Some 10 million Americans currently require long-term care according to the American Association for Long-Term Care insurance with annual expenditures exceeding $200 billion. Experts expect the number of individuals needing care will grow significantly in the next decade as the 76 million baby boomers begin to turn 65. To educate...
Author Archives: anthony
Update from the National Council on Aging: Sheehy Awesome / Sebelius Lame
I am attending my first National Council on Aging conference in Chicago. Made it in time to hear Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius speak. In a nutshell she was there because it is a crucial week in health care reform so she was talking the party line. Remember...
Risk of Death from Hip Fractures Markedly Increased for Elders
From Health Day – Belgian researchers have found that older men and women who break a hip are five to eight times more likely to die in the first three months after the fracture. The main problem is not the repair of the fracture but the toll it takes on...
Half of All Nurses Want Out!
An AMN Healthcare survey reports that half of all nurses say they plan to make a career change over the next three years. Of the 1,399 respondents to 44% say they will probably change the course of their careers to something less demanding between now and 2013. A total 28%...
Virginia Passes National Healthcare Nullifiaction Law
As the federal debate heats up over healthcare, states are slowly taking matters in their own hands with legislation that in affect goes against current healthcare reform proposals. Virginia became the first state to enact legislation to prevent its residents from being mandated to purchase health insurance or participate in...
Blog a Tree Today!
I have to admit this caught my attention. A German firm contacted me about their initiative to raise awareness of the carbon emissions resulting from the use of the internet – specifically of blogs. A blog with 15,000 visits a month they say has yearly carbon dioxide emissions of 8lb....
Get Moving to Control Arthritis Pain
One of my keynote topics in our Meaning of Life program talks about how seniors I have met lead a quality life by staying active and moving. Too often people mistakenly believe that the aches and pains associated with osteoarthritis are an inevitable part of aging that they must live...
Preventing Burnout and Compassion Fatigue
Caregivers are known to care for others before they take care of their own needs. In fact, as I tell people in my keynotes, a high majority of caregivers die before the ones they take care of so t aking care of yourself must be your first priority. Families of...
World Glaucoma Week – See the Big Picture about Your Eye Health
This week is World Glaucoma Week. Glaucoma is the worldÛªs leading cause of preventable blindness and affects approximately 70 million people worldwide. Many people do not understand the consequences of glaucoma and, more importantly, that its impact can be significantly reduced. Pfizer has developed a public awareness campaign to educate...
Nursing Home Chains to Pay Fines
Mariner Health Care Inc., subsidiary SavaSeniorCare Administrative Services LLC, and their principals will pay the federal government and several states $14 million to settle kickback allegations. As we blogged before, federal prosecutors alleged that the defendants solicited kickback payments from pharmacy giant Omnicare in exchange for agreements by Mariner and...