Study of Urinary Incontinence Related to Overactive Bladder in Long-Term Care Settings

Dr. Richard Stefanacci, DO, MGH, MBA, AGSF, CMD, Adjunct Assistant Professor at Thomas Jefferson University and author of a July 2022 study on urinary incontinence (UI) related to overactive bladder (OAB) discusses the startling findings of this study from the 70-question survey of 71 US Directors of Nursing (DONs) in long-term care settings. The survey revealed the impact and management of UI and OAB are a substantial burden to long-term care facilities, residents, and staff. He also talks about safe alternatives to anticholinergics which are associated with negative cognitive effects.

Dr. Richard Stefanacci has focused his career on care delivery systems to improve health outcomes. He has put this focus into practice as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for several management care plans including ElderHealth/Bravo/HealthSpring/Cigna and PACE (Program for All-inclusive Care for the Elderly) programs. Despite being a CMO, Dr. Stefanacci throughout has maintained active clinical practice focused on frail, older adults knowing the importance of leading change directly with his care teams.

On the policy side, Dr. Stefanacci served as Health Policy Scholar for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) through his role as a Visiting Scholar at the Thomas Jefferson University Department of Health Policy. He has over 500 publications in addition to delivering well over 1000 lectures both nationally and internationally focused on efficient and effective care delivery.

An active member of several professional associations focused on care delivery, Dr. Stefanacci served on the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP) and the AMDA Foundation Boards as well as being honored as an honorary lifetime member for ASCP and the National Association of Directors of Nursing. Finally, Dr. Stefanacci has achieved recognition as a fellow in both the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and American Geriatric Society as well as recently being awarded the Humanism in Aging Leadership Award from the University of New England, Department of Geriatrics.

Dr Stefanacci’s greatest accomplishment is the Go4theGoal Foundation (www.Go4theGoal.org), a 501(c)(3) public charity that he founded with his family and friends when his oldest son Richard was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in May 2006. He developed the foundation with an intense focus after his son’s death on June 12, 2007. Since its inception, the foundation has raised several million dollars to assist hundreds of children affected by cancer at nearly 100 children’s hospitals across the country, while also funding cutting-edge research to find a cure—again focused on improving care outcomes.