Health and Disability

Elder care managers: The Los Angeles Times on Sunday examined how elder care managers are "emerging to bridge the gap between far-off relatives and aging parents who may be overwhelmed by the labyrinth of medical and other services designed to help the aged and infirm survive in their own homes.

Home care: The Minneapolis Star Tribune on Sunday examined how a "shift in focus and in resource allotments needs to happen in the near future to accommodate" the "overwhelming preference for home care" among elderly patients. According to the Star Tribune, despite the recent growth of the home elder care industry, the "infrastructure ... is not yet in place to handle this coming age wave of American retirees."

ike Magee is author of eight books, including Health Politics: Power, Populism and Health. He directs healthcommentary.org, and serves as a member of the National Commission for Quality Long Term Care. We discuss his latest book, Home-Centered Health Care, which argues that the quality of health care can be dramatically improved, and costs contained, by re-building health management around electronic patient records and home-based electronic medical monitoring.