Close up image of a caretaker helping older woman walk

» The LeadingAge Center for Workforce Solutions has released an Excel-based turnover cost calculator tool to help providers estimate how much staff turnover is costing their community. The organization notes that the rule of thumb for the cost of replacing any employee is 25% of the salary amount.

» Columbia University engineers have invented a robotic device to assist and train people with spinal cord injuries to sit more stably by improving their trunk control. The Trunk-Support Trainer is a motorized-cable driven belt placed on the user’s torso that helps patients maximize their trunk movements without falling over or using their hands to balance. The study is published in Spinal Cord Series and Cases.

» Researchers at The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH, have developed a way to boost a struggling immune system’s fight against sepsis, a deadly condition resulting from the body’s extreme reaction to infection. In experiments treating mice with sepsis, scientists used nanotechnology to transform donated healthy immune cells into a drug with enhanced power to kill bacteria. The drug eliminated bacteria in the blood and major organs of the mice, dramatically improving survival rates. The study is published in Nature Nanotechnology.

» A majority of older Americans says the wait time for an appointment, recommendations from other doctors and a physician’s level of experience all matter more when it comes to choosing a physician, even more than online reviews or recommendations from friends. That’s according to a University of Michigan poll conducted with more than 2,200 adults ages 50 to 80. 

» A November ransomware attack on information technology vendor Virtual Care Provider Inc. resulted in 110 nursing homes and acute-care facilities being unable to access patient records. The Wisconsin-based vendor is now sharing its insights with the long-term care community on how to prevent future data breaches through a six-part story about its findings from the event. The six-part series is available on the Virtual Care Provider Inc. website.