Increasing quality of life in nursing homes

Nursing home residents' quality of life (QOL) is highly impacted by the amount of personal attention received from facility staff, according to new research from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

Findings from the study indicate the average time nursing home residents spend with activity staff is only 20 minutes per day. Yet, despite this short amount of time, activity staff hours have a consistent positive impact on residents' QOL. By augmenting quality of care initiatives with efforts designed around increasing social and mentally stimulating activities, nursing homes can dramatically increase QOL for residents.