Nursing Home

Second of two parts LITTLETON - Marjorie Bontempo was a changed woman after moving into Life Care Center of Nashoba Valley, a Littleton nursing home where the staff doesn't believe in using antipsychotic drugs simply to calm residents. A physician had prescribed an antipsychotic for Bontempo a year earlier, after Alzheimer's disease had transformed her from an accomplished seamstress and demure family peacekeeper into a cantankerous, confused woman who refused to eat. The medicine eased her aggression but left her dazed, said her daughter, Patty Sinnett.

Finding the right nursing home is a daunting task most of us will face, as two-thirds of people over 65 will need nursing home care, at least temporarily, according to AARP. It's best to research facilities in advance, but a sudden illness or injury may force you to confront things sooner than you expect. Here are several key considerations:  ■ Stay close. The biggest influence on the quality of care nursing home patients receive is often the frequency of visits by friends and family.

First of two parts. Rosanne Murphy was growing more agitated as she sank deeper into Alzheimer's disease. Unable to bathe, dress, or feed herself, she would call her daughter in a panic many nights at bedtime, not remembering where she was. It was time, her daughter, Alison Weingartner, realized - time for her mother, then 80, to move to a nursing home. Over two months in early 2006, she visited 10 facilities, trying to make sure she picked the right one. Weingartner finally chose Ledgewood Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center in Beverly because it had an Alzheimer's special...

A loophole in Massachusetts law that allows nursing homes to advertise specialized Alzheimer's and dementia care units, even though their workers may have no training in caring for such residents, is one step closer to being closed. A proposal that would establish minimum standards for such units was approved by the state House of Representatives on Wednesday and is headed for the Senate. The bill would require the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, which regulates nursing homes, to establish minimum standards for facilities with dementia care units.

Dementia is a major health concern of our aging population. The safe, effective treatment of dementia's behavioral complications challenges those who care for the cognitively impaired. The front-page articles " A rampant prescription, a hidden peril " (April 29) and "Finding alternatives to potent sedatives" (April 30) informed the public of the hazards of using antipsychotic drugs in nursing homes without providing the balance necessary for understanding this issue. As geriatric psychiatrists, we support the view that behavioral interventions are foremost in...

Every Sunday, Harvard pre-med student Ryan Christ goes to a Roslindale nursing home to visit the woman he calls his mentor, an 85-year-old physician named Sofia Itkis. Itkis advises him on everything from politics to girlfriends to careers. She tells him to make the most of his Harvard education, though she doesn't think much of Harvard doctors. She talks about the fulfillment found in public service. One week, though, she mentioned something Christ really took to heart.

The Globe recently explored the overuse of antipsychotic drugs in nursing home patients with dementia. The two-part series — which included a database of facilities nationwide and their frequency of prescribing antipsychotic drugs inappropriately — prompted a flood of calls to the toll-free Alzheimer's helpline, 800-272-3900. Readers wanted advice on finding the right nursing home for their loved one, which can be the most heart-rending and perhaps toughest decision that many of us will ever have to make.

For Michelle Kane, it's one of the best parts of her job. A woman at a nursing home in Needham contacted Kane, saying she had been saving newspaper articles of historic events for more than 40 years. The woman was afraid the same fate might befall her collection as that of a neighbor's: thrown out after her passing. When Kane and Kathy Cormier "went to see her in the nursing home, she was so happy to know that we were going to do something wonderful and rewarding with her papers," Kane said.

CARTHAGE, N.C. - Authorities worked yesterday to unravel the mystery of why a 45-year-old painter tore through a North Carolina nursing home on a terrifying rampage that left eight dead. They released few details but said the shooting spree wasn't a "random act of violence. " One possible clue: the gunman's estranged wife works at Pinelake Health and Rehab and was there when authorities said Robert Stewart stormed in and killed seven residents - most in their late 80s - and a nurse who cared for them.

CARTHAGE, N.C. - The nurse's assistant who may have been the target of a deadly nursing home rampage in North Carolina survived by hiding in a bathroom inside a locked area for Alzheimer's patients, her mother said yesterday. Margaret Neal said her daughter Wanda is "devastated" by the alleged actions of her estranged husband, Robert Stewart, who authorities believe killed seven residents and a nurse during Sunday's attack. She believes Stewart was after her daughter, who was safe behind the passcode-protected doors of the Alzheimer's care unit as he allegedly shot up the...

Three US senators are ratcheting up a campaign to slash the misuse of powerful sedatives, known as antipsychotics, in the nation's nursing homes. The three -- Senators Herb Kohl, D-Wis., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. -- have filed a proposal that would require federal regulators to issue standardized rules for nursing homes to follow in seeking permission from patients, or their designated health care agents, such as a family member, before administering antipsychotics for so-called off-label use. The Food and Drug...

The Globe recently explored the overuse of antipsychotic drugs in nursing home patients with dementia. The two-part series — which included a database of facilities nationwide and their frequency of prescribing antipsychotic drugs inappropriately — prompted a flood of calls to the toll-free Alzheimer's helpline, 800-272-3900. Readers wanted advice on finding the right nursing home for their loved one, which can be the most heart-rending and perhaps toughest decision that many of us will ever have to make.

Older adults with dementia are more likely to spend their final days at home rather than in nursing homes, according to a new study that contradicts a commonly held view. Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine used electronic medical records and home health and nursing home data to track more than 4,000 older adults treated in hospitals, more than 1,500 of whom had dementia, from 2001 to 2008. Many of the patients with dementia were moved to a nursing home from the hospital, but they did not stay there.

Dementia is a major health concern of our aging population. The safe, effective treatment of dementia's behavioral complications challenges those who care for the cognitively impaired. The front-page articles " A rampant prescription, a hidden peril " (April 29) and "Finding alternatives to potent sedatives" (April 30) informed the public of the hazards of using antipsychotic drugs in nursing homes without providing the balance necessary for understanding this issue. As geriatric psychiatrists, we support the view that behavioral interventions are foremost in...

Every Sunday, Harvard pre-med student Ryan Christ goes to a Roslindale nursing home to visit the woman he calls his mentor, an 85-year-old physician named Sofia Itkis. Itkis advises him on everything from politics to girlfriends to careers. She tells him to make the most of his Harvard education, though she doesn't think much of Harvard doctors. She talks about the fulfillment found in public service. One week, though, she mentioned something Christ really took to heart.

Second of two parts LITTLETON - Marjorie Bontempo was a changed woman after moving into Life Care Center of Nashoba Valley, a Littleton nursing home where the staff doesn't believe in using antipsychotic drugs simply to calm residents. A physician had prescribed an antipsychotic for Bontempo a year earlier, after Alzheimer's disease had transformed her from an accomplished seamstress and demure family peacekeeper into a cantankerous, confused woman who refused to eat. The medicine eased her aggression but left her dazed, said her daughter, Patty Sinnett.

LONDON - Millvina Dean was 2 months old when she was wrapped in a sack and lowered into a lifeboat from the doomed Titanic. Now 96, the last survivor of the tragic sinking is selling mementos of the disaster to help pay her nursing home fees. Rescued from the bitterly cold Atlantic on that April 1912 night, Dean, her 2-year-old brother, and her mother were taken to New York with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Before returning home to England, they were given a small wicker suitcase of donated clothing, a gift from New Yorkers to help them rebuild their lives.