- Public Health Impact of Adjuvanted RSVPreF3 Vaccination Among US Adults Aged ≥60 Years Residing in Long-Term Care Settings. [Journal Article]J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2026 Oct 19; 27(11):106406. [Online ahead of print]JA
- CONCLUSIONS: Adjuvanted RSVPreF3 vaccination avoided a substantial number of negative health outcomes among US adults aged ≥60 years residing in long-term care settings, providing evidence of its impact as a prevention strategy. Future efforts are needed to ensure that long-term care residents have access to RSV vaccination.
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Home Health Pathways Relevant to Patient-Driven Groupings Model Classification Among Medicare Beneficiaries With and Without Dementia. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Immediately before PDGM implementation, ADRD-highly likely beneficiaries were more likely to enter HH from the community and to experience later episodes of care. These findings establish a pre-PDGM benchmark for understanding how beneficiaries with ADRD were distributed across admission source and episode-timing pathways subsequently incorporated into HH payment. Future research should evaluate whether PDGM has differentially affected HH access, utilization, payment, and care delivery for beneficiaries with ADRD.
- PMC Free PDF
- Characteristics and Geographic Variability of US-Assisted Living Communities Affiliated With Top-10 Chains. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Top-10 chains appear likely to be located in densely populated, socioeconomically advantaged areas and to serve older, wealthier resident populations than other ≥25-bed AL communities, although exceptions exist. Future research should examine how regulatory and market factors shape these patterns.
- PMC Free PDF
- Navigating Infection Control and Dialysis Delivery in Nursing Homes: Organizational Perspectives From 2020 to 2025. [Journal Article]J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2026 Oct 13; 27(12):106495. [Online ahead of print]JA
- CONCLUSIONS: Although the COVID-19 pandemic prompted more rigorous infection control practices at NHs and dialysis centers, it also intensified longstanding vulnerabilities in cross-sector health care coordination for NH residents requiring dialysis. Insights from this study's findings could inform efforts to design more resilient, better coordinated models of care.
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Regularly Scheduled Acetaminophen for Pain in Long-Term Care: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. [Review]J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2026 Oct 07; 27(11):106432. [Online ahead of print]JA
- CONCLUSIONS: Regularly scheduled acetaminophen probably does not improve pain in LTC residents with moderate-to-severe dementia and mild-to-moderate pain. These findings suggest that regularly scheduled acetaminophen for pain management in LTC may need to be reconsidered.
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Factors Associated With Fall-Related Head Impact Among Older Adults: A Scoping Review. [Review]J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2026 Oct 05; 27(11):106493. [Online ahead of print]JA
- CONCLUSIONS: Most factors associated with fall-related head impact were nonmodifiable (eg, sex). Training the use of protective fall movements, environmental design (including protective equipment), and education hold promise in reducing the risk of head impact. Future research should prioritize testing modifiable approaches in real-world settings for reducing fall-related head impact and, ultimately, preventing head injuries in the aging population.
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Keeping a Rehabilitation Philosophy of Care in Post-Acute and Long-Term Care. [Editorial]J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2026 Oct; 27(10):106456.JA
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Mandatory Vaccination in Nursing Homes: A Qualitative Study of Resident Perspectives. [Letter]J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2026 Sep 30; 27(11):106478. [Online ahead of print]JA
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Frailty Modifies the Association Between Multimorbidity and Hospital-Associated Disability in Hospitalized Older Adults. [Journal Article]J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2026 Sep 30; 27(11):106492. [Online ahead of print]JA
- CONCLUSIONS: The prognostic relevance of multimorbidity diminishes with increasing frailty, suggesting a loss of risk discrimination at higher levels of physiological vulnerability. These findings highlight the importance of integrating frailty into risk stratification frameworks and support a shift toward resilience-based approaches in the management of hospitalized older adults.
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Effectiveness of the PASRR Program Compared With Claims Data in Identifying Nursing Home Admissions With Mental Illness. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Federally mandated PASRR screening assessments appropriately identify roughly 1 in every 10 admissions with a claims/encounter-derived SMI diagnosis, raising substantial concerns over whether the program can effectively facilitate appropriate NH placement, as originally intended. Forty years after the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987, our findings raise questions about the continued utility of this federal screening program and suggest that more substantive revisions may be necessary to meet the needs of the increasingly complex and multifaceted population of patients who enter NHs.
- PMC Free PDF
- Dementia and End-of-Life Shared Decision-Making Among Older US Adults. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Decedents with dementia experienced a distinct end-of-life shared decision-making pattern characterized not only by greater advance care planning but also greater decisional needs and reliance on surrogate decision-makers. These findings suggest that advance directives should be viewed as one component of an ongoing shared decision-making process rather than a substitute for it. Health care systems should complement advance care planning with early and ongoing caregiver engagement, structured decision support, and integration of palliative care across the dementia trajectory to help patients and families navigate evolving end-of-life decisions.
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Institutional Post-Acute Care Use After Hospitalization by Medicare Type, 2017-2022. [Journal Article]J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2026 Sep 18; 27(11):106491. [Online ahead of print]JA
- CONCLUSIONS: MA beneficiaries had lower downstream use of IRF after hospitalization than TM beneficiaries. In-facility mortality differed among post-acute settings and payer. Patient-level case-mix at the referral source is needed to evaluate whether these differences persist after case mix adjustment.
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Determinants of Length of Stay Variations in Post-Acute Care Within an Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility. [Journal Article]J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2026 Sep 17; 27(11):106466. [Online ahead of print]JA
- CONCLUSIONS: Variation in LOS within IRFs was primarily associated with demographic, temporal, and regional fixed effects. TM and MA beneficiaries demonstrated broadly similar patterns of contributing factors to LOS variation.
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Reframing Equity in Poststroke Discharge: Methodological Considerations and a Call for Equity-Adjusted Models. [Letter]J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2026 Oct; 27(10):106364.JA
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- A Duty to Act. [Editorial]J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2026 Oct; 27(10):106494.JA
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)