Research / Journal abstracts

This article from the Administrative Law Commons and the Elder Law Commons reviews the problems in the nursing home industry revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors of the article provide suggestions to improve oversight practices and accountability through existing statutory regulations that will incentivize nursing homes to provide high-quality care. The article discusses how politics, bureaucracy, and ageism have prevented existing statutory authority from being utilized to its potential.

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) recently released an article discussing the impact of residing in disadvantaged neighborhoods on age-related cognitive decline, with a particular emphasis on its effects on different demographic groups. This study, conducted by researchers from the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and the University of North Texas Health Science Center, analyzes data from 1,614 participants aged 50 and above in the Health and Aging Brain Study — Health Disparities. The findings underscore the association between neighborhood disadvantage and cognitive performance for both Mexican American and non-Hispanic White participants...

On November 30, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) released the first federal homelessness research agenda in more than a decade, aimed at shaping federal investments in homelessness research by offering a roadmap for academic researchers, philanthropy, students, and others committed to understanding what works to prevent and end the crisis of homelessness in the United States. This agenda was developed with significant public input from researchers, people with lived experience of homelessness, national organizations, and experts from federal agencies.

A KFF analysis estimates that life expectancy in the U.S. dropped 2.7 years between 2019 and 2021, from 78.8 years to 76.1 years, largely due to COVID-19 deaths. American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people experienced the largest decline in life expectancy of 6.6 years during this time, followed by Hispanic and Black people (4.2 and 4.0 years, respectively). Also, provisional data for 2021 show that life expectancy was lowest for AIAN people at 65.2 years, followed by Black people, whose expectancy was 70.8 years, compared with 76.4 years for White people and 77.7 years for Hispanic people. It was highest for Asian people at 83.5 years...

The LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston has entered the second phase of a two-year study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study aims to develop and test the feasibility of an intervention called "LDCare," which was designed to support long-distance caregivers of older adults with dementia who receive home care. In the second phase, researchers will examine the feasibility of conducting the LDCare intervention by sampling a group of 40 long-distance caregivers and their care recipients. At present, 17 caregivers are enrolled in the study...

The Disability and Health Journal has published a report that explores the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment among people with disabilities. The study evaluates changes in employment-to-population ratios during the COVID-19 recession and recovery, and examines differences in employment trends for disabled and non-disabled individuals across occupational categories (essential, non-essential, teleworkable, non-teleworkable, frontline, non-frontline). The research draws on nationally representative data from the Current Population Survey to highlight disparities in employment outcomes between disabled and non-disabled individuals.

The University of California, San Francisco and Northwestern University are testing a program for caregivers of people with Alzheimer's Disease. The program, titled LEAF (Life Enhancing Activities for Family Caregivers) is funded by a grant from the National Institute on Aging, and is designed to help lower stress and support caregivers. Participants must be the primary caregiver of someone with Alzheimer’s disease or probable Alzheimer's, be English-speaking, and have access to Wi-Fi.

Through a national survey, focus groups and a series of documentary videos, NCOA has collected data from grandparents providing part-time child care to young grandchildren. This research has helped helped NCOA create a one-of-its-kind Grand Connections workshop series to support grandparent caregivers.

The most recent issue of the Journal of Gerontological Social Work, A Tribute to Rosalie Kane: Honoring Her Life and Work as Scholar, Mentor, and Social Worker in Gerontology, is dedicated to the life and work of Rosalie Kane. Rosalie helped shape much of our current thinking about long-term services and supports (LTSS). The nine articles and commentaries cover topics ranging from the importance of learning participant preferences to the role of "quality of life" measures in evaluating LTSS.

Nominations are now being accepted for HCUP’s Outstanding Article of the Year Award, which will recognize research published in peer-reviewed journals in 2020 that used the HCUP databases to explore and address healthcare research topics and issues. Work honored will demonstrate how HCUP has contributed to the healthcare services field. The nomination period will close on March 3, 2021. For complete information, please visit the HCUP-US website at www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/news/awards.jsp.