Long-Term Care Survey Alert

--Have you checked out the draft MDS 3.0? The revamped instrument requires staff to use a structured interview approach for assessing cognition, mood, preferences for daily events and activities and pain. Rand Corporation is currently conducting a national evaluation of the performance of the draft MDS 3.0, with its final report due to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in December 2007. The draft pain-related questions also include "chart-based items" that, for example, ask whether the person is on a scheduled pain medication regimen, says Rand researcher Debra Saliba, MD, MPH. (For a copy of the draft MDS 3.0 and a free issue of MDS Alert with extensive coverage of the draft MDS 3.0, please send your e-mail request to the editor at editormon@aol.com.)

A structured exercise program may help seniors ward off a major "walking disability." That's the findings of a study reported in the November 2006 Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences. "Lower-extremity functioning is a very powerful marker for overall function and the risk of disability. This research suggests that a multi-faceted program of aerobic, strength, balance and flexibility exercises can make a difference for older adults by significantly improving their walking ability," said Jack M. Guralnik, MD, PhD, with the National Institute on Aging, in a statement.