Health and Disability

From jenweir.com:

Thanks and a Hat Tip to K. Wyeth

Remembering daily events, activities, and routines is difficult for all of us at times. Some conditions associated with aging can result in memory loss ranging from forgetting to take medication at a designated time, to not being able to remember one's own address or getting lost in one's own neighborhood. Persons who have dementia with short-term and long-term memory may fail to recognize a familiar face, take care of personal hygiene, or speak effectively.

There are many ways to assist persons who have memory loss, including techniques to aid memory and helpful products that can be purchased in local stores or easily made at home. Each person has different needs, so devices and techniques should be tailored to suit the individual.

Home-Made Modifications

The home will be more familiar if the furniture and other items are not rearranged. Small modifications to trigger memory can also be useful. "Home-made" memory aids are often good solutions for several types of memory problems. For example, checklists can help remind a person to do certain tasks. A checklist placed inside the door to a home may include items like "Make sure I have the key" and "Make sure the stove is turned off". Home-made labels can also help people to remember the contents of a cabinet, drawer, or closet. For example, a label that says "socks" or a picture of socks can be placed on a dresser that holds socks. Labels are also useful for the names of people in a photograph. This can help a person with memory loss to recognize family and friends.

Persons who have memory loss may have difficulty remembering the time of day, day of the week, month, or year. Forgetting these things can become increasingly frustrating for both the person with memory loss and his or her caregiver. A prominently displayed digital clock and easy-to-read calendar can help remind a person of the day and time. Marking routines, appointments, special occasions, and future events on the calendar can also be helpful. A cue card with a home address and phone number that is carried at all times will ensure that the person always has necessary information in an emergency....

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From Medical News Today:

CMS on Thursday said it will postpone the implementation of a competitive bidding rule for durable medical equipment providers until April, CongressDaily reports. Legislation approved in the summer of 2008 delayed the program and required that CMS redo the first round of bidding and provide feedback to suppliers about missing bid information rather than automatically disqualifying them. The interim final rule, issued in January, was set to take effect Tuesday, but CMS moved that date to April 19. The agency wrote in the Federal Register that they need more time to review the rule. The delay was first suggested Feb. 10, and about 550 comments in favor of the delay have been received since that date. The comment period ends March 17 (CongressDaily, 2/19).

From Healthcare Finance News:

ALBANY, N.Y – New York's Medicaid program spends more on long-term health care than any other state, but indicators of quality are "about average or slightly above average," according to a new report issued Friday by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government.

The Institute's study examines a variety of factors that may influence such spending, including demographics, spending by type of care, characteristics of facilities, and varying policies among state Medicaid programs. New York was compared to 18 other large and Northeastern states including California, Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio....

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From The Washington Post:

The Bush administration shut off a source of information last fall about abuse and neglect in long-term care facilities that people suing nursing homes consider crucial to their cases...

The rule designates state inspectors and Medicare and Medicaid contractors as federal employees, a group usually shielded from providing evidence for either side in private litigation. ...

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From McKnight's:

President Barack Obama is set to unveil his 2010 budget proposal
Thursday, causing anxious senior care groups to issue a call for
Medicare funding protection.

The Coalition to Protect Senior Care, which represents more than a
dozen healthcare groups around the country, called upon the president
to use his success with the stimulus package to protect Medicaid
funding for skilled nursing facilities....

I wonder who the groups are?

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From McKnight's:

More than one in 10 nursing home residents had a pressure ulcer in 2004, according to newly released statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Key findings from the report show that roughly 159,000 nursing home residents—11% of the total—had some form of pressure ulcer that year. Stage two pressure ulcers were the most prevalent, the report found. Younger residents who experienced shorter lengths of stay also were more likely to have pressure ulcers....

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From PRNewswire:

Some Americans are spending nearly seven times more for certain long-term care services than others, according to research commissioned by financial security company Northwestern Mutual.

The survey of nearly 7,000 home health care providers, assisted living facilities and nursing homes revealed stark differences in cost for long-term care services based on geographic location. The most significant difference between locations was the hourly wage of Home Health Aides (HHAs), causing consumers in the most expensive markets to spend nearly seven times more than those in the least expensive markets...

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From McKnight's:

The ball is back in the U.S. Senate's court on the issue of financing a system to help find missing seniors. The House last week passed the National Silver Alert Act (H.R. 632), which would establish an infrastructure for alerting both law enforcement and the public when a senior goes missing...

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From USA Today:

"If you restrain a resident, you actually see some desperation," Snyder says. "They experience some anguish. You kind of break their spirit. They give up. "

When she joined the staff of the Thornwald Home in Carlisle, Pa., 15 years ago, the facility sometimes used physical restraints on the elderly residents to keep them in their chairs or from wandering the halls. Staff and family members believed restraints made the residents safer.

Snyder knew that wasn't correct. "Statistics have shown there have actually been deaths from (the use of) restraints," she says. "That is definitely far worse than if they fall."

Now, none of Thornwald's 83 residents are in restraints, reflecting both Snyder's efforts and a nationwide push to reduce the practice. Nursing homes immobilize 5.5% of their residents with physical restraints on average, about a quarter as many as they did in 1991, a USA TODAY analysis of nursing homes' self-reported data to Medicare shows.

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From bloglongtermcare.com:

Home health aides continue to use low-technology, inefficient methods for documenting care, time and mileage as well as communicating with the office. A breakthrough solution with proven results is now being offered through a partnership between Thornberry Limited and AirClic .

NDoc+AirClic is a solution that uses a simple cell phone to reduce costs and improve revenue, patient outcomes and employee morale. The system has already been successfully deployed in the Syracuse, N.Y. area. St. Joseph's Certified Home Health Care Agency realized nearly $70,000 in savings the first year NDoc+AirClic was deployed. The company reports soaring employee retention and new applications among their home health aides....

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