Living Well Blog » News & Discoveries

Dangers of Common Painkillers: There’s mounting evidence that regular use is risky for older people

Doris Bersing — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:11:41 +0000

A recent article on AARP states that “…Most of us don’t think twice about taking a nonprescription pain reliever to ease a headache or soreness that might follow a game of tennis, but there is growing evidence that commonly used painkillers such as Advil can trigger heart attacks or strokes in some people.” Read the article and read about some drug free alternatives to pain management.

“IF I ever need to go to a nursing home, kill me first”

Doris Bersing — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 17:35:13 +0000

Aging in Place: You do not need to leave your home!

Given that 89% of people do not want to leave their homes, this statement featured on the article The Technology for Monitoring Elderly Relatives on The New York Times (July 28, 2010) about new technologies to help people stay at their home, makes total sense.

The purpose of many of these technologies is to provide enough supervision to make it possible for elderly people to stay in their homes rather than move to an assisted-living facility or nursing home — a goal almost universally embraced as both emotionally and financially desirable.

New Devices Help Seniors Stay Longer in Their Own Homes.

Doris Bersing — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 20:01:16 +0000

An article supporting Living Well’s high-tech – high touch approach, was published by Health Day: News for Healthier Living on January 18 by Dennis Thompson. The article stresses the importance of using technology to keep seniors for longer and safer: ” Seniors who want to remain in their homes despite illness and infirmity can get a high-tech assist these days. So can their children who might worry about…Sensors, GPS and more are being used to track aging parents’ movements… So can their children who might worry about an elderly parent living alone, often far from family members.

The 1980s-era medical alert pendants made famous by their television advertising (“I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!”) are now among a wide array of devices that can help keep an eye on aging parents and get them help when they need it.

Available technologies include:

Sensors in the home to track an older person’s movement, from the front door to the medicine cabinet to the refrigerator to the stove. The sensors are linked with computers that can issue alerts when people deviate from their routine.
Global positioning system devices, using the GPS technology that’s become so common in cars, that can help locate someone with dementia who’s wandered from home.
Computerized pillboxes that track whether medication is being taken on time.

If you have Alzheimer’s you can have wahtever you want: GIVING ALZHEIMER’S PATIENTS THEIR WAY, EVEN CHOCOLATE!

Doris Bersing — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:09:57 +0000

Even Chocolate

There are some caregivers -in family settings- or in nursing homes that have found that allowing people with dementia practically anything that brings comfort to them, improves the mood, decreases agitation, and soothes them in a higher rate that psychotropics medications that usually creates undesirable side effects in the elder. In a recent article by Pam Belluck for the New York Times, she interviewed Tina Alonzo, director of a nursing home, who states that “… Research suggests that creating positive emotional experiences for Alzheimer’s patients diminishes distress and behavior problems…” . The article also suggests that one-on-one activities instead of big “bingo-groups’ along with individualized menus help to improve people’s mood: “…Comforting food improves behavior and mood because it “sends messages they can still understand: ‘it feels good, therefore I must be in a place where I’m loved…”

Chronic Disease and Improved Healthcare Outcomes Through Telehealth Monitoring

Doris Bersing — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 22:02:53 +0000

As healthcare costs continue to increase, the government’s primary focus has been geared towards inpatient hospital stays for acute or chronic conditions. Acute or chronic conditions that could have been handled on an outpatient basis are the number one area for cost reductions. With the passage of PPACA (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), Congress gave Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) the authority to penalize hospitals for excess readmission rates starting federal fiscal year (FFY) 2013 where the initial focus will be placed on heart failure (HF), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and pneumonia. CMS has already begun reporting readmissions rates for these conditions on its Hospital Compare Web site. The implementation of Telehealth services and devices meet care providers’ goals in improving outcomes, avoiding unnecessary readmissions and maintaining patient independence. CMS Telehealth accomplishes this by providing 24 hours a day 7 days a week comprehensive approach to Telehealth in and out-of- home, which includes: complete installation, maintenance, delivery education, training, marketing, distribution and integration of all our products and services, with a 24/7 Central Monitoring Station that is supervised by clinical and technical personnel. Read more

International Symposium on Healthy Aging: Monday, September 13, 1pm-5pm

Doris Bersing — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 03:35:51 +0000

Co-Sponsored by: UCB School of Public Health; the UCB Retirement Center; the Center for the Advanced Study of Aging Services, School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley; UCB Resource Center on Aging; UCB Osher Lifelong Learning Institute; Kazamashobo Publishing, Co. Ltd.

The Symposium on Healthy Aging will address three issues. The first is to clarify predictors of longevity among older adults in the United States, Sweden, and Japan. The second is to examine healthy aging among immigrants in the United States, Sweden, and Japan. Lastly, we will propose recommendations for health care policies for diverse older adults, making use of the perspectives from these three countries.

Please note: seating is limited, so please respond as soon as possible. RSVP with your name and email address to Kazumi Hoshino, Ph.D., planning committee member, at hoshino@berkeley.edu by September 9, 2010.

See the program

Brain Wellness À la Wii

Doris Bersing — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 22:24:38 +0000

The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As of August 2010, the Wii leads the generation over the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in worldwide sales and in December 2009 broke the record for best-selling console in a single month in the United States.

Nintendo hoped to target a wider demographic with its console. The productions are Nintendo’s first broad-based advertising strategy and include a two-minute video clip showing a varied assortment of people enjoying the Wii system, such as urban apartment-dwellers, country ranchers, grandparents, and parents with their children.The marketing campaign has proved to be successful: pensioners, as old as 103 have been reported to be playing the Wii in the United Kingdom.^. A report by the British newspaper The People also stated that Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain has played using the Wii console!

Now, we have data that the Wii games have brought back feelings of being young again as the participants flex their mental muscles and improve their physical fitness. The Wii is improving the quality of life of many aging seniors.

Diane Carbo, in an article written for Senior Advice, states that “…Healthy aging and a brain fitness program along with the Wii promotes the development of new skills, and helps aging seniors learn from their mistakes. The best part of using the Wii as part of a healthy aging program is the laughter and excitement you see in the faces of the participants. The environment is electric as the aging seniors enjoy familiar interests in a new format. For many seniors it feels like old times again…”

Exercise and the “Mediterranean Diet” the best options to prevent Dementia, including Alzheimer’s

Doris Bersing — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:35:33 +0000

In a recent article appeared on The Hartford Courant of Connecticut , the fact of Alzheimer’s disease being uncurable and sriking 1 in 8 of us alarmed many. Nonetheless, the article explains that doing your part by eating the right kind of diet and keeping your body and brain engaged can help to prevent dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.

The article explains recent data connected to the benefits of exercising regularly, keeping a diet rich in Omega 3, olive oil, and wine…yes, wine… staying cognitively engaged, and avoiding depression is ultimately the most reasonable approach not only to prevent dementia but also “… to treat conditions like hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease, obesity and diabetes…”

Technologies Help Adult Children Monitor Aging Parents

Doris Bersing — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:18:29 +0000

89% of Americans do not want to leave their homes when they age. Most of these people will be live alone and receive support from a variety of health and community-based providers, family caregivers. How will the long-term care system provide care to a growing number of seniors living in increasingly scattered locations? And more importantly, how can that system continue to provide quality care in the face of workforce shortages, rising care costs and decreasing resources? Technology has the potential to play a critical role in launching a new model of geriatric care that allows older people to live independently for as long as possible, supports family caregivers in the important work they do and gives health care providers the tools they need to deliver high-quality care at a reasonable cost. The just released article Technologies Help Adult Children Monitor Aging Parents on The New York Times, states that these technologies “…are godsends for families. But, as with any parent-child relationship, all loving intentions can be tempered by issues of control, role-reversal, guilt and a little deception — enough loaded stuff to fill a psychology syllabus. For just as the current population of adults in their 30s and 40s have built a reputation for being a generation of hyper-involved, hovering parents to their own children, they now have the tools to micro-manage their aging mothers and fathers as well…”

We, at Living Well Assisted Living at Home, believe the provide a safety net for the elders, an option to stay at home while providing peace of mind to the adult children and family members.

Read the full article

Building a Safety Net for Elder Care: More Home-Based Models are Needed

Doris Bersing — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:49:18 +0000

The St. Louis Today, reported on the need that our communities have to build a strong home-based and community-based system for those who can pay for care and those who can’t pay for it. Building a safety net for those in need is the focus of the 35th Annual National Association of Area Agencies on Aging Conference & Tradeshow, which kicked off over the weekend at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in St. Louis during the weekend of July 22-24, 2010.

The facts are well known, the St Louis Today reports: “…By 2030, about 72 million Americans will be 65 or older — roughly twice the number in 2000, according to estimates by the National Institute on Aging. While plenty of attention has been given to how this coming tidal wave of seniors will strain Medicaid, aging specialists and health care advocates are also beginning to address the “forgotten population” — those who may have enough assets to pay for some health care services but not the cost of a long-term nursing home.

It can be a difficult population to care for. Typically, people 80 or older have one chronic disease; those 85 or older have two chronic diseases. Many of these seniors also have problems doing everyday tasks such as cooking meals, washing their clothes or tying their shoes. On average, 24-hour care in a nursing home runs about $60,000 a year…” Therefore the need for building that safety net for all elders.