Nursing Home Research

Major Issues in Geriatrics over the Last Five Years

“…As we have previously chronicled, there has been an increase in the sophistication of nursing home research 94 . There has been a marked increase in the recognition of the high prevalence of depression in nursing homes 95 and the fact that it is often not treated in nursing home residents 96 .…”

Geriatric Medicine: A True Subspecialty

“…Similarly, the geriatrician has developed the management skills to improve patient outcomes through geriatric evaluation and management units 6,7 . Geriatricians also are trained to be the ideal medical director, overseeing the practice patterns of primary care physicians in nursing homes 8,9 …”

“…Geriatrics as a new subspecialty often attempts to hold itself to a higher standard than other subspecialties. Geriatricians have flagellated themselves for their failure to demonstrate a marked effect of geriatric consultation 14 and have gloried in the success of geriatric evaluation and management units 7,8 . Other subspecialties have made little effort to demonstrate that their services provide any advantage over primary care physicians.…”

In Reply

“…Dean's concept of dividing the impact factor by circulation is innovative 2 . However, I feel that in a time in which articles in most journals are readily accessible through electronic searching techniques, it is unlikely that a high‐quality article will not be cited because of the low circulation of a journal.…”

“…Having said this, I should point out that the present editorial group has no intention of resting on laurels earned by our predecessors at the Journal . For example, the role of nursing home research in the Journal has been recently reviewed 2 . This led to specific suggestions to contributors and funding agencies in an attempt to improve the Journal's performance in this area.…”