McMaughan to develop Nursing Home Antibiotic Stewardship Guide

Overprescribing antibiotics can lead to dire consequences once resistance to the drugs renders them ineffective in combating disease. This is especially true for the most vulnerable in our society, notably older adults in nursing homes.

Darcy McMaughan, Ph.D., assistant professor at the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, is seeking to help providers decide when and when not to prescribe antibiotics through developing a Nursing Home Antibiotic Stewardship Guide. Awarded a 3-year, $211,368 contract with the American Institutes for Research through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Dr. McMaughan will create, evaluate and disseminate an antibiotic stewardship guide for nursing homes interested in antibiotic stewardship.

The guide will be tested in select nursing homes in Pennsylvania, California, Minnesota and Texas before released in final form.