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The Latest Research, Commentary, And News From Health Affairs

Thursday, May 6, 2021

Dear John,

Today, we highlight three new articles about aging and health.

Hearing Loss, Nursing Home Staff, And Hospice

Three new articles in the May edition of Health Affairs discuss issues
affecting the aging population.

As part of our new Age-Friendly Health
series, Nicholas Reed and
coauthors examined how hearing loss affects older adults' health
outcomes and quality of care
.
Medicare beneficiaries reporting "a lot of trouble hearing" had 49
percent higher odds of not having a usual source of care and 85 percent
higher odds of not obtaining medical care when needed, compared with
beneficiaries without trouble hearing.

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Rachel Werner and Norma Coe examined changes in nursing home staffing
during the COVID-19 pandemic
.
Although they found that the total number of hours worked by nursing
home staff declined during the  pandemic, there was a concurrent
decline in the average nursing home census during the same period. When
the decline in census was accounted for, nurse staffing hours per
resident day remained steady or increased slightly.

In May's Narrative Matters essay, Krista Lyn Harrison describes how
the hospice model fails when patients die more slowly than expected
.
"Hospice has become care for people dying fast, not for those trying
to live well while dying slow," Harrison writes as she recounts her
stepfather's experience in hospice with a neurodegenerative disease.

Today on Health Affairs Blog, Lena Faust and Leigh Raithby discuss how
thelack of approvals for tuberculosis vaccines

in the past century represents a clear example of neglect of a disease
that predominantly affects the poor.

As part of the Health Affairs Blog short series, "Envisioning A
Transformed Clinical Trials Enterprise For 2030," Silas Buchanan
argues that any discussion about improving inclusive engagement in
clinical trials

must acknowledge systemic racism.

In a new GrantWatch post, Joan Guzik writes about lessons learned from
United Hospital Fund's efforts to improve the transition of frail
older patients from skilled nursing facilities to home

by engaging eight New York City facilities in a learning collaborative.

Elevating Voices: Asian American and Pacific Islander American Heritage
Month: In a 2012 article, Renee Yuen-Jan Hsia and coauthors found that
minority patients in the acute care system disproportionately experience
the effects of emergency department crowding

when measured by ambulance diversion. These disparities arise from
"upstream" causes before patients reach their hospital destination,
such as inadequate management of patient flow, the authors explained.

On this day of Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week we are looking back
at two articles highlighting organizations that support the perinatal
health of mothers with opioid use disorder. In a study published in the
April 2020 issue, K. John McConnell and coauthors found that Project
Nurture, an innovative model that integrates maternity care, substance
use treatment, and social service coordination

for Medicaid enrollees, reduces foster care placement and child
maltreatment rates in the first year of life.

And in January 2021's Leading To Health article, Melba Newsome
profiles Project CARA (Care that Advocates for Respect, Resilience and
Recovery for All)
,
a perinatal substance use treatment program.

Your Daily Digest

Medicare Beneficiaries With Self-Reported Functional Hearing Difficulty
Have Unmet Health Care Needs

Nicholas S. Reed, Lama Assi, Wakako Horiuchi, Julie E. Hoover-Fong,
Frank R. Lin, Lauren E. Ferrante, Sharon K. Inouye, Edgar R. Miller III,
Emily F. Boss, Esther S. Oh, and Amber Willink

Nursing Home Staffing Levels Did Not Change Significantly During
COVID-19

Rachel M. Werner and Norma B. Coe

The Hidden Curriculum Of Hospice: Die Fast, Not Slow

Krista Lyn Harrison

The 100th Anniversary Of A Vaccine Against A Deadly Disease: Not A Cause
For Celebration

Lena Faust and Leigh Raithby

Driving Towards More Inclusive Clinical Trials By 2030: Action Without
Strategy is Aimless, Strategy Without Action is Powerless

Silas Buchanan

Navigating Care Transitions From SNF To Home During A Pandemic-Lessons
Learned

Joan Guzik

California Hospitals Serving Large Minority Populations Were More Likely
Than Others To Employ Ambulance Diversion

Renee Yuen-Jan Hsia, Steven M. Asch, Robert E. Weiss, David Zingmond,
Li-Jung Liang, Weijuan Han, Heather McCreath, and Benjamin C. Sun

Project Nurture Integrates Care And Services To Improve Outcomes For
Opioid-Dependent Mothers And Their Children

K. John McConnell, Menolly R. Kaufman, Jenny I. Grunditz, Helen
Bellanca, Amanda Risser, Maria I. Rodriguez, and Stephanie Renfro

Critical Support Where High-Risk Pregnancy Meets Addiction

Melba Newsome

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About Health Affairs

Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewed journal
at the intersection of health,
health care, and policy. Published monthly by Project HOPE, the journal
is available in print and online. Late-breaking content is also found
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Affairs Today , and Health
Affairs Sunday Update .  

Project HOPE is a global health and
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published Health Affairs since 1981.

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