Katie Beckett, 34, whose battle with a childhood disease and federal bureaucracy made her a national symbol in the 1980s, died today.
Beckett’s death was confirmed by Teahen Funeral Home of Cedar Rapids. Her parents Julie Beckett and Mark Beckett declined comment today.
Beckett contracted viral encephalitis five months after her March 9, 1978 birth in Cedar Rapids. She recovered after three years in pediatric intensive care, but the resulting respiratory condition required continued therapy and use of a respirator 12 hours a day.
“I was forced to live in a hospital for the first three and a half years of my life because insurance companies would not pay for services to let me live at home,” Beckett wrote the Gazette in 2007.
A new study led by Brown University researchers reports that percutaneous endoscopic gastric (PEG) feeding tubes, long assumed to help bedridden dementia patients stave off or overcome pressure ulcers, may instead make the horrible sores more likely to develop or not improve.The analysis of thousands of nursing home patients with advanced dementia appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
"This study provides new information about the risks of feeding tube insertion in people with advanced cognitive impairment," said lead author Dr. Joan Teno, a gerontologist and professor of health services, policy, and practice in the Public Health Program at Brown. "We see a substantial risk of people developing a stage II and higher pressure ulcer. We believe these risks should be discussed with family members before a decision is made to insert a feeding tube in a hospitalized nursing home resident with advanced cognitive impairment."
Elaine Vlieger is making some concessions to Alzheimer's. She's cut back on her driving, frozen dinners replace once elaborate cooking, and a son monitors her finances. But the Colorado woman lives alone and isn't ready to give up her house or her independence.
Some 800,000 people with Alzheimer's, roughly 1 in 7 Americans with the disease, live alone in their communities, according to surprising new data from the Alzheimer's Association. It's a different picture of the mind-destroying disease than the constant caregiving that eventually these people will need.
Many such as Vlieger cope on their own during dementia's earlier stages with support from family and friends who keep in close contact.
via npr.org
Rates of breakdowns and repairs appeared higher for individuals from a racial/ethnic minority background. These same individuals were also less likely to have a backup wheelchair available.Individuals whose wheelchairs were funded by Medicare or Medicaid had higher rates of breakdowns and consequences, compared to those covered by private insurance or other sources (such as the Veterans Administration or workers compensation).
More than 2.8 million Americans use a wheelchair for mobility, allowing greater independence in daily functioning, home life, and vocational settings. Wheelchair users are at risk when breakdowns occur, with consequences ranging from minor inconveniences to significant injuries.
In a study of senior citizen patients 65 and older with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), younger patients were more likely to receive treatment than older patients, regardless of overall health and prognosis.
The study of more than 20,000 patients, led by a team of physicians at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) and UCSF, found that, for all stages of cancer, treatment rates decreased more in association with advancing age than with the worsening of other illnesses.
Patients between the ages of 65 to 74 who were severely ill from other illnesses, and thus less likely to benefit and more likely to be harmed from cancer treatment, received treatment at roughly the same rate as patients in the same age range with no comorbidities.
Now a drug developed by Tel Aviv University researchers, known as BL-7050, is offering new hope to patients with neuropathic pain. Developed by Prof. Bernard Attali and Dr. Asher Peretz of TAU's Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, the medication inhibits the transmission of pain signals throughout the body. In both in-vitro and in-vivo experiments measuring electrical activity of neurons, the compound has been shown to prevent the hyper-excitability of neurons - protecting not only against neuropathic pain, but epileptic seizures as well.
A Definite Improvement. From the Summary:
This rule specifies the services that must be made available under the CFC State plan option. States electing this option must make available home and community-based attendant services and supports to assist in accomplishing activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, and health-related tasks through hands-on assistance, supervision, and/or cueing. Additionally, the following services may be provided at the State’s option: Transition costs such as rent and utility deposits, first month’s rent and utilities, purchasing bedding, basic kitchen supplies, and other necessities required for transition from an institution; and the provision of services that increase independence or substitute for human assistance to the extent that expenditures would have been made for the human assistance, such as non-medical transportation services or purchasing a microwave.
• States are required to use a person-centered service plan that is based on an assessment of functional need and allows for the provision of services to be self-directed under either an agency-provider model, a self-directed model with service budget, or other service delivery model defined by the State and approved by the Secretary. States may offer more than one service delivery model.
Full rules are top item at http://goo.gl/aRLaO
Actor Noah Wyle and more than 100 members of the group ADAPT have been arrested during a Capitol Hill protest to urge Congress not to cut Medicaid.
The protesters, many in wheelchairs, were handcuffed in the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building.
The former "ER" star and members of ADAPT say any cuts in Medicaid spending would force people with disabilities and the elderly out of their homes and into nursing homes to get the services they need.
via cbsnews.com
Shaun Donovan, the Secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, came to visit ADAPT today at the Capitol Hill Holiday Inn. Although he directly credited ADAPT with many positive changes in HUD and the other federal programs, he did not announce any new vouchers to help people move from nursing facilities into the community. He did however declare HUD's commitment to that purpose and said that vouchers intended to transition people from institutions would not be reassigned and HUD will begin on-site inspections to ensure local Housing Authorities comply.
via adapt.org
Ensure safe care for patients at home—keep better track of patients' care from hospital to home
The patient's home is becoming the principal venue for delivering an array of health care services, ranging from long-term care to acute hospital-level care and everything in between. Learn to identify and oversee the wide range of medical and social services available to assist patients at home.Created in collaboration by the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Academy of Home Care Physicians, this resource helps you traverse the changing home care landscape from long term care supportive services through skilled nursing and therapy services to acute hospital in the home programs.
Key topics include:
How careful utilization of appropriate services can prevent unnecessary rehospitalizations, emergency department visits and poorer than expected health outcomes Medical management of the home care patient Key features include:
Newly added chapters on care transitions and their importance in reducing hospital readmissions Legal, ethical and compliance issues fully discussed Information on the Veterans Administration's Home Based Primary Care Program Special home care populations from neonatal through hospice and end of life care A continuing medical education component for physicians interested in obtaining AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ A caregiver self-assessment tool A comprehensive glossary Listing of national, state and local resources Case studies, tables, figures and easy-to-read text