Doing something unusual, like knocking on wood or patting yourself on the head, while taking a daily dose of medicine may be an effective strategy to help seniors remember whether they've already taken their daily medications, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis….Technorati Tags: LTC,remember medication
Carebuzz loves Twitter! Yesterday we found an interesting tweet by @ElderCareRN. She referred to an article written by MacKenzie Kimball, an Associate Editor in HCPro’s long-term care division. Kimball came across a number of informative Twitter feeds related to long-term care and made a list of HCPro’s top 20 Twitters (is that such a term? Or would those of us who tweet be called Twitterers or Twitees?). If you haven’t seen the list go to Top 20 LTC Twitter Feeds, each of the selected top 20 includes a brief description……
Posted on | July 22, 2009 | Comments
“Gen Silent” Documentary Trailer – LGBT elders who fought the earliest battles for equality now face so much fear about discrimination in health care and long-term care that they hide their sexuality, are afraid to ask for help, and die earlier. But, a small group of professionals is trying to change that.
LGBT Elders Face Isolation and Homophobia in Long-Term Care : Queer Visions | Gay Rights Media
Older patients with diabetes who take antipsychotic medications appear to have an increased risk of hospitalization for hyperglycemia (elevated blood glucose level), especially soon after beginning treatment, according to a report in the July 27 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals……Technorati Tags: diabetes,antipsychotics
Antipsychotic Drugs Associated With High Blood Sugar In Older Adults With Diabetes
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, or the Convention) is the first human rights treaty of the 21st century. The CRPD is also the first legally binding international instrument with the power specifically to protect the rights of the world's largest minority, some 650 million persons with disabilities.
Adopted in December 2006, along with an optional protocol providing for communications and inquiry procedures, the Convention is currently in operation. Some 139 states have signed and 58 states have ratified the Convention, but not the United States. Nor did the United States actively participate in or otherwise facilitate the CRPD's negotiations and drafting, despite a wealth of technical expertise garnered from years of experience with the seminal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)…..
Technorati Tags: UN Disability Treaty
Introduced on July 14 and cited as the work of three different House committees, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 addresses multiple long-term care issues.
Of most concern to long-term care providers and industry leaders are the proposed cuts in Medicare payments to SNFs, which would add up to approximately $44 billion over the next 10 years. The cuts are included in multiple provisions of the bill, but the proposed changes with the most significant impact on SNF reimbursement are as follows:
- On January 1, 2010, the SNF market basket update implemented on October 1, 2009 will be removed.
- The SNF market basket will be further reduces by a productivity adjustment.
- As of October 1, 2010, SNFs will only be paid a certain percent of the charges on a claim if the resident was readmitted to a hospital within 30 days of his or her initial discharge. For fiscal year 2011, the percent paid would be 0.993.
House Democrats' reform bill | MDSCentral
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WASHINGTON – A House committee has approved a new voluntary insurance program meant to help families with the costs of long-term health care.
The measure was OK'd on voice vote late Monday by the House Energy and Commerce Committee as an amendment to a sweeping health care overhaul bill.
A similar measure was approved by the Senate's health committee. The Obama administration supports the concept but it still would need approval from the full House and Senate.
The program would be financed by a voluntary payroll deduction which would pay a modest daily cash benefit meant to help people pay for services to allow them to stay in their homes later in life.
Republicans raised concerns about long-term costs.
The American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) has kicked off a new advocacy campaign that encourages people to host house parties to bring attention to the need for long-term care reform.
AAHSA says its “Party With a Purpose” campaign is intended to foster community gatherings around the nation that will range in scope from living room chats to town hall meetings and that “will serve as a platform for conversation and action around long-term services and supports.” Attendees will learn about funding for long-term care and health reform and will be encouraged to share their personal stories related to long-term services and supports.
AAHSA Launches House Party Campaign to Promote LTC Reform at PHInational.org
A group of Utah State University researchers and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University, Duke University and Boston University have demonstrated that the rate of clinical progression of dementia may be slowed by a close relationship with one's caregiver. The findings will be published in the September 2009 issue of "The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences" by Oxford Journals……Technorati Tags: alzheimers,caregiver
Agelit is published quarterly as an information alerting service for long- term care providers by the J. W. Crane Memorial Library. Agelit contains selected recent articles, books, websites, audiovisual resources, continuing education and conferences in geriatrics, gerontology, and long- term care, as well as the “Focus On” feature: a list of resources on a specific topic of current interest. This issue focuses on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Issues in Long-term Care. To download a copy of Agelit, go to:
http://myuminfo.umanitoba.ca/Documents/i2771/AGELIT%20-%20July2009.pdf
Washington, D.C.— The nation’s largest grassroots disability rights organization, ADAPT, expressed outrage today at the Obama administration’s selective endorsement of one piece of proposed long term care legislation while refusing to support a companion measure aimed at eliminating the institutional bias in Medicaid for aging or disabled lower income people that Obama, with strong support from over 80 national disability and aging organizations, co-sponsored as a Senator.
On July 6, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, sent a letter to Sen. Edward Kennedy, Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, expressing President Obama’s support for Kennedy’s “CLASS Act,” which would allow middle class Americans to set aside money from their paychecks in anticipation of the expenses they will likely face for long-term services and supports as they age, or acquire a disability. After paying into the fund for at least 5 years, workers or their non-working spouses could draw on the fund for long-term services and assistance, either in a nursing home or in the community. Workers who wish could opt out of the program, an outcome more likely in tough economic times or in cases where low worker-wages barely cover individual or family survival expenses.
“Those of us with disabilities, who are aging, and who aren’t able to work are outraged that the President has issued public support for this primarily middle class legislation, and has completely ignored the companion legislation that would include lower income disabled and older people in reform of long term services and supports, and health care reform,” said Bob Kafka, Texas ADAPT Organizer. “It’s like we don’t exist!”…..
Wheelchair Diffusion | Obama Accused of Institutional Bias in Health Care Reform
As fiscal year 2009 comes to a close, U.S. states continue to face serious budget challenges with implications across the depth and breadth of government functions.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) says the situation has already led at least 39 states to cut funding for various services, including public health programs and programs for elders and people with disabilities.
According to the CPBB,…….
Technorati Tags: LTC,state budgets
A Scan Foundation poll (pdf) released on July 8 indicates that nearly 80 percent of Americans would be more likely to support a health reform proposal if it included measures to improve long-term care services for seniors….
Poll: Most Americans Want LTC Included in Health Reform at PHInational.org
The Obama administration said this week it supports including a long-term care program in health care reform legislation, but not the kind that’s likely to mean much for many people with developmental disabilities.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sent a letter to a key Senate committee earlier this week supporting the inclusion of a government sponsored long-term care insurance program in the health care reform bill. But that program would only serve Americans who are currently in the workforce and who choose to buy into it……
Long-Term Care Enters Health Reform Debate - Disability Scoop
Recognizing the need to support the development and enforcement of a well-informed national long-term care strategy to solve the problems of cost, quality, and access to long-term care in the home and community, and the imperativeness of including long-term care in the comprehensive health care reform agenda.
H.Res.271: Recognizing the need to support the... OpenCongress
Back in the ’70s, Tamara Bliss and her friends joined baby-sitting pools to take care of one another’s children.
Today, those children are in their 40s, and Bliss and some of those same friends are pooling their resources to take care of themselves as they head into their senior years.
“There may be good reasons to move to a retirement community,’’ she declares, “but not being able to get that big trash can from the basement to the front walk should not be one of them.’’
Bliss is the president of Newton at Home, one of a burgeoning number of organizations that aim to help people age in place. They envision a combination of paid and volunteer services to see to the practical, health, and social needs of their members…….
Technorati Tags: aging in place,mutual support
New programs help elderly stay in their own homes - The Boston Globe
NPR reports on the struggle of Alzheimer's patients who don't have health insurance trying to find ways to pay for their care and lobby for greater protections for themselves.
"Alzheimer's is thought of as a disease of the elderly. But there are also people - maybe a couple hundred thousand or more - who have Alzheimer's in their 40s and 50s. People like Teresa Lambert, who is 54. Lambert has come to Washington to tell members of Congress how hard it is for people with early onset Alzheimer's to get health insurance; one-third of them have no health insurance at all." Lambert previously managed a chain of jewelry stores, but then "she started having trouble making sense of the revenue spreadsheets. She was in her late 40s - she can't remember the exact year - when she had to quit her job."…..
An indispensable resource offering encouragement and instruction to those affected by Alzheimer?s Disease. For many families, Alzheimer?s means a gradually diminishing quality of life both for the sufferer and caregivers. All too often, the disease has led to isolation?and even a certain social stigma. It can impose psychological and emotional burdens just as heavy as the physical one. The Family Guide to Alzheimer?s Disease was created to help families understand what to expect; deal effectively with the challenge of this disease; help their loved ones meet each day more successfully; and enhance the quality of life for all involved. Understanding Alzheimer’s, Volume 1, 62 minutes In this volume you?ll learn about the nature of Alzheimer?s, its causes and the stages of the disease……
The Family Guide To Alzheimer’s Disease DVD Video Series | Senior Treatment
On June 11, a bill was introduced into both the U.S. House and Senate that promises to improve access to home and community-based services by generating Medicare and Medicaid savings and allowing more older Americans to receive health support in their homes.
“Project 2020: Building on the Promise of Home and Community-Based Services” was introduced on the Senate side as S. 1257 by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), both key members of the Senate Finance Committee. On the House side, Reps. Bruce L. Braley (D-IA) and John Sarbanes (D-MD), both members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, introduced the companion bill H.R. 2852……
Project 2020: Bill to Improve Access to HCBS at PHInational.org
It turns out that drinking a lot of coffee may do more than wake us up during the day. It also could rev up our memories.
A University of South Florida study found that drinking five (yes, five) cups of coffee a day could reverse memory problems associated with Alzheimer's disease. Caffeine also hurt the production of protein plaques that characterize the disease, the study also suggested. The study used 55 mice……..These are 8 oz. cups, also-not those puny cups you get at conferences….
I can hear objections already -- yet another tool for adult children to avoid talking with or visiting aging Mom or Dad. But founder Neil Moore (many years in Health IT) may be onto something with Connect for Healthcare. This is a new subscription-based service that enables care providers to use a structured and secure way to communicate status to family members about their loved ones who are receiving some sort of long-term care.
The service in a nutshell. A family member can select up to 10 wellness attributes from from a structured list of 40 -- sleeping, eating, mobility, medication, for example -- that providers like nursing homes, home care agencies, assisted living facilities, or a home care aide -- update and provide in secure and recipient-selected mechanisms once a week ($15/month)………
……It turns out that all that worry has a payback. The nurturing you’ve given may be repaid by a longer lifespan.
Researchers from the University of Michigan found that if you accounted for the negative impact of stressing over a loved one’s illness, that caregiving actually led to longer life. During the course of the study, people who spent at least 14 hours a week caring for a sick spouse were almost 30 percent less likely to die during the study period than those who spent no time helping………
Missoula, MT— Montanans with disabilities and those who are aging are angry that current federal health care reform efforts exclude the very services and supports that allow them to live in their own homes with the assistance they need. On July 2, they are taking that anger to the streets, with rallies and marches in seven of Montana’s larger cities that will deliver the message that “Long-Term Care is KEY.”
“It’s especially important that Sen. Baucus hears this message,” said Travis Hoffman, Advocacy Coordinator at Summit Independent Living. “Not only is he a “key” figure in health care reform, he represents our interests in Washington, and we want to be sure he knows not to compromise our freedom. We want him to end the bias in Medicaid that currently pays for us to be forced into nursing homes and institutions, but won’t pay less for us to get assistance in our own homes.
Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee, has sparked an important debate over long-term care insurance by proposing national coverage that would be available to everyone. But the Kennedy plan, called the CLASS Act, leaves unanswered the question that is probably most important to consumers: How much would the premium be?
Kennedy’s bill, which is likely to be debated by the committee this week, anticipates an average monthly premium of $65. The lifetime cash benefit would be $50 a day (the actual benefit would vary depending on a beneficiary’s level of need). Such a low monthly price would be a terrific deal and likely attract lots of buyers.
However, in recognition of Kennedy’s own uncertainty, the proposal gives the Secretary of Health and Human Services broad discretion to set actual premium levels. And there is some evidence that monthly payments would be quite a bit higher than Kennedy hopes.
National Long-Term Care Insurance: How Much Would It Cost? - Kaiser Health News
The Barrier Free Healthcare Initiative (TBFHI) is spearheaded by advocates, non-profit organizations, legal service providers, and lawyers whose goal is to eliminate the physical and programmatic barriers that people with disabilities face in obtaining healthcare. Please read our list of some of the common barriers faced by people with disabilities. BFHI aims to develop and support legal advocacy and policy initiatives designed to eliminate these barriers in hospitals and other settings where medical care is provided. … read more about TBFHI
