Nursing Homes Sometimes Wrongly Blamed in Medication Misuse

A recent article in the Chicago Tribune examines the roles physicians play in nursing home care, particularly when it comes to medication management. When physicians or psychiatrists prescribe a drug for a patient, facilities must administer it as long as the order is consistent with state and federal nursing home...

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Boomers Less Healthy Than Their Parents

This study comes as absolutely no surprise to me because as a nation we do not take care of ourselves. We are a fast food nation that is getting fatter. More proof that boomers are less healthy than their parents-researchers at UCLA have found that seniors aged 60-69 exhibited 40%-70%...

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Scripps Howard Analyzes Five Star Rating System

Scripps Howard conducted an analysis of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services‰Ûª Nursing Home Compare after Five Star introduction. Some nuggets: For-profit corporations, which account for about two-thirds of all nursing homes, generally get lower scores than those run by nonprofits groups. Homes with more nursing staff per patient,...

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Internet Use Reduces Depression in Elderly

Spending time online reduces depression by 20 percent for senior citizens, the Phoenix Center reports. In addition they report that reducing the incidence of depression by widespread Internet use among older Americans could trim the nation‰Ûªs health care bill. ‰ÛÏMaintaining relationships with friends and family at a time in life...

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Depression Common in Older Cancer Patients

Depression is common in older cancer patients and could be treated in primary care according to a study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine on cancer survivorship care. 55 percent of the patients who receive collaborative treatment, compared with 34 percent receiving the usual care, showed a 50 percent...

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Causes You Adopt Can Come Back to Help You!

If I told an orthopedist he/she should adopt the cause of fall prevention, they might twitch, raise an eyebrow and say I am crazy. Likewise the nursing home administrator who can count many a hip and knee replacement patient as their resident might look at me funny. But the cause...

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Walk Faster to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease

This is almost too logical! Researchers at the Universit̩ Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris measured the walking speed of more than 3,200 seniors aged 65 to 85 and followed their health status over the next five years. Seniors who walked slower were 44% more likely to die during the...

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Another Indication that Healthcare Reform is Not Reform at All

Here is an LA Times article worth reading that goes into what will NOT change under reform and that is the ability for insurers to deny care. Yes they may be mandated to cover you but that may not stop them from denying you. Congress would give patients little new...

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Americans Lacking in Long-Term Care Knowledge

Overall, Americans did not do well on a survey of their long-term care knowledge, according to results gathered by the MetLife Mature Market Institute. Most know what long-term care is and how much it costs, but their scores fall short regarding how many people will need it and how they...

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