Nursing homes: a health-promoting or dependency-promoting environment?

Health promotion and disease prevention in nursing homes (NHs) are important but highly neglected issues. This study compares the care of residents in 2 proprietary NHs (a dependency-promoting environment) with the care of residents on a hospice unit at a government-owned facility (a health-promoting environment). Inadequate staffing, supervision, and education contributed to the lack of health promotion and ultimately a low quality of care. The care in proprietary NHs, however, must be examined within the context of NH corporations, a multibillion dollar profit-making industry. When making profits is a priority, it is challenging for staff to provide quality care.