged to protest over fees

Private care home owners urged to protest over fees