Health and Disability

If you missed the ABCs of Nursing Home Transition training offered by the New Community Opportunities Center at ILRU in February, you now have a chance to view the training in its entirety on ILRU’s Nursing Home Transition wiki site

Tart cherries may help reduce chronic inflammation, especially for the millions of Americans suffering from debilitating joint pain and arthritis, according to new research from Oregon Health & Science University presented at the American College of Sports Medicine Conference (ACSM) in San Francisco, Calif.1 In fact, the researchers suggest tart cherries have the "highest anti-inflammatory content of any food" and can help people with osteoarthritis manage their disease.

A multi-billion dollar federal initiative to move low-income elderly and disabled people from long-term care facilities into the community has fallen far short of its goals, as many states have struggled to cobble together housing and other services.

Launched in 2007 during the Bush administration, the states initially projected placing 35,380 Medicaid recipients in the first five years. As of March 31 at least 22,500 had made the transition, about 36 percent below the states’ target.

The numbers vary sharply by state. Some, such as Texas and Ohio, have helped thousands find homes in their communities. Others, including North Carolina, Missouri and Kentucky, have moved fewer than 500 each.

In California, only 827 people have made the jump since 2008, although the state was awarded $41 million during that time. “We’re not doing a good job of it here,” said Deborah Doctor, legislative advocate for Disability Rights California. “It’s pathetic.”

This study overturns decades-old beliefs that most of the brain is hard-wired before a critical period that ends when one is a young adult," said MPFI neuroscientist Marcel Oberlaender, PhD, first author on the paper. "By changing the nature of sensory experience, we were able to demonstrate that the brain can rewire, even at an advanced age. This may suggest that if one stops learning and experiencing new things as one ages, a substantial amount of connections within the brain may be lost.

Rounding up from a series of press releases, encounters and other notifications accumulated over the past few months, from the very small firm to the very large, from the very new to the very new release, here are some new technologies and/or services that may be new to you, for use by or in support of older adults.  All material is from the vendor published information:

Publicly traded companies that operate facilities in multiple states show “record revenues” and “operating profits that exceeded expectations.” One company’s revenues spiked 62% over the same quarter last year while another company squeezed out an additional $2.26 per resident day over fourth quarter 2011 Medicare rates.

“Nursing home owners are obviously ‘coping’ from last year’s Medicare adjustments through progressive acquisition strategies and imaginative cost mitigation techniques,” said Lee. “What’s also bolstering their profitability is a stronger Medicaid reimbursement rate, growing two percent over the past year.”

But industry lobbyists claim that “continued Medicaid rate cuts have created a dire situation” when it comes to paying for nursing home care.

These earning reports show otherwise. What has become critical is that substandard care continues to be dolled out in far too many nursing homes, according to Families for Better Care.

You could fill a baseball stadium many times with the people who experts say die each year from an error [1], injury or infection [2] suffered while undergoing medical treatment. Many more are harmed.

Using Facebook, we've created a space to bring together those who have been harmed and others concerned about the problem. Join the community or follow the conversation here.

The Illinois Legislature will soon be deciding on how to slash the Medicaid program to satisfy the Governor's request of a $2.7 billion cut. The initial proposal from Governor Quinn was a 10% reduction in home care and hospice services through utilization controls. The Illinois HomeCare & Hospice Council has responded by commissioning a study by the Center for Long-Term Care Reform at Health & Medicine Policy Research Group (HMPRG) on the negative fiscal impact of home care cuts. We invite you to read the study.

In her book “What Really Matters: 7 Lessons for Living from the Stories of the Dying” Wyatt relates numerous stories of patients who were able to accomplish significant transformations as they neared death, healing old relationships and resolving wounds from the past. These individuals experienced serenity and a sense of fulfillment at the time of death because of the emotional and spiritual healing that occurred in their final days.

But, according to Dr. Wyatt, this type of transformation is not possible if pain is not properly managed. She emphasizes that medication levels must be carefully monitored and titrated so that the patient experiences adequate pain relief without being over-sedated. And she believes that many healthcare providers lack sufficient education on pain management to help their patients attain this optimal level of relief.

As people with a particular medical condition we, of course, focus on how the illness affects our bodies.  Increasingly we have a look at how it impacts our lifestyles and general wellbeing

In this blog, however, we want to look at the lives from a slightly different angle.  What affect of a chronic medical condition has upon your finances and the finances of those who care for patients?

There are lots of issues to consider here.  For example:-

• cost of medication
• the need for some kind of state or charitable support such as a disability living allowance
• increased costs for such things as clothes and childcare
• lack of job opportunities due to disability

The aim of this blog is to allow our readers both to share their experiences and also provide tips for solving financial problems.  To kick start the discussion we would love it if you could have a look at a number of questions:-

• What is your main medical condition?  How long have you had the condition?
• Has your household income risen or fallen since then?
• What, if any, is the effect of the condition upon your working life and your ability to earn a living?
• Have you received any kind of benefits for your condition from your government?  How easy was it for you to apply for these benefits?
• Have you found any alternative ways for earning a living? For example working from home?
• Do you have any suggestions as to useful web links which you can share with our readers for helping with any financially related issues?

 

Feel free to add anything else you think might be of interest.

Thanks very much in advance for your help. Remember, a blog is really like having a conversation with lots of people at the same time and so please check back on the blog to see what others have said so that if you feel like adding to their thoughts you can.

If you have any requests for blogs like this on a different subject please send us an email to info@healthcarelandscape.com

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We run a number of research project with patients each year and if you would be interested in taking part in these kinds of projects or any other medical or healthcare market research why not join us at The Patients Voice by clicking the button below.

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