Research Grant – Female Urinary Incontinence

Angie SzumlinskiFeatured, Health

Urinary incontinence is referred to as a “late loss ADL” however many of our female residents are wearing incontinent briefs and/or pads every day, and few receive evidence-based care for their incontinence. The consequences of untreated urinary incontinence are lower quality of life with higher morbidity and mortality. A recent systematic review commissioned by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) …

FDA Authorizes Revisions to Fact Sheets

Angie SzumlinskiFeatured, Health

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized revised fact sheets for health care providers to include additional information on susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2 variants to each of the monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies that are available through an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the treatment of COVID-19. Health care providers should review the fact sheets for details regarding specific variants and potential …

Observational Studies – Inform COVID-19 Control Measures

Angie SzumlinskiFeatured, Studies

A year into the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic there remains an urgent need to limit severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spread and to curb the pandemic in the U.S. through non-pharmaceutical interventions. Clear evidence supports the effectiveness of simple strategies in identifying risks and mitigating the spread of infection, with much of this evidence coming from observational …

mRNA – Multiple Sclerosis

Angie SzumlinskiAnnouncements, Featured

Autoimmune diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS), result from a breath of immunological self-tolerance and tissue damage by autoreactive T lymphocytes. Current treatments can cause systemic immune suppression and side effects such as an increased risk of infections. Krienke et al. designed a messenger RNA vaccine strategy that lacks adjuvant activity and delivers MS autoantigens into lymphoid cells. This approach …

Sleep Apnea – FDA Approval

Angie SzumlinskiFeatured, Studies

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized marketing a new prescription-only device intended to reduce snoring and mild obstructive sleep apnea. Unlike devices used while patients sleep, this is the first device used while awake that is intended to improve tongue muscle function, which in time can help prevent the tongue from collapsing backward and obstructing the airway during sleep. …

Nursing Homes Release Reform Agenda to Address Systemic Issues Facing Long Term Care Sector

Angie SzumlinskiFeatured, News

This morning, the American Health Care Association announced their new reform agenda, the Care for Our Seniors Act, in partnership with LeadingAge. Check out excerpts from their statement below, or click here for their full announcement. “The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated systemic issues impacting the nursing home sector, such as workforce shortages, aging physical plants, and underfunded government …

CDC COVID Data Tracker

Angie SzumlinskiAnnouncements, Featured

Effective Friday, February 12, 2021, COVIDView has been replaced with this new COVID Data Tracker Weekly Review. This new webpage and newsletter include visuals from the week and narrative interpretations using data from CDC’s COVID Data Tracker. Additional priority data will be added in future weeks, including race and ethnicity. Stop Variants by Stopping the Spread Viruses change (or mutate) …

Reinfection – Is It Real

Angie SzumlinskiFeatured, Studies

As millions of Americans struggle to recover from COVID and millions more scramble for the protection offered by vaccines, U.S. health officials may be overlooking an unsettling subgroup of survivors: those who get infected more than once! Identifying how common reinfection is among people who contracted COVID as well as how quickly they become vulnerable and why carries important implications …

Emerging Variants – CDC Data

Angie SzumlinskiFeatured, Studies

The emerging variants the CDC is closely monitoring have mutations in the virus genome that alter the characteristics and cause the virus to act differently in ways that are significant to public health (i.e., causes more severe disease, spreads more easily between humans, requires different treatments, changes the effectiveness of current vaccines). It is important to understand that genetic mutations …

$237M – Nursing Home Action Network

Angie SzumlinskiAnnouncements, Featured, Training

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), part of HHS, is partnering with the University of New Mexico’s ECHO Institute in Albuquerque and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in Boston to establish the network, which will provide free training and mentorship to nursing homes across the U.S. The project ECHO, or Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes, includes more …