‘Announcements’ Posts
Sunday, June 20th, 2010
In a paper presented at the 2010 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, held this week at Concordia. University in Montreal, Jacques Légaré and other researchers at the Université de Montréal, stated that Baby Boomers will need to be creative when it comes to find new alternatives to senior care.
“…Who are tomorrow’s seniors going to call when the going gets rough? Today’s young adult may not have a child to help out when they become older? Today’s adult is having less children. Because of this when they are elderly they may need to have non-traditional support networks or pay for the care that past generations relied on their own children for. That’s the findings of Jacques Légaré, professor at the Université de Montréal. Légaré studies
Baby Boomers Aging
aging baby-boomers. Baby Boomers are a generation that had fewer children and were less likely to have a stable marriage. Légaré stated that until 2030 the family circle involving senior citizens will be evolving. For about 70 percent of today’s frail seniors the family circle provides care. Generally that care comes from the children or their spouse. They are the last population before the baby boom after World War II. Today’s Baby Boomer generation is rapidly hitting the golden years but not with the same family security that their parents had. With divorce, blended families and common-law unions the family scheme is vastly different than in their parents’ day. Adding in medical advancements that have increased life span brings an unclear picture of who is going to care for those unable to care for themselves. “Tomorrow’s elderly – today’s boomers – had far fewer children. Who will take care of them?” Légaré asked, “They risk finding themselves in difficult circumstances and might have to turn to the public system or pay their way.”
Read Legare’s Paper
Tags: age in place, Aging, Aging in Place, Assisted Living at Home, Baby Boomers, Living Well best practices to age in place
Posted in Aging, Aging at Home, Announcements, Caregiver and family support, Health & Wellness, News & Discoveries, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Sunday, June 20th, 2010
Living Well Supports Diversity on Aging
The Administration on Aging just released A Toolkit for Serving Diverse Communities.
This Toolkit provides the Aging Network and its partners with a replicable and easy-to-use method for providing respectful, inclusive, and sensitive services for any diverse community. The Toolkit consists of a four-step process and a questionnaire that assists professionals, volunteers and grassroots advocates with every stage of program planning, implementation and service delivery for older adult communities, their families and caregivers.
The core principles of the toolkit include respect, inclusion and sensitivity as the hallmarks of quality service. This Toolkit is an invitation to make a cultural shift in service provision, to learn, to grow and fully appreciate the diverse community of older adults that agencies and their partners serve.
Download the AoA Diversity Tool Kit
Tags: Diversity on Aging, LGBT, Living Well best practices to age in place, Senior Diversity, senior wellness
Posted in Aging, Aging in Place, Announcements, Health & Wellness, Home Care, LGBT Aging Issues, News & Discoveries, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
Caring for a loved one can change your life and although the process can be rewarding, at the end, sometimes it creates, for all involved (family and friends), tension and new challenges. John Boden, founder of ElderIssues, and a nationally recognized expert in elder care issues and geriatric care management explains when a family meeting is to take place and what to expect. He says: “…Family meetings are a meaningful way to gather information, discuss options and plan for the future. Most of us do not want to face the eventuality of the physical or mental decline that may come with old age the signaling the need to rely on others for help with daily activities. It is best, of course, to be discussing ideas and planning for them ahead of these events so that elders are full participants. However, when a family member does begin to experience physical or mental changes that cause concern, it is important for the family to gather. Early involvement can ensure that this time is a positive, meaningful exchange that revolves around the expressed or known interests of the loved one…” Read it all.
Tags: Aging, Aging in Place, Assisted Living at Home, Living Well Assisted Living at Home, Living Well best practices to age in place
Posted in Aging, Aging at Home, Aging in Place, Announcements, Caregiver and family support, Health & Wellness, News & Discoveries | Comments Off
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010
In a study released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), data shows that nearly 45% of seniors in residential care live with depression or symptoms of depression. The report states “…More than two in five (44%) Canadian seniors living in residential care homes are diagnosed with or have symptoms of depression. The study, Depression Among Seniors in Residential Care, is one of the largest of its kind in Canada to examine the prevalence of depression and the impact it has on persons living in residential care 
, such as long-term care, nursing or personal care homes. Based on data from CIHI’s Continuing Care Reporting System, the study included nearly 50,000 residents age 65 and older across four provinces and one territory (Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Yukon).
CIHI’s study found that, while about one in four (26%) seniors living in a residential care facility had a diagnosis of depression, a further one in five (18%) had symptoms of depression with no documented diagnosis. Residents were considered to have symptoms of depression if they had a score of at least 3 on the Depression Rating Scale, which measures symptoms such as persistent anger, tearfulness and repetitive anxiety. Read More
Tags: assisted living, Assisted Living at Home, Living Well Assisted Living at Home, Living Well best practices to age in place
Posted in Aging at Home, Announcements, Health & Wellness | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
Living Well
In a recent article published on the Wall Street Jurnal online, by Shirley Wang (April 28, 2010), we learn that after a panel discussion led by specialists at the National Institute of Health (NIH), there are not clinical or other interventions that had proven effective in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. They concluded “…There’s not enough evidence to suggest that medicines or dietary supplements prevent Alzheimer’s disease or cognitive decline, an independent committee of experts convened by the National Institutes of Health concluded today.
The three-day meeting of 15 experts took a critical look at the state of science surrounding the memory-robbing disease, which is now the sixth-leading cause of death in the U.S. The main conclusion: there’s not enough good research out there to show that any intervention prevents the disease. Read the panel’s draft statement here.
Some factors that appear to be related to decreased risk of Alzheimer’s include “cognitive engagement” like training people in reasoning and memory, walking and a Mediterranean diet. But there’s no consistent evidence that multivitamins, gingko biloba or other supplements can do anything to stave off the disease.
The experts didn’t find evidence that Alzheimer’s drugs like Pfizer and Esai’s Aricept and Forest’s Namenda, approved to treat memory loss and other symptoms of the disease, are also effective in slowing or preventing dementia. Read More
Tags: age in place, Alzheimer's, Dementia Care, living well with dementia, livng well with Alzheimer's
Posted in Aging, Aging at Home, Alzheimer's & Dementia, Announcements, News & Discoveries | Comments Off
Sunday, May 16th, 2010
Avid, Bayer, General Electric Push Agents to Spot the Disease From Brain Scans.
Living Well has been doing research for the best practices to assist and support people with Alzheimer’s. Now we have good news.
In an article by Shirley Wang, in the Wall Street Journal on April 15, 2010, we learned that “…companies specializing in medical imaging are pushing to develop chemical agents to detect Alzheimer’s disease from brain scans, a process that one day may make it possible to predict who will suffer from the progressive ailment before symptoms appear.
Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc., a tiny imaging company based in Philadelphia, and multinationals like Bayer, AG and General Electric Co., are among those working on imaging compounds to help doctors spot signs of the memory-robbing disease. Such chemical compounds would be a first of their kind and would help their makers tap into the multibillion dollar Alzheimer’s diagnostic market. These diagnostic tools will be important to developing new treatments as well. Many experimental Alzheimer’s treatments appear to work better in patients with less severe forms of the disease but are too weak to have an effect on patients by the time they are diagnosed today…” Read more
Tags: age in place, Assisted Living at Home, Dementia Care, living well with dementia, livng well with Alzheimer's
Posted in Aging, Aging at Home, Aging in Place, Alzheimer's & Dementia, Announcements, Health & Wellness, News & Discoveries, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Friday, May 14th, 2010
Aging in Place: You do not need to leave your home!
In an article by Rochelle Oliver, published on Psych Central, we learn that although “… a large number of the elderly population spends their remaining years in assisted living facilities, new studies have brought to light the effects these sorts of facilities have on an older person’s mental and physical wellbeing.
The research conducted in Los Angeles by lead author Jennifer Martin, PhD of the University of California Los Angeles and VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System suggests that 65 percent of the elderly in assisted living facilities aren’t able to get the necessary amounts of sleep they need to maintain good health… read more.
Tags: age in place, Aging, Assisted Living at Home, Dementia Care, High Tech to age in place, Living Well Assisted Living at Home, Living Well best practices to age in place
Posted in Aging, Aging at Home, Aging in Place, Announcements, Health & Wellness, News & Discoveries | 2 Comments »
