ChangingAging with Dr. Bill Thomas
A Long Time To Be Gone
By Dr. Bill Thomas on November 17, 2011 | ChangingAging.org — I am sitting at the kitchen table drinking in the sights, the sounds, the smell and the feel— of home. No place like it. Regular readers know that I have been “on the road” for the past three weeks and, last night, I returned home. It sure feels good. Full Story »
Pharmacists As Champions of Eldercare
By Kavan Peterson on November 16, 2011 | ChangingAging.org — Dr. Bill Thomas is about to give the keynote address at the 2011 American Society of Consultant Pharmacists meeting in Phoenix. Why are pharmacists champions of eldercare? They have the power to act as a safeguard against the extreme over-medication of older adults. Full Story »
The Healing Powers of a Drum Circle
By Kavan Peterson on November 16, 2011 | ChangingAging.org — Used by shamans and healers for thousands of years, drum therapy is the practice of using rhythm to promote healing and maintain physical, mental and spiritual health.
The ancient practice is seeing a resurgence in popularity as a growing body of research validates the therapeutic effects of group drum circles. Full Story »
Aging and Wellness
Age, Weight and Leaky Pipes
By Ronni Bennet on November 17, 2011 | Time Goes By — It has been more than two years since we last spoke of urinary incontinence. As I explained then:
“[L]ately, when I laugh, sneeze or cough with too much force, I leak. Or, more bluntly, I pee in my pants. Not a lot, a few drops, and it happens not just when I need to visit the bathroom; it can happen even when I have just peed.”
Although I included some useful medical information I’d tracked down, the best part was, as is usually so on this blog, in the comments. Cop Car (“I’m not dressed without a Maxipad”) made me laugh out loud and I immediately adopted her remedy. Full Story »
Quality Indicators Can Cause Harm in Older Patients: An Inconvenient Truth
By ken covinsky on November 13, 2011 | GeriPal.org — Quality indicators are used to measure the quality of health care delivered to patients. Quality indicators are used extensively in the VA health system, and efforts are underway in Medicare to tie reimbursement levels to performance on quality indicators.
The motivations for using quality indicators are guided by the best of intentions. There are many problems with the quality of health care in the US, and quality indicators aim to improve this care. When put to their best use, quality indicators can improve care. Full Story »
The Power of Smell and Sound
By Isabel Tom on November 10, 2011 | What It’s Like Getting Old — When you’ve lost the ability to do many of the things you once loved, life can be frustrating. It’s one of the reasons why people do NOT like to age. We all can understand how that might feel, but when you see your aging grandparents/parents experience these losses, what can you do?
To start, the power of presence and of touch are so important. I’ll touch on these hopefully another day, but today is all about the power of smell and sound. Full Story »
Culture Change
Eden at Home: Culture Change For Home Care
By Kavan Peterson on November 15, 2011 | ChangingAging.org — With more than 12 million people receiving home care services — compared to 1.5 million in nursing homes — home care is in need of culture change just as much as traditional long term care, said Dr. Bill Thomas, founder of the Eden Alternative, which has recently branched out to provide community and home-based care through the Eden at Home program. Full Story »
A New Kind of Nursing Home
By Catey Hill on November 15, 2011 | Smartmoney.com — The nursing home tends to conjure up visions of big, institutional buildings with rows and rows of identical rooms, trays full of lackluster food and an acrid smell of disinfectant. But a new company is trying to change that — creating intimate homes for nursing home residents.
The Green House Project works on the “de-institutionalization” of nursing homes by creating a series of small homes — rather than a huge nursing home building — that residents can live in. Full Story »
Through the Looking Glass, Part Two
By Leslie Pedtke on November 16, 2011 | WNYAPCC Blog — The premise behind “Through the Looking Glass” was and is for those of us working in long term care to see how much it does suck. The first National Pioneer Network conference I attended I remember hearing a nurse during the opening ceremony speak about one of her resident’s saying, “I don’t care how pretty you make the bathroom, I just want to be able to use it when I need to go.” My eyes welled with tears. At that time, we had just made our bathrooms “pretty,” but I hadn’t thought about making sure no one had to wait to use it. Most of us working in long term care have no idea what it’s like to rely on someone else for our basic needs.
I moved into the nursing home for 24 hours and as you know, I was scared. I hated to admit that. Full Story »
Generations
The Old Are Poorer Than We Think
By Alicia Munnell on November 16, 2011 | SmartMoney.com — A new measure of poverty shows the elderly are actually poorer than the young. Full Story »
AARP Busts Some Social Security Myths
By Christopher Gardner on November 16, 2011 | MKCreative Blog — As we enter ‘crazy time’ in the electoral calendar (a calendar that now runs from the Friday after the last election to the day of the next one), we will hear ever more about the desperate need to balance the federal budget and pay down the national debt. Few will strongly argue against these budget-balancing ambitions. The arguments are over just how to do that. Full Story »
Bringing Ballots To Nursing Homes Via The iPad
By Christopher Gardner on November 10, 2011 | MKCreative Blog — When the people of Oregon needed to replace Congressional Representative David Wu this week, the state Board of Elections used the opportunity to develop means to get ballots to older citizens in nursing homes. The traditional means to do so were to send absentee ballots out, but such ballots waste a great deal of payer, any way – and many do not get returned anyway. As we have noted on this blog, the iPad is a convenient and stimulative way for retired Americans to access information. And now it is being used as a way for retired Boomers and those of the GI Generation to cast their votes. Full Story »
Kids & Elders & Computers
By Engage Blog on November 17, 2011 |EngagedAging.org — EngAGE is always excited to find programs that link young people and seniors in meaningful ways. Older people are often great mentors, but young people can be mentors, too, especially when the topic is technology. And please note that this is an international phenomenon! Here are two more stories of kids helping seniors learn the ropes. Full Story »
Boomers, Selfish? Think Again
By Catey Hill on November 11, 2011 | SmartMoney.com — As I reported in my “10 things boomers won’t tell you” story, the boomers often get a bad rap as being selfish. Some of the complaints: They spend too much money (and so they can’t retire), they’re costing this country too much money, and they’re obsessed with their own aging. But studies show the “Me Generation” may not be as as self-centered as some critics say. Full Story »
