Jasmine Travers

Abstract

Objective: To identify if disparate trends in the access and use of nursing home (NH) services among Black and Latino older adults compared with White older adults persist. Access was operationalized as the NHs that served Black, Latino, and White residents. Use was operationalized as the utilization of NH services by Black, Latino, and White residents. Design: This was an observational study analyzing facility-level data from LTCfocus for 2011 to 2017. Setting and Participants: All NH residents present in US NHs participating in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services program on the first Thursday in April in the years 2011 to 2017. NHs with fewer than 4500 bed-days per year are excluded in the LCTfocus dataset. Black, Latino, and White were the racial/ethnic groups of interest. Methods: We calculated the mean percentage of each racial/ethnic group in NHs (Black, Latino, White) annually along with the number of NHs that provided care for these groups. We conducted a simple trend analysis using ordinary least squares to estimate the change in NH access and use by racial/ethnic group over time. Results: Our NH sample ranged from 15,564 in 2011 to 14,956 in 2017. Latino residents' use of NHs increased by 20.47% and Black residents increased by 11.42%, whereas there was a 1.36% decrease in White residents’ use of NHs. In this 7-year span, there was a 4.44% and 6.41% decline in the number of NHs that serve any Black and Latino older adults, respectively, compared with a 2.26% decline in NHs that serve only White older adults (access). Conclusions and Implications: Our findings reveal a continued disproportionate rise in Black and Latino older adults’ use of NHs while the number of NHs that serve this population have declined. This work can inform federal and state policies to ensure access to long-term care services and supports in the community for all older adults and prevent inappropriate NH closures.

Abstract

Objectives: To understand dementia care providers’ perspectives on high-quality care for persons living with dementia (PLWD) in long-term care (LTC). Design: A qualitative study using a directed content analysis approach. Setting and Participants: Nine national LTC dementia care providers. Methods: We facilitated 5 listening sessions centered around dementia care philosophies, models, and practices. Two researchers first mapped qualitative data to the Holistic Approach to Transformational Change (HATCh) model for dementia care using a directed content analysis approach. They then identified themes and subthemes emerging from the data using a conventional analysis approach. They coded data iteratively and solicited input from 3 additional researchers to reach consensus where needed. Member checks were performed to ensure the trustworthiness of the data during 2 follow-up listening sessions. Results: The 9 participants described the importance of understanding the experiences of PLWDs in order to provide high-quality dementia care and to deliver such care with the residents and their preferences as the focus. They emphasized experiential education as essential for families and all staff, regardless of role. They noted the need to balance safety with resident choice, as well as the corresponding need for facility leadership and regulators to support such choices. The listening sessions revealed areas to foster person-centered care for PLWD, but also highlighted barriers to implementing this philosophy in LTC settings. Conclusions and Implications: Emergent themes included care practices that center on resident preferences and are supported by staff with the experiential education and communication skills necessary to relate to and support PLWD. These findings provide contextual information for researchers seeking to identify and test interventions that reflect LTC providers’ priorities for PLWD and emphasize the need to align research priorities with provider priorities.

Abstract

We analyze the 2004, 2008, and 2014 longitudinal panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to compare the percentage of long-term care (LTC) workers who held a second job in an LTC setting or in any industry at the first panel observation versus over a longer time period. We find that around 5% to 7% of LTC workers held a second job in another LTC setting in their first panel observation. However, we found that 20% to 30% of LTC workers held a second job in LTC during the survey period of 3 to 4 years, and 30% to 40% of LTC workers held a second job in any industry during the survey period. Our findings suggest that second job holding is widespread among LTC workers. Future research should focus on how facilities and organizations can reduce the spread of infectious disease among workers who are working in multiple settings.

Abstract

Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has disproportionately impacted nursing homes (NHs) with large shares of Black residents. We examined the associations between the proportion of Black residents in NHs and COVID-19 infections and deaths, accounting for structural bias (operationalized as county-level factors) and stratifying by urbanicity/rurality. Design: This was a cross-sectional observational cohort study using publicly available data from the LTCfocus, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Long-Term Care Facility COVID-19 Module, and the NYTimes county-level COVID-19 database. Four multivariable linear regression models omitting and including facility characteristics, COVID-19 burden, and county-level fixed effects were estimated. Setting and Participants: In total, 11,587 US NHs that reported data on COVID-19 to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and had data in LTCfocus and NYTimes from January 20, 2020 through July 19, 2020. Measures: Proportion of Black residents in NHs (exposure); COVID-19 infections and deaths (main outcomes). Results: The proportion of Black residents in NHs were as follows: none= 3639 (31.4%), <20% = 1020 (8.8%), 20%-49.9% = 1586 (13.7%), ≥50% = 681 (5.9%), not reported = 4661 (40.2%). NHs with any Black residents showed significantly more COVID-19 infections and deaths than NHs with no Black residents. There were 13.6 percentage points more infections and 3.5 percentage points more deaths in NHs with ≥50% Black residents than in NHs with no Black residents (P <.001). Although facility characteristics explained some of the differences found in multivariable analyses, county-level factors and rurality explained more of the differences. Conclusions and Implications: It is likely that attributes of place, such as resources, services, and providers, important to equitable care and health outcomes are not readily available to counties where NHs have greater proportions of Black residents. Structural bias may underlie these inequities. It is imperative that support be provided to NHs that serve greater proportions of Black residents while considering the rurality of the NH setting.

Abstract

Background: Research suggests that growth in Black and Hispanic (minority) older adults' nursing home (NH) use may be the result of disparities in access to community-based and alternative long-term services and supports (LTSS). Objective: We aimed to determine whether minority groups receiving care in NHs versus the community had fewer differences in their functional needs compared with the differences in nonminority older adults, suggesting a disparity. Methods: We identified respondents aged 65 years or above with a diagnosis of Alzheimer disease or dementia in the 2016 Health and Retirement Study who reported requiring LTSS help. We performed unadjusted analyses to assess the difference in functional need between community and NH care. Functional need was operationalized using a functional limitations score and 6 individual activities of daily living. We compared the LTSS setting for minority older adults to White older adults using difference-in-differences. Results: There were 186 minority older adults (community = 75%, NH = 25%) and 357 White older adults (community = 50%, NH = 50%). Between settings, minority older adults did not differ in education or marital status, but were younger and had greater income in the NH versus the community. The functional limitations score was higher in NHs than in the community for both groups. Functional needs for all 6 activities of daily living for the minority group were greater in NHs compared with the community. Conclusion: Functional need for minority older adults differed by setting while demographics varied in unexpected ways. Factors such as familial and financial support are important to consider when implementing programs to keep older adults out of NHs.

Abstract

Objectives: Despite increased risk for chronic disease, there is limited research that has examined disparities in multimorbidity among sexual minority adults and whether these disparities differ by age. Methods: Data were from the 2014–2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. We used sex-stratified multinomial logistic regression to examine differences in multimorbidity between sexual minority and heterosexual cisgender adults and whether hypothesized differences varied across age-groups. Results: The sample included 687,151 adults. Gay, lesbian, and bisexual adults had higher odds of meeting criteria for multimorbidity than same-sex heterosexual adults. These disparities were greater among sexual minority adults under the age of 50 years. Only other non-heterosexual men over the age of 50 years and lesbian women over the age of 80 years were less likely to have multimorbidity than their same-sex heterosexual counterparts. Discussion: Health promotion interventions to reduce adverse health outcomes among sexual minorities across the life span are needed.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine if Black nurses are more likely to report job dissatisfaction and whether factors related to dissatisfaction influence differences in intent to leave. BACKGROUND: Minority nurses report higher job dissatisfaction and intent to leave, yet little is known about factors associated with these differences in community settings. METHOD: Cross-sectional analysis of 11 778 nurses working in community-based settings was conducted. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association among race, job satisfaction, and intent to leave. RESULTS: Black nurses were more likely to report job dissatisfaction and intent to leave. Black nurses' intent to leave decreased in adjusted models that accounted for dissatisfaction with aspects of their jobs including salary, advancement opportunities, autonomy, and tuition benefits. CONCLUSION: Nurse administrators may find opportunities to decrease intent to leave among Black nurses through focused efforts to target areas of dissatisfaction.