Posts Tagged ‘Aging in Place’
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
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.
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Tags: age in place, Aging in Place, independent living for seniors, Living Well best practices to age in place, Medical Advocacy for Seniors
Posted in Aging, Aging at Home, Aging in Place, Health & Wellness, News & Discoveries, Public Policy | Comments Off
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
In an article on Forbes USA, Ashlea Ebeling states that moving into a continuing care retirement community requires a big investment and a lot of research. She invites us to ask the right questions “…Are you (or your aging parent) the kind of person who likes to plan for all contingencies? Then you might want to consider a continuing care retirement community–a development that usually includes independent apartments or town homes for spry seniors; assisted living units for those who need some help; plus a nursing home…”
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Tags: age in place, Aging, Aging in Place, Assisted Living at Home, independent living for seniors, Living Well Assisted Living at Home, Living Well best practices to age in place, senior wellness
Posted in Aging, Aging at Home, Aging in Place, Health & Wellness, Home Care | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Shannon Martin and Alex Chamberlain affirm how difficult it can be to acknowledge the fact that your parent needs some help with day-to-day activities, let alone introducing to them the idea of hiring a professional caregiver for help. They give us nice and easy to follow advice on how to go about it. Their article on parentgiving 7 Ways To Talk To Your Parents About Getting Help At Home proposes that “…approaching the subject requires patience and tact. However, there are certain considerations to keep in mind that can help you approach a conversation about in-home care with your parent with greater success…”
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Tags: age in place, Aging, Aging in Place, Aging well, Assisted Living at Home, High Tech to age in place, independent living for seniors
Posted in Aging, Aging at Home, Aging in Place, Caregiver and family support, Health & Wellness, Home Care | Comments Off
Monday, July 5th, 2010
Living Well provides medical advocacy to help patients who are hospitalized
On the Wellness section of the New York Times, Pam Belluck compile the advice of three experts on the questions family members can ask to lower a patient’s risk for delirium during a hospital stay.
Pam says “…Many readers have asked me what family members can do to help lower an elderly patient’s risk. To find out, I turned to three experts – Dr. Margaret Pisani at the Yale University School of Medicine, Dr. Wes Ely at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Dr. Sharon Inouye at Harvard Medical School. Based on their advice, here are six questions family members should ask to lower an elderly patient’s risk for hospital delirium…”
Read the article
Tags: Aging in Place, Dementia Care, independent living for seniors, Living Well best practices to age in place, Medical advocacy, Medical Advocacy for Seniors, senior wellness
Posted in Aging, Aging in Place, Health & Wellness, Home Care, Medical Advocacy for Seniors | Comments Off
Monday, July 5th, 2010
Smart technology: GPS shoes for wandering seniors!
Some of the common symptoms of Alzheimer’s and any other type of dementia are lack of memory, confusion, and wandering. These symptoms usually lead to loosing track of familiar surroundings and thus getting lost. Understanding the symptoms of dementia might help safeguard elderly people who are at risk for getting lost. While infections, tumors, and head injuries can all cause dementia, Alzheimer’s disease is most commonly behind the phenomenon of wandering. For patients who hallucinate, their risk for wandering might depend on how well they trust their caregiver. If they hallucinate, they may be at low risk or high risk, depending on their trust for the caregiver. If they are suspicious, they might try to get out.
In 2008, Texas Legislature enacted a statewide communication system to help find mentally impaired senior citizens. “I think they are a really good idea,” said Hester, a Lubbock Police sergeant. “(A Silver Alert) could have helped those people. I mean, nobody knew where they were.” But Silver Alerts alone can’t keep seniors safe. On Monday, police officials were preparing an alert for 70-year-old Lubbock resident Jim Hardy Clary, who left home for a doctor’s appointment he didn’t keep. He was found dead before a statewide alarm was raised. Read More about this article
In Virginia, law enforcement officers are learning how to search for missing persons who may not know they are lost. A 4-minute video produced by Kassie Bracken for The New York Times tells us the lessons they have learned.
See the video: lessons from the Lost
Tags: Aging in Place, Alzheimer's, Assisted Living at Home, Dementia Care, Living Well best practices to age in place, livng well with Alzheimer's, senior wellness
Posted in Aging at Home, Alzheimer's & Dementia, Living Well with Alzheimer's, News & Discoveries | Comments Off
Monday, July 5th, 2010
Voices of Alzheimer's
A series of videos presented for The New York Times by Karen Barrow explores the frightening and confusing world of Alzheimer’s. She captures the voices of both patients and loved ones who are struggling with issues of independence, long-term care and making the most of the time they have left.
Listening to people who say that Alzheimer’s is not a normal part of aging but a disease that affects the patient and all family members equally, brings your awareness of the challenges of this disease that affects people “just out-of-the-blue…”
A common desire of people affected with Alzheimer’s is that they want to live life at its fullest and stay in their homes for as long as they can.
See the videos: Patient Voices: Alzheimer’s Disease and read the related article: “The Voices of Alzheimer’ by Tara Parker-Pope
Tags: Aging in Place, Alzheimer's, Dementia Care, Living Well Assisted Living at Home, Living Well best practices to age in place, living well with dementia, livng well with Alzheimer's
Posted in Aging, Aging in Place, Alzheimer's & Dementia, Health & Wellness, Home Care, Living Well with Alzheimer's | Comments Off
Sunday, June 27th, 2010
One of the most common reasons why seniors are forced to leave their homes and move into an institution is the occurrence of a fall or the existence of a high fall risk. Adult children and friends are scared of finding their loved one, who has fallen, a little too late. Time is important when a senior falls and help an immediate response is needed.
Despite of the widely use of the “emergency response buttons”, we realized that most of the times these devices are not being used at the moment of the fall. The risk of falling increases with age and falling is the number one cause of injury in adults over 65. These numbers are cause for great concern, but awareness and prevention can help decrease the likelihood of falls in the senior citizen years.
Living Well Assisted Living at Home has researched thoroughly different alternatives to bring safety at home and enable seniors to live independently while keeping seniors safe at home and providing real time report and request for assistance. We partner with Grand Care System, Halo Monitoring, and Universal Design to tailor made the house to the senior’s needs and bring peace of mind to the family members and friends.
ABC News recently featured a video about how preventing dangerous falls.
Watch ABC News Video on Preventing Falls
Trisha Kellog supports independent living with some assistance and in a recent blog entry, Trisha stresses the need for systems that supports safety. She states that “…With age comes the risk of falls and falls can lead to serious injury or death. Improving health and being aware of potential hazards will help ease the mind of you or your loved-one…” Read the article
Tags: Aging in Place, Alzheimer's, Assisted Living at Home, High Tech to age in place, independent living for seniors, Living Well Assisted Living at Home, Living Well best practices to age in place, Physical health for seniors, senior wellness
Posted in Aging at Home, Aging in Place, Caregiver and family support, News & Discoveries | Comments Off
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.
