By Karen Guin

UCF researchers are the authors of a new book, Improving the Quality of Care in Nursing Homes, published this month by Johns Hopkins University Press.

The service-oriented guide is "a landmark contribution to informing professionals and advocates working for effective, efficient care of nursing home residents," according to Bernard Roos, professor of medicine and director of the University of Miami Geriatrics Institute.

Thomas T. H. Wan, Gerald-Mark Breen, Ning Jackie Zhang and Lynn Unruh wrote the book after conducting a wide-scale study on the quality of care in nursing homes. The project was funded in part by a grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health.

The authors begin with a review of the history, development and current state of nursing homes. They go on to define the concept of "quality" in a nursing home and discuss how it is measured. They also identify the many factors and issues that affect quality of care, and they discuss the relationship between efficiency and quality of care.

Throughout the book, the authors make recommendations for improving care based on scientific methodology and real-world experience.

The publication is considered "an unequaled, much-needed scientific review of nursing home quality" by Michele F. Bellatoni, a physician with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Wan is a professor of public affairs and associate dean for research in the College of Health and Public Affairs, Zhang is an associate professor of public affairs and Unruh is an associate professor of health management and informatics. Breen was a research associate in public affairs until his death in March 2010.

 

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