ProAging Information Network

Recent Study Shows Planning For Senior Care Out Of Sight And Mind For Most Adults

FALLS CHURCH, VA – Metro area seniors and their families are invited to attend a free public seminar designed to explain the many care options available for today’s aging population. The presentation will be hosted by Paul Hogan, co-author of the recently released book Stages of Senior Care: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Making the Best Decisions. It will be offered on December 3, from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., at the Marriott Fairview Park, 3111 Fairview Park Dr., Falls Church, VA.

The event is sponsored by Home Instead Senior Care, Capital Hospice, Heartland Hospice, Chesterbrook Residences and The Virginian. Reservations are suggested and can be made at stages@homeinstead.com or by calling 703.750.6644. The first 150 people to RSVP will receive a free copy of the book.

A leading senior care expert, Hogan will review a number important topics including: financial planning for senior care, being a caregiver to an elderly parent, insurance options, and the state of senior care in America.

“With more than 78 million Baby Boomers on the verge of retirement, America is facing monumental social and economic challenges in the ways in which we care for our seniors.” Hogan said. “If families are not prepared, navigating the care continuum can become a complex process that sometimes involves misinformation and injects unwanted stress into our most important relationships.”

A recent Home Instead Senior Care survey showed that planning for senior care is out of sight and out of mind for most adult children and seniors alike. In fact, half of all seniors ages 65 to 75 have not thought about their own future care needs, and nearly a quarter of 35- to 64-year-olds could not name a single senior care option available today.  Even more startling: both seniors and adult children have the misconception that Social Security and Medicare will pay for senior care, while many are unfamiliar with the costs of today’s care options.

"Senior care options have expanded almost beyond recognition in the last 20 years, yet most Americans are still only familiar with nursing homes or family care at home," adds Hogan. “With tens of millions of Boomers starting to retire, it’s critical that people start thinking about this.”

Case managers and social workers are eligible to receive CEU credits for this session.  The Commission for Case Manager Certification has approved two hours of continuing education for case managers, and the National Association of Social Workers has approved two continuing education contact hours for social workers.

Hogan is providing the free lectures in conjunction with the release of a new book, Stages of Senior Care: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Making the Best Decisions (November 2009/McGraw-Hill/$18.95). The book serves as a comprehensive guide for the ever-expanding world of senior care, breaking down the process by addressing the shared concerns of seniors and their family members. Featuring more than 30 sources from the most credible major healthcare organizations, universities and nonprofit organizations, the book thoroughly explains each and every aspect of senior care, including the array of available care choices, being a caregiver, planning for your own future, aging in place, family and professional care options, how to chose an option and what to look for, financing care, insurance, legal matters, dealing with stress, communication and family relations. Proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit the Home Instead Senior Care Foundation, which provides financial support of activities designed to improve the quality of life of seniors.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING:

“Informative. Complete. And practical. This book will guide family caregivers

through the surprisingly complex world of senior care.” MEHMET OZ, M.D.

# # #

 

Despite recent advances, report documents widespread discrimination encountered by LGBT elders, offers substantive policy recommendations

WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 — The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders) today jointly released Outing Age 2010: Public Policy Issues Affecting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Elders, an update to the groundbreaking Outing Age report issued in 2000. Like its predecessor, Outing Age 2010 presents an in-depth look at public policy issues and challenges facing millions of aging LGBT people in the United States.

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Research on LGBT people at the federal and state levels is almost nonexistent, and so the specific needs of LGBT elders remain largely invisible and unaddressed.

Federal, state and local elder housing and care programs, Area Agencies on Aging, and other providers have no mandate to provide culturally competent services to LGBT people, while elders report widespread fear, discrimination and barriers to care.

Federal "safety net" programs like Social Security and Medicaid define family and partnership in ways that exclude LGBT families, partners and spouses, creating economic and familial hardships for LGBT elders.

Significant health disparities persist, with no federal commitment to identifying or addressing them.

With no federal prohibition against anti-LGBT workplace discrimination, income inequities across the lifespan persist for LGBT wage earners.

The federal government and the states must fund and include questions on sexual orientation and gender identity in all research surveys.

The Administration on Aging should issue guidelines to the states to include LGBT elders as a vulnerable population and provide directives for active outreach to and inclusion of LGBT elders in state plans.

Federal and state bans on employment discrimination must be established to prevent LGBT elder poverty.

The definition of family must be expanded to recognize same-sex couples and extended family kinship structures in the designation of federal benefits such as Social Security, Medicaid and Veterans Benefits.

The Family and Medical Leave Act must be expanded to cover LGBT caregivers and their family and friends, regardless of whether they are related by blood or marriage.

Public and private health care providers must be trained in cultural competency for working with LGBT older adults.

The updated report comes on the heels of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ recent announcement of plans to establish the first national LGBT elder resource center. LGBT aging issues have been a focus of the New Beginning Initiative, a Task Force-coordinated collaboration of more than 20 national LGBT organizations moving to promote change within federal agencies to improve the lives of LGBT people. LGBT aging issues have been identified as a priority issue for the Task Force and SAGE.

"For too many years, the needs of the oldest members of our community have been invisible to many of us and ignored by most institutions in our society," says Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "LGBT elders remain a highly vulnerable and largely invisible aging population. We know that invisibility leads to greater social isolation, which can lead to increased vulnerability in many areas. We also know that discrimination across the lifespan leaves LGBT people economically and socially vulnerable as they age. Outing Age 2010 shines a laser beam on these needs and offers concrete recommendations on how aging advocates, policy makers and social service agencies can meet them."

The LGBT elder population is growing, with a large wave of openly LGBT baby boomers poised to seek aging-related services over the next 25 years. Yet, as Outing Age 2010 shows, there is virtually no government-sponsored research on aging that includes sexual orientation or gender identity variables. This lack of data results in policy and practices that ignore the unique realities and needs of older LGBT people.

"While we have seen a growing network of LGBT aging programs and some positive steps by mainstream aging services programs to welcome LGBT older adults, there still is a long way to go in terms of public policy, capacity-building and appropriate funding to adequately address the concerns of LGBT older adults," says SAGE Executive Director Michael Adams. "The recent announcement about the creation of a national technical assistance resource center on LGBT aging will make a big difference, especially with regard to building capacity to serve LGBT older people nationwide. Outing Age 2010 is a key resource for the LGBT aging network, and a roadmap for aging advocates seeking policy progress."

Outing Age 2010 includes an overview and current research on a wide variety of topics, ranging from the demographics of the LGBT older adult community to the issues facing this population, including challenges in health care, housing, assisted-living services, social services, home care and many others.

The report shows that several federal programs that aim to serve elders blatantly exclude or otherwise discriminate against LGBT elders. For example, Social Security pays survivor benefits to widows and widowers but not to surviving spouses of same-sex life partners. Medicaid regulations protect the assets and homes of married spouses but offer no such protection to same-sex partners. Tax laws discriminate against same-sex partners, costing the surviving partner thousands of dollars a year. In addition, the report spotlights the continuing widespread existence of bias in the provision of services to LGBT elders.

Report findings include:

Comprehensive Resource Book Provides The Tools Needed To Help Readers Make

Informed Senior Care Decisions For Themselves And Their Aging Parents

With more than 78 million Baby Boomers on the verge of retirement, America is facing monumental social and economic challenges in the ways in which we care for our seniors. With healthcare concerns at the forefront, and with time and money management a major factor for American families in the 21st century, how adult children and seniors can best prepare and plan for their futures have evolved into a complex process that often involves misinformation and injects unwanted stress into our most important relationships.

To ease this tension and give much needed guidance to seniors and their adult children alike, Paul and Lori Hogan, founders of Home Instead Senior Care, the world’s largest provider of non-medical in-home care for seniors, have taken their experiences as both family caregivers and senior care professionals and written Stages of Senior Care: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Making the Best Decisions (November 2009/McGraw-Hill/$18.95).

Stages of Senior Care serves as a comprehensive guide for the ever-expanding world of senior care, breaking down the process by addressing the shared concerns of seniors and their family members. Featuring more than 30 sources from the most credible major healthcare organizations, universities and nonprofit organizations, the Hogans thoroughly explain each and every aspect of senior care, including the array of available care choices, being a caregiver, planning for your own future, aging in place, family and professional care options, how to chose an option and what to look for, financing care, insurance, legal matters, dealing with stress, communication and family relations. Specific chapters are dedicated to informing families about the many options available for professional care including senior centers and adult care centers, non-medical care at home, medical care at home, retirement and independent living communities, assisted living, skilled nursing homes, and hospice care.

"Senior care options have expanded almost beyond recognition in the last 20 years, yet most Americans are still only familiar with nursing homes or family care at home," said Paul Hogan. "In Stages of Senior Care, we present, fully and fairly, the multitude of options now available while at the same time helping people hold together their family and preserve their own well-being."

Stages of Senior Care is a comprehensive resource that will help families to provide the best and most appropriate care for their loved ones.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING:

“Informative. Complete. And practical. This book will guide family caregivers

through the surprisingly complex world of senior care.” MEHMET OZ, M.D.

# # #

NEW YORK (Reuters) – High-cost urban U.S. hospitals may face debt rating downgrades if large cuts to Medicare funding are implemented as part of U.S. health care reform, Moody’s Investors Service said on Monday.

The U.S. Senate voted on Saturday to debate a reform bill two weeks after the House of Representatives passed its own version of a bill. Both bills seek to expand the number of insured patients, while reining in future health care costs.

"Achievement of these goals will affect hospitals in different ways, but cost control measures could be especially negative for the credit position of many high-cost urban hospitals even if the number of insured patients expands," Moody’s said in a report.

The push to cut costs is driven by the rising costs of Medicare, the federal health care program for the elderly.

Research shows there are massive cost differences between hospitals in different regions. A recent report by Dartmouth College revealed costs per Medicare enrollee ranged from $5,300 to $16,000 in 2006.

Most of the 17 highest cost hospitals are in urban or densely populated areas, which tend to have a higher cost of living, higher poverty and unemployment levels, diverse populations with diverse health care needs and expensive research arms.

The cost differences also highlight the local nature of health care markets with most hospitals drawing more than 90 percent of patients from a 50-mile radius.

If reform involves large Medicare cuts, the best-placed hospitals are those that are part of multi-state systems that have economies of scale or those that gain the most new patients with health insurance.

"The most vulnerable hospitals will be stand-alone hospitals dependent on high cost referral practices and which do not gain many new paying patients," the agency said.

TUESDAY, Nov. 24 (HealthDay News) – Seniors who take antidepressants, sedatives and other psychotropic medications may be at increased risk for falls, a new review shows.

Canadian researchers analyzed 22 published studies that included a total of 79,081 participants older than 60. The studies evaluated nine classes of drugs: high blood pressure medicines; diuretics; beta blockers; sedatives and hypnotics; neuroleptics and antipsychotics; antidepressants; benzodiazepines; narcotics; and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

After pooling the data and adjusting for other factors, the review authors concluded that there was a significant association between the use of sedatives, hypnotics, antidepressants and benzodiazepines and the risk of falls in older adults.

"Given the divergent results shown by some observational assessments within specific medication classes, the results of our meta-analysis reiterate the need for caution when prescribing these medications to seniors," wrote John C. Woolcott, of the University of British Columbia and the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcomes Sciences in Vancouver, and colleagues.

"It is hoped that future research in this area can be completed with larger sample sizes in both community and long-term care facility settings and thus improve the quality of information about fall risks that is available to physicians and pharmacists when they are deciding which types of pharmacotherapy to provide," the researchers added.

The study is published in the Nov. 23 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

More than 30 percent of people older than 65 suffer a fall at least once a year. Falls and their complications are the fifth-leading cause of death in the developed world, according to background information in the study.

For older people, gabbing on a cell phone while walking across the street may increase the chances of being run over, according to a new study, although earlier research did not find the same connection among younger people.

Just listening to music on an iPod or other portable device doesn’t pack the same risks as talking on a cell phone, the researchers found.

The results are based on two lab-based studies in which participants had to maneuver on a treadmill to cross a virtual street, and so further research is needed to firm up the results in the real world. One possible shortcoming: People may find it more difficult to walk on a manual treadmill than they would on actual concrete. But the simulation allowed researchers to make sure all subjects experienced the exact same conditions.

"Many people assume that walking is so automatic that really nothing will get in the way," Art Kramer, a psychology professor at the University of Illinois who conducted the research, said in a statement. "But actually walking in environments that have lots of obstacles is perhaps not as automatic as one might think."

Previous research in a natural setting found walking and talking on a cell phone so distracting that subjects failed to spot an obvious clown riding a unicycle.

Participants in Kramer’s study took their virtual stroll on a manual treadmill that only moves when the person walks. Images of an intersection were projected on three screens placed in front of, to the right and left of the subject. The treadmill was synced up with the virtual environment. Each participant had to complete a jaunt that included crossing a street, with cars, three times: once with no distractions, having a cell-phone conversation, and listening to music on an iPod.

The research involved two studies.

The first, with 36 college students, showed that students trying to hold a phone conversation took 25 percent longer to cross the street compared with those without phones and those listening to iPods. Cell-phone users were also less likely to finish crossing the street in the 30 seconds allotted for the task.

However, the young adults were not more likely to get hit by a virtual car even if they were talking on a cell phone. The study was published online Nov. 5 in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention.

The researchers note that cell-phone users who didn’t finish crossing spent most of their time waiting at the curbside, suggesting they failed to spot safe opportunities to cross the road. In real life, pedestrians do not always have the option to wait - they might be in a hurry to get to work, or running late for an appointment. In such rushed instances, failing to recognize a safe time to cross could have harmful consequences, such as a vehicle collision, the authors write.

The second study, yet to be published, focused on people 60 and older.

"Older adults on the phone got run over about 15 percent more often [than those not on the phone]," Kramer said. Subjects who had a history of falling fared even worse.

"Walking and talking on the phone while old, especially, appears to be dangerous," Kramer said.

But why was music-listening less of a hazard than talking on the phone? The researchers point out that a conversation requires a person to comprehend and respond, while listening to tunes is a more passive activity. They speculate it may be easier for an individual to tune out music to concentrate on the task at hand, while the same cannot be said for chatting on the phone.

 

CHICAGO - Alzheimer’s research in Chicago is getting a big boost from the federal government.

The National Institute on Aging announced Monday that $4.7 million in American Recovery Act money will fund research on mental decline in older black Americans.

Dr. Denis Evans at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago is involved. He’ll collect and analyze DNA from more than 4,000 blacks enrolled in aging studies in Chicago and Indianapolis.

Data from this analysis will help identify risk factor genes for mental decline and late-onset Alzheimer’s.

More than 100 Alzheimer’s or Alzheimer’s-related research grants have been awarded under the Recovery Act.

: a multi-centre study protocol with one year of interventions on multiple levels

There is scientific evidence that preventive physical exercise is effective even in high age. In contrast, there are few opportunities of preventive exercise for highly aged people endangered by or actually in need of care.

For example, they would not be able to easily go to training facilities; standard exercises may be too intensive and therefore be harmful to them; orientation disorders like dementia would exacerbate individuals and groups in following instructions and keeping exercises going on. In order to develop appropriate interventions, these and other issues were assigned to different levels: the individual-social level (ISL), the organisational-institutional level (OIL) and the political-cultural level (PCL).

Consequently, this conceptional framework was utilised for development, implementation and evaluation of a new strength and balance exercise programme for old people endangered by or actually in need of daily care. The present paper contains the development of this programme labeled “fit for 100”, and a study protocol of an interventional single-arm multi-centre trial.

Methods: The intervention consisted of (a) two group training sessions every week over one year, mainly resistance exercises, accompanied by sensorimotor and communicative group exercises and games (ISL), (b) a sustainable implementation concept, starting new groups by instructors belonging to the project, followed by training and supervision of local staff, who stepwise take over the group (OIL), (c) informing and convincing activities in professional, administrative and governmental contexts, public relation activities, and establishing an advisory council with renowned experts and public figures (PCL).

Participating institutions of geriatric care were selected through several steps of quality criteria assessment. Primary outcome measures were continuous documentation of individual participation (ISL), number of groups continued without external financial support (at the end of the project, and after one year) (OIL).

Secondary outcome was measured by sensorimotor tests and care-related assessments in the beginning and every 16 weeks (ISL), by qualitative outcome descriptions 12 months after group implementation (OIL) and by analysis of media response and structured interviews with stakeholders, also after 12 months (PCL).

Conclusions: Exemplarily, preventive exercise has been established for a neglected target population. The multi-level approach used here seems to be helpful to overcome institutional and individual (attitude) barriers.Trial registration:Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN55213782

Author: Michael BrachFrank NiederUlrike NiederHeinz Mechling

Credits/Source: BMC Geriatrics 2009, 9:51

 

by Elizabeth Cooney November 24, 2009 04:44 PM

Chronic pain is a common companion of old age. A new Boston study suggests that people who suffer chronic pain may be at higher risk for falls, a serious, sometimes deadly problem for older people.

Writing in tomorrow’s Journal of the American Medical Association, a team that included researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife, and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital report on a study that followed more than 700 people over age 70 who were living within five miles of Hebrew SeniorLife in Boston. The participants, who had medical examinations before being enrolled in the trial, noted on a calendar when they felt pain and how it affected their daily life.

After 18 months, the researchers found that people who said they felt pain in two or more joints in one month were 50 percent more likely to fall in the following month than people who did not report joint pain. Back pain was not associated with falls. The increased risk for people with multiple joint pain persisted after the researchers accounted for such factors as a previous history of falls, medication use, illnesses, or trouble with balance.

The study’s results mean chronic pain should be taken more seriously, lead author Suzanne Leveille said in an interview. She became a professor of nursing at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, after completing the research at Beth Israel Deaconess.

"It may not be just simple aches or pains. It could actually be something that places a person at increased risk for falls, [which] could lead to hospitalization and further disability," she said. "We’d like to know if we control chronic pain, will people have fewer falls? Certainly if a person has chronic pain, it should be a discussion with their health-care provider to make sure the pain is managed adequately."

The president of the American Geriatrics Society said the study should remind people that chronic pain is an underrecognized and undertreated problem.

"This article helps us understand that pain in a person’s life affects more than just the fact that they hurt," Dr. Cheryl Phillips, said in an interview. She is chief medical officer of On Lok Lifeways, a San Francisco center that was the model for a national program offering alternatives to nursing home care for frail elders. "The most important message is we should not ignore chronic pain in seniors. Because you are old doesn’t mean you have to hurt."

 

Source: http://www.boston.com/news/health/blog/2009/11/chronic_pain_is.html