Individuals with dysphagia who reside in nursing homes often receive inadequate mouth care and experience poor oral health. From a policy perspective, the combination of absent evidence-based mouth care protocols coupled with insufficient dental coverage create a pool of individuals at great risk for preventable infectious illnesses that contribute to high health care costs. The purpose of the current study was to determine (a) the safety of a mouth care protocol tailored for individuals with dysphagia residing in nursing homes without access to suction equipment, and (b) the feasibility of collecting oral and fecal samples for microbiota analyses. The mouth care protocol resulted in improved oral hygiene without aspiration, and oral and fecal samples were safely collected from participants. Policies supporting ongoing testing of evidence-based mouth care protocols for individuals with dysphagia are important to improve quality, demonstrate efficacy, and save health care costs. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 43(9), 9-15.].

Eleven studies were identified. The content and foci of the 11 studies fell into one of three categories: theory testing, imaging evidence, and interventions for individuals with AHP.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the association between the presence and severity of anosognosia for hemiplegia (AHP) and falls in stroke survivors. Design: A prospective, correlational research design was utilized. Methods: Primary instrumentation included demographic information and the Visual-Analogue Test for Anosognosia for motor impairment (VATA-m). Correlational and regression analyses were performed between a priori variables.Results: There was no statistically significant relationship found between AHP and falls. An incidental finding included that clinicians erroneously charted that their patients were aware of their physical limitations 100% of the time, which indicates that there is discord between clinicians and patients regarding physical limitations. Conclusions: Though no statistically significant relationship was found between AHP and falls, the incidental finding of dissonance between the patient and the clinician has important clinical implications. Relevance: The relationship between AHP and stroke rehabilitation outcomes is still not understood, and incorporating part of the VATA-m into patient assessment could improve clinician understanding of patient awareness.

Using a structured approach to improvement that integrates methodological frameworks and commonly used improvement tools and techniques allows an improvement team to systematically implement and evaluate an intervention. Authors from one academic medical center will describe our four-step structured improvement approach in the design of a dedicated education unit (DEU) pilot to potentially meet a critical post-COVID-19 workforce need. Using our structured improvement approach, we successfully piloted a DEU with a unit-based clinical educator and 16 nursing students over 26 clinical days and received 13 preintervention surveys from participants. Although the DEU pilot was small with limited data, the structured improvement approach resulted in an organized and systematic way of designing, implementing, and evaluating improvement.

the needs of disadvantaged patients and those with dementia are key themes. Over 1/3 of successful GWEP applicants have incorporated palliative care educational and clinical initiatives into their projects. This will be the only major federal funding for geriatrics in the coming years; it is critical to leverage this opportunity and learn from this experience. Thus far, the GWEP roll out has received little attention within the palliative care field. This session will explore the full range of palliative GWEP initiatives. The moderator will introduce the background to the GWEP geriatrics-palliative care collaborations and panelists will briefly describe current projects in several categories while identifying target learners, sites of care, clinical/educational methods and special patient populations. Attendees will then rotate freely among breakout tables exploring projects devoted to: nursing home care, curricular innovations, patients with dementia, home/hospice care and primary care/community initiatives. Attendees will plan how to apply these new models to better collaborate with geriatrics colleagues back in their home institutions.