The KQED-TV (5/30, Dornhelm) “State of Health” blog reported that new CMS “guidelines stipulate that nursing homes are graded on the percent of their dementia patients receiving antipsychotic medications,” a grade that “becomes part of their rating on Nursing Home Compare.” Reducing antipsychotic use “requires new approaches and retraining staff.” The article cited examples of “patient-centered care, which means being attentive to the cues people give and trying to understand what is bothering them even if they can’t communicate it directly.”

Related Links:

— “Calming Dementia Patients Without Powerful Drugs,” Rachel Dornhelm, Kaiser Health News, May 29, 2015.

Noting that Medicare covers grief and loss counseling for family caregivers for up to a year following a beneficiary’s death, the Kaiser Health News (5/30, Andrews) reported that a new study “found that hospice services had only a modest impact on symptoms of depression in surviving spouses.” The study, published online in JAMA Internal Medicine last week, “examined symptoms of depression among 1,016 surviving spouses who were interviewed as part of the Health and Retirement Study, an ongoing survey of a representative sample of adults older than age 50.” More than half of spouses experienced a worsening of their depressive symptoms “following their loved one’s death, regardless of whether they used hospice, the study found.”

Related Links:

— “Medicare Pays For Spouses To Get Grief Counseling Through Hospice,” Michelle Andrews, Kaiser Health News, May 29, 2015.

Reuters (5/29, Rapaport) reports that the results of a 146-participant study published online April 19 in the Journals of Gerontology Series A suggest that better fitness during middle age may be linked to a healthier brain in later years. In an email, lead author Qu Tian, a gerontology researcher at the US National Institute on Aging, said, “The current findings suggest that maintaining high fitness in midlife may boost brain health on average 20 years later in adults who have not yet experienced cognitive impairment.”

Related Links:

— “Fitness in middle age linked to healthier brain in later years,” Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, May 28, 2015.

In continuing coverage, the Washington Post (5/29, Sun) “To Your Health” blog reports that in an NCHS Data Brief, the CDC has released results of a study suggesting that “women in every age group in the United States were more likely than men to have serious mental health problems.” Researchers arrived at that conclusion after analyzing data from the National Health Insurance Survey. The report “also found that more than one-fourth of people age 65 or older who are afflicted with these mental health problems have difficulty feeding, bathing and dressing themselves,” a finding that “researchers said…was surprising.”

Related Links:

— “Report: Women are more likely to have serious mental health problems than men,” Lena H. Sun, Washington Post, May 28, 2015.

In a 5,700-word piece, the New York Times Magazine (5/31, MM35, Solomon) reports that “antenatal depression, or depression suffered during pregnancy…affects up to 15 percent of expectant women.” When the condition is severe, it poses a dilemma for women who are taking antidepressant medications, particularly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Many women are afraid to take them for fear of harming the fetus. Untreated depression, however, has “been linked in multiple studies to miscarriage, pre-eclampsia, preterm birth, neonatal complications and smaller newborns.”

What’s more, maternal depression may “alter a newborn’s amygdala…while high levels of stress during pregnancy are associated with cognitive impairment and slowed language development.” Women should consult with their physicians on what to do. In some cases, cognitive behavioral therapy or interpersonal therapy may provide a medication-free alternative.

Related Links:

— “The Secret Sadness of Pregnancy With Depression,” Andrew Solomon, New York Times Magazine, May 28, 2015.