Chart reviews and interviews of 198 residents in 22 assisted living facilities in central Maryland, conducted by researchers with Johns Hopkins University, found “a disconnect between the medical complexity of residents and some aspects of [assisted living] care.”  They found that “residents with more chronic conditions were no more likely than residents with fewer conditions to be living in facilities with more licensed nurses, lower resident-to-staff ratios, or in facilities with higher state-regulated ‘level of care’ certification.”  Matthew K. McNabney, MD, et al, “The Spectrum of Medical Illness and Medication Use Among Residents of Assisted Living Facilities in Central Maryland,” Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (JAMDA) 2008;9:558-564.

A companion editorial points out the need for assisted living facilities “to adjust care provision” to meet residents’ needs.  Steven A. Levenson, “Assisted Living: Shall We Learn from History or Repeat it? JAMDA 2008;9:539.  Describing assisted living performance across the country as “uneven and often problematic,” Dr. Levenson
questions four common themes promoted by the industry: “(1) assisted living is a social, not a medical model; (2) assisted living can do most of what nursing homes do; (3) assisted living is about freedom of choice; and (4) assisted living should not be overregulated.”

An abstract of the research article is available at http://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(08)00105-9/pdf.  For copies of the article and editorial, contact ALCA Board Member Toby S. Edelman at tedelman@medicareadvocacy.org.