People who say their lives have a purpose are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or its precursor, mild cognitive impairment, a new study suggests.
As the population ages and dementia becomes a more frequent diagnosis, there’s increasing impetus to determine the causes of the disease, associated risk factors and how to prevent it, explained study co-author Dr. Aron S. Buchman, an associate professor in the department of neurological sciences at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
Blacks and Hispanics with advanced heart failure are much less likely to turn to hospice care than whites, even though blacks in particular are more likely to develop the condition, a new report finds.
An AP article, "Seniors pinched by new charges for home care help" details how state funded home care programs are increasing charges to recipients and the effect it has on some needing care.
89-year-old Angeline DiBeneditto is profiled in the article, due to changes in a Connecticut program that helps her and others live independently could push her toward a nursing home after all if she can’t scrounge at least $180 more from her monthly budget.
Ironically, if she receives care in a Medicaid nursing home it will cost the state five and half times more.
Like may others, Alan Yellowitz has had to put doing what he loves most on the backburner in order to bring home a steady paycheck. Now, in the most difficult of economic conditions, Yellowitz is getting the chance to not only do what he loves, but get paid for it as well.
Yellowitz, a Fairfax resident, started his own company, The Beat Goes On, an interactive musical therapy class that serves senior citizens across the Washington, D.C. area. The class, he said, allows senior citizens to be physically active and socially engaged by partaking in one of Yellowitz’s greatest passions: playing the drums.
ProAging @ Brightwood Center - Social Work Month
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ProAging @ Vinson Hall - Social Work Month Celebration
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Tucson, AZ — March 4, 2010 —CARF International’s new standards for Home and Community Services complement its existing accreditation standards for programs provided in a variety of settings.
“Home and Community Services across multiple disciplines and program areas are a critical component of service delivery in a full continuum,” said Brian J. Boon, Ph.D., CARF president/CEO. “By applying standards that address the safety of persons who receive these services and the unique factors in delivering services in communities and homes, the field is more accountable and person centered. It is a win-win for the consumer and the provider by reducing risk and increasing satisfaction of both parties.”
The Home and Community Services standards cut across all of CARF’s accreditation areas and are published in the 2010 editions of the Aging Services, Behavioral Health, CARF–CCAC, Child and Youth Services, Employment and Community Services, and Medical Rehabilitation standards manuals. Standards in these manuals will be applied on CARF surveys conducted after June 30, 2010.
In a unique effort to address the interests of CARF’s multiple customer service markets, the Home and Community Services standards were designed as a broad, flexible framework that is available to service providers seeking to accredit the following types of service delivery in a variety of home and community settings:
· Services for persons who are in need of specialized health services and assistance due to illness, injury, impairment, disability, or a specific age or developmental need.
· Services for persons who need assistance to access and connect with family, friends, or coworkers within their homes and communities or who choose to have services that reflect their personal preferences.
· Services for persons who need or want help with activities in their homes or other community settings.
· Services for caregivers that may include support, counseling, respite, or hospice.
CARF’s leadership in framing the Home and Community Services standards is backed by its 44-year history of accrediting health and human services on five continents.
Development of the Home and Community Services standards began in 2008. CARF crafted the standards with input from service providers, governmental agencies, third-party payers, and CARF surveyors from Europe, Canada, and the United States. In a series of focus groups conducted with consumers who use home and community services, consumers commented on topics ranging from their needs in transportation, respite, and personal care activities to home health nursing and rehabilitation. An International Standards Advisory Committee, representing all of CARF’s accreditation areas, wrote the standards using universal terms understood in all service areas. Before their adoption, the standards were posted online for a period of public review that encouraged additional input.
“Persons who require home and community services can feel vulnerable with strangers coming into their homes and interacting with them around personal activities,” said Christine MacDonell, managing director of CARF’s Medical Rehabilitation customer service unit and managing director of International Aging Services/Medical Rehabilitation. “Consumers told us they want a review of organizations that send persons to assist them—whether it’s a home care aide or a driver transporting them to appointments. They told us they feel more secure if they know an accreditor is watching out for their interests, and they look favorably on service providers that have earned the CARF accreditation seal.”
MacDonell added, “Generally, consumers prefer to receive services in their own homes and communities if they are able to, rather than in an institutional setting.”
The standards manuals containing the new Home and Community Services standards may be obtained at bookstore.carf.org. CARF urges service providers to speak with a resource specialist at CARF before acquiring a standards manual to ensure that the provider’s services are matched with appropriate standards. Providers must apply standards for a minimum of six months before a CARF survey may lead to accreditation.
For more information about Home and Community Services accreditation, call CARF International toll free at (888) 281-6531 (voice/TTY) or submit a contact form at www.carf.org.
Her name, Ruth Flowers, is as stereotypical as it gets when it comes to old lady names. But Ruth Flowers is no stereotypical old lady. Not when she’s dominating the French party scene on the ones and twos. While on the surface it may seem that her motivation is finding the ultimate rave and passing out ecstasy-laced hard candy, it’s far more noble than that. Like any grandma, she just likes to see young people having fun.
It seems like every week we find an article on the shortage of geriatric physicians, this weeks spotlight is an article in the Journal Sentinal titled, Geriatrician shortage will jump as number of seniors explodes.
Here are a few interesting statistics and insights from the article:
A recent AP article details that although assisted living is a "need driven" service that providers are are slashing costs, negotiating fees and offering more services, as operators adjust strategies to attract more residents in a tough economy.
The articles cites that the occupancy rate at the end of last year fell to just below 89 percent, down half of a percentage point from the end of 2008. And rents didn’t rise as much as they had in prior quarters, according to data from the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry.
ProAging @ Brightwood Center - Social Work Month
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ProAging @ Vinson Hall - Social Work Month Celebration
Seating is limited, so RSVP to rsvp@proaging.com or www.proaging.com/rsvp
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