Georgia State awarded $1.6M to help improve state’s nursing homes

Georgia State University has been awarded $1.6 million for a three-year train- ing and development project to improve the state’s nursing homes, the university announced Tuesday.

The project, called “Build- ing Resources for Delivering Person-Centered Care in Georgia Nursing Homes,” builds on work done by the nonprofit Culture Change Network of Georgia to support culture change and person-centered care in long- term care services and support organizations, the uni- versity said in a news release.

The work will include a needs-based assessment of Georgia’s 374 nursing homes and interactive competen- cy-based online continuing education training for nurs- ing home staff, residents and informal care partners.

“Nursing homes do not always have adequate support and resources to improve the education of their staff and to sustain a robust continuous quality improvement cycle,” said Jennifer Craft Morgan, an assistant professor of gerontology who will help lead the study.

“Residents of nursing homes can experience loss of autonomy, independence and loneliness when care isn’t tailored to their personal needs and preferences,” Morgan said.

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report last year found the state is often slow to investi- gate nursing home patients who may be at imminent risk of serious injury or death.

The money, going to GSU’s Gerontology Institute, is coming from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Georgia State Survey Agency.