The scoring system government agencies use to rate nursing home quality does not provide an adequate evaluation because they do not take into account the degree of cognitive impairment of their patient populations and whether facilities include a specialized dementia unit according to a new study.

Focusing on statistics from Minnesota, researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine and the Regenstrief Institute report on the inadequacy of quality of care indicators for nursing home residents with behavioral and psychological systems related to dementia in a study published in the November 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association.

Family members or friends caring for aging or disabled individuals in California are under both financial and emotional strain and are likely to face even greater burdens, given recent cuts in state support for programs and services that support in-home care, write the authors of a new policy brief by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.