FAQ about SIMP-EL

This study is funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The study is being conducted by Patricia Stone, PhD, RN, FAAN (the principal investigator) and other researchers from the Columbia University School of Nursing, in collaboration with research teams at the RAND Corporation and the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife.

The purpose of this study is to learn more about infection management in nursing homes and palliative care. The results of the questionnaire will help us understand how best to support nursing home staff in providing optimal resident-centered, preference-based care, and implementing effective infection prevention and control practices.

Currently, infection control programs and palliative care in nursing homes are silo-ed. We want to understand how best we can integrate these to improve quality of life at end-of-life.

There is no requirement to participate in the study. However, your experiences as a nursing home staff member are valuable because they represent those of staff members at other facilities like yours. And, once we receive your completed questionnaire, we’ll send a $25 Amazon gift card to you as a thank you!

Your facility was randomly selected from across the nation. We used scientific sampling procedures to select a sample of nursing homes based on geographical location, size, and ownership. Your experiences as a nursing home staff member are valuable because they represent those of staff members at other facilities like yours.

Participation involves completing the study questionnaire, which takes approximately 15-20 minutes. The questionnaire can be completed on the paper booklet that you received in the mail, online, or over-the-phone. All of your answers will be kept confidential; your name will not be linked to any of your answers. And, once we receive your completed questionnaire, we’ll send a $25 Amazon gift card to you, as a thank you!

The questionnaire has:

1. General questions about your facility.
2. Your infection control program.
3. Infection management practices and processes.
4. End-of-life care practices and processes, and infection surveillance systems and tools, including the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).

The data will be used to develop educational tools to improve infection management for nursing homes, as well as to inform policy on best practices to integrate infection control and palliative care. All data will be aggregated and no single nursing home will be identifiable.

I can assure you that all information you provide will be kept confidential. No facility or individual will be identified in any reports. All research team members have completed training in responsible conduct of research, and are prohibited by law from using survey information for anything other than this research study.