In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, nursing homes limited access to visitors and family caregivers in order to limit virus transmission. Based on existing nursing home visitor policies, the authors developed data-driven, expert-reviewed guidance for re-opening Canadian nursing homes to family caregivers and visitors.

The authors conducted a retrospective study of all long-term care facilities in Ontario, Canada, to explore the association between for-profit status and the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks and deaths between March 29 and May 20, 2020. Results indicate that, compared to nonprofit facilities, for-profit status is associated with the extent of an outbreak and the number of resident deaths but not with the likelihood of an outbreak.

This study established that unintentional medication discontinuation upon nursing home admission decreased over time, though this improvement could not be attributed to accreditation requirements for medication reconciliation or any other specific intervention. This study highlights the challenge of attributing safety improvements to specific policy or practice changes.