title: Does Nursing Facility Use of Habilitation Therapy Improve Performance on Quality Measures?
abstract: The purpose of the project, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation study, was to evaluate the impact on 12 quality measures including 10 Minimum Data Set (MDS) publicly reported measures and 2 nursing home process measures using habilitation therapy techniques and a behavior team to manage dementia-related behaviors. A prospective design was used to assess the changes in the measures. A total of 30 Massachusetts nursing homes participated in the project over a 12-month period. Project participation required the creation of an interdisciplinary behavior team, habilitation therapy training, facility visit by the program coordinator, attendance at bimonthly support and sharing calls, and monthly collection of process measure data. Participating facilities showed improvement in 9 of the 12 reported measures. Findings indicate potential quality improvement in having nursing homes learn habilitation therapy techniques and know how to use the interdisciplinary team to manage problem behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Healthcentric Advisors, Woburn, MA, USA sfitzler@comcast.net.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fitzler
authors.affiliation: Alzheimer's Association, Watertown, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Raia
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Physicians Organization, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Fredrick O
authors.initials: FO
authors.lastname: Buckley
authors.affiliation: Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000193:education / Q000379:methods*; D014487:Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S. / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008404:Massachusetts; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000592:standards*; D000066553:Problem Behavior; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000592:standards*; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States
keywords: habilitation therapy; interdisciplinary behavior team; nursing home; quality measures