The restrictive measures taken by nursing homes during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 (e.g., quarantine) may have been important stressors for which residents needed resilience to safeguard their well-being. Based on 30 semi-structured interviews with nursing home residents and close relatives, this study explored the lived experiences with respect to the restrictive measures. The data were collected in psychogeriatric, somatic, and mixed wards in The Netherlands and Flanders, Belgium. The restrictive measures were important stressors for residents, indicated by feelings of loneliness, sadness, and powerlessness. To deal with these measures, residents used various resources, which were determined by factors in the individual (e.g., health), interactional (e.g., possibilities for social interactions) and contextual (e.g. nursing home policy) domains. Because the lived experiences with respect to the restrictive measures seemed to relate to the resilience of nursing home residents, it is crucial to reinforce resources in the individual, interactional, and contextual domains.

This grounded-theory study explored family members’ experiences supporting a relative’s move into a long-term care (LTC) home. Each stage in the transition process, and the role of starting point in shaping the experience, were examined. Twenty family members who moved a relative into an LTC home were interviewed within six weeks of the move. The findings revealed that the starting point had a profound effect on family members’ experiences accepting the need for, and timing of, their relative’s move into LTC (pre-move), and on believing that the selected LTC home was a positive environment for their relative (post-move). LTC home policies and processes were also important. However, when pre-move acceptance was compromised by circumstances attributed to the starting point, these policies and processes were not as effective in fostering post-move acceptance. Conditions that support positive transitions before, during, and after the move from each starting point are discussed.

Hospitalization of nursing home residents can be futile as well as costly, and now evidence indicates that treating nursing home residents in place produces better outcomes for some conditions. We examined facility organizational characteristics that previous research showed are associated with potentially avoidable hospital transfers and with better care quality. Accordingly, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of nursing home directors of care in Vancouver Coastal Health, a large health region in British Columbia. The survey addressed staffing levels and organization, physician access, end-of-life care, and factors influencing facility-to-hospital transfers. Many of the modifiable organizational characteristics associated in the literature with potentially avoidable hospital transfers and better care quality are present in nursing homes in British Columbia. However, their presence is not universal, and some features, especially the organization of physician care and end-of-life planning and services, are particularly lacking.

Cross-sectional data (n = 6,487) from four Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden, were utilized to determine the prevalence of daily pain and its association with disability in institutional long-term care. Every resident in each of the participating institutions was assessed with Minimum Data Set version 1.0. The sample was representative of institutional long-term care in Copenhagen and Reykjavik. In addition, the data collected from Stockholm and Helsinki provided substantial information on the residents in these capitals. The results showed that 22–24 per cent of the residents experienced daily observable pain and this was most evident in the most disabled subjects. In addition to disability and female gender, diseases or conditions independently associated with pain were terminal prognosis, osteoporosis, pneumonia, arthritis, depression, anaemia, peripheral vascular disease, cancer and cardiac heart failure. The association between pain and severe cognitive impairment was negative. The results strongly indicate that daily pain in long-term care has a complex association with disability, the latter acting together with underlying diseases as a source and/or result of pain. Thus, a vicious circle between pain and disability can be anticipated.

We establish the potential for outcomes evaluation of a long-term care population-based dataset. Data come from the Health Care Financing Administration's case-mix and quality demonstration project including all Medicare/ Medicaid certified homes of five U.S. states during 1992–1994. Using the Minimum Data Set, we identified nearly 70,000 residents over 65 years of age with congestive heart failure. We provide a preliminary analysis of pharmacotherapy of congestive heart failure and its effects on decline in physical functioning. Functional outcome, expressed as the rate of ADL decline, was improved for patients on combination therapy relative to those on digoxin or ACE-inhibitors alone. The availability of a population-based data set provides a means of evaluating current policies and practices.

The physical and social environments are recognized as important therapeutic tools in the care of nursing home residents with dementia, yet little is known about the environments of rural nursing homes. This study was conducted in one rural health authority (16,000 km 2) in the province of Saskatchewan. Long-term institutional care was provided in seven small (15 to 35 beds), publicly funded nursing homes, none of which had separate dementia special care units (SCUs). The Physical Environmental Assessment Protocol (PEAP) was used to evaluate the facilities on nine key dimensions of dementia care environments. Facilities were most supportive in provision of privacy and least supportive on maximizing awareness and orientation. Focus groups were conducted with registered nurses, nursing aides, and activity workers. Staff caregivers identified six special needs of residents with dementia that were difficult to meet in the nursing homes, two of which were related to the physical environment (safety and a calm, quiet environment) and four of which were related to the social environment (meaningful activity and one-to-one contact, opportunity to use remaining abilities, flexible policy, and knowledgeable caregivers who enjoy working with persons with dementia). Staff suggested separate dementia SCUs as one approach to managing dementia care but also identified challenges in creating dementia units in small rural facilities. Results provide support for conceptual models of dementia care settings that emphasize the interaction of organizational, social, and physical factors.

Resource Utilization Groups III (RUG-III) is a case-mix system developed in the United States for categorization of nursing home residents and the financing of residential care services. In Hong Kong, RUG-III is based on several board groups of residents. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the RUG-III in Hong Kong nursing homes. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in seven residential facilities operated by one agency. Residents (N=1,127) were assessed by the Minimum Data Set (MDS) and nursing as well as auxiliary staff care times were recorded within 2 weeks before or after the completion of MDS assessment. Forty-five out 1,127 residents were re-interviewed by an independent assessor to assess the inter-rater reliability. The inter-rater reliability of MDS assessment was excellent (κ=0.76) and the original RUG-III accounted for about 30 per cent of nursing staff time. Results provide preliminary evidence to support that RUG-III is a reliable and valid case-mix system for Hong Kong nursing homes, but future studies must be explored to reduce the variance of resource use explained by this case-mix system.