Lawmakers propose regs for Alzheimer’s special care units

A pair of bills pending before the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs would force the state Department of Public Health to issue regulations governing specialized Alzheimer’s units in nursing homes.
The local chapter of the national Alzheimer’s Association has expressed frustration with the DPH for failing to advance guidelines and standards of care for the units.

James Wessler, president and CEO of the Massachusetts and New Hampshire chapter of the association, said, “Many of [the units] are good, but there are too many outliers.”

One-third of the state’s 425 nursing homes have special care units. Wessler’s group has been pushing the DPH to set regulations for the units for four years, he said.

According to the association, Massachusetts has 120,000 residents with Alzheimer’s.

However, DPH spokeswoman Jennifer Manley contended that the regulations and the specialized units themselves are not needed because such a large proportion of nursing home residents have some form of dementia, including Alzheimer’s. In its most recent review, the DPH found that more than 60 percent of all nursing home patients had some form of dementia, Manley said.

The chairs of the committee, Rep. Alice Wolf, D-Cambridge, and Sen. Patricia Jehlen, D-Somerville, both expressed interest in moving quickly on a bill. A similar bill passed the Senate last year, but died in the House at the end of the session.