Quality of U.S. hospices varies, patients left in dark - The Washington Post

Quality of U.S. hospices varies, patients left in dark - The Washington Post

{Q}A boom in the industry allows patients to choose from an array of hospice outfits, some of them excellent. More than a thousand new
hospices have opened in the United States in the past decade. But the absence of public information about their quality, a void that is unusual even within the health-care industry, leaves consumers at a loss to distinguish the good from the bad.

Though the federal government publishes consumer data about the quality of other health-care companies, including hospitals, nursing homes and home health agencies, it provides no such information about hospices.

 The reasons that some hospices stint on care may be at least partly financial. Medicare, the chief source of industry revenue, pays hospice companies per day of care — about $155 for a “routine” day — regardless of how much care is actually provided. That means that the less a hospice spends on nursing and other services, the more it can profit.
{EQ}

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/business/hospice-quality  This database shows, among other things, whether the hospice has provided
more intense levels of care for patients suffering a crisis; how much
it spends on nursing visits per patient; and whether it has won approval
from one of three outside accrediting agencies, the Joint Commission, the Accreditation Commission for Health Care and Community Health Accreditation Program, or CHAP

Stairlift Recycling

Stairlift Recycling: The Stairlift Recycling Scheme was pioneered by Major Adaptations Ltd. The recycling scheme for stairlifts donates all income derived from the broking of recycled stairlifts to the Respite for Carers Fund.

The Caregiver’s Bill of Rights | Alzheimer's Reading Room

The Caregiver’s Bill of Rights | Alzheimer's Reading Room: Whether they realize it or not caregivers do have rights – lots of them.



This list has been circulating on the internet for a long time and is attributed to various persons.



This version was taken from www.caregivers.utah.gov, where it is attributed to Jo Horne.



Whether you have seen it previously or not, it is always worth repeating and sharing

• To take care of myself. Caregiving is not an act of selfishness. It will give me the capability of taking better care of my loved one.


• To seek help from others even though my loved ones may object. Only I can recognize the limits of my endurance and strength.


• To maintain facets of my life that do not include the person I care for, just as I would if he or she were healthy. I know that I do everything that I reasonably can for this person, and I have the right to do some things just for myself.


• To get angry, be depressed, and express other difficult feelings occasionally.


• To reject any attempts by my loved one (either conscious or unconscious) to manipulate me through guilt, and/or depression.


• To receive consideration, affection, forgiveness, and acceptance for what I do, from my loved ones, for as long as I offer these qualities in return.


• To take pride in what I am accomplishing and to applaud the courage it has sometimes taken to meet the needs of my loved one.


• To protect my individuality and my right to make a life for myself that will sustain me in the time when my loved one no longer needs my full-time help.


• To expect and demand that as new strides are made in finding resources to aid physically- and mentally-impaired persons in our country, similar strides will be made towards aiding and supporting caregivers.

Accepting Alzheimers, Coping in Alzheimers World | Alzheimer's Reading Room

Accepting Alzheimers, Coping in Alzheimers World | Alzheimer's Reading Room: Accepting Alzheimers, Coping in Alzheimers World



Did you ever wonder why most Alzheimer's patients stick like glue to their caregiver? Call out their name when they can't see them? Want to know where you are when they can't see you?



By Bob DeMarco

Alzheimer's Reading Room



Accepting Alzheimer's Coping

When a person has Alzheimer's disease or another type of dementia they are often difficult to understand. The behaviors they express are often difficult to accept.



It be be very hard to deal with a person suffering from Alzheimer's disease.



It is hard to understand that a person can't remember. Harder to accept that when they can't remember, they will do things that are completely foreign to your frame of reference.



Each of us has emotions and feelings. Alzheimer's has a way of bringing out the worst of these feelings and emotions.



The challenge -- learning to deal with a person living with Alzheimer's on their own terms. Learning to deal with Alzheimer's disease.



 http://tinyurl.com/buqqwxz 



Many caregivers come to the conclusion that the person living with Alzheimer's is not the person they knew. Knew most or all of their life.



Is it possible to deal with a stranger? Is this supposed stranger likable?



Can you like someone that continually makes you angry, frustrated and sad?



See what is happening? You make the situation about you. This is not the person I knew. I knew.



But Alzheimer's caregiving is not only about you. It is also about the person living with the disease.



The "live -R" cannot help or change the way they are acting. But, you can change the way you are acting or feeling.



Sooner or later you have to start by reminding yourself this is my Mom, this is my Dad, this is my Husband, this is my Wife.



Here is something I learned on the Alzheimer's Reading Room. Alzheimer's caregivers want, try hard, to give the person living with AD the highest quality of life possible.



Striving for this goal is difficult. Near the beginning, it seems impossible for most of us.

How to Widen a Doorway • Ron Hazelton Online

How to Widen a Doorway • Ron Hazelton Online • DIY Ideas & Projects: Learn how widen a doorway; includes details on inspection holes, removing wall coverings and installing new framing.

Related Project

In the course of widening this doorway, some damaged flooring was exposed.  view a video that shows how that situation was handled.

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Microwave Cooking for One What Wattage Is My Microwave Oven?

What Wattage Is My Microwave Oven?: Microwave Cooking for One by Marie T Smith

Fast, easy, and economical, the recipes are ideal for individual cooks, whether they live alone or share busy modern households. With almost 300 recipes for exciting meals

Senior Living Technology Blog

Tools to Keep Your Staff and Residents Happy with Built-in Support
Jerry Grove
Apr 8, 2015
Seniors are not prepared to leave their cell phones, tablets, e-readers, or laptops behind. Dependable high-speed wireless Internet is the bare minimum expected of senior living communities catering to a leisure lifestyle.
Along the same lines, seniors don’t want to depend on their son-in-law or a staff member to help install the latest application or fix a bug. Communities catering to residents should have built-in resident support personnel in place that can get a senior’s technology running in no time.

To Flush or Not to Flush: How Do You Dispose of Expired Drugs

Tips for Safe Drug Disposal  By Lynda Shrager

Published Apr 1, 2014 everydayhealth.com

For the medications you are going to toss, follow these guidelines:

First, organize your medicines, and gather all of the expired drugs (prescriptions have dates on the labels; over-the-counter bottles and boxes are stamped with expiration dates).

Remove identifying information from the prescription label to help maintain your privacy and protect your personal health information. You don’t need the world to know you have acid reflux or are depressed, psychotic, or on birth control

If available, follow specific disposal guidelines noted on the bottle or patient information sheet.

Don’t flush prescription drugs unless the bottle or info sheet says to.

Crush pills or capsules or dissolve them in water.

Before throwing drugs in the trash, take them out of their containers and mix them with an “undesirable substance” such as coffee grounds or kitty litter. To avoid leakage or breakage out of the main garbage bag, put the mixture in a sealed plastic bag before placing it in the trash. The sealed bags will be less appealing to curious children or pets or anyone else who might go through your trash.

---
Lynda combines her expertise as an occupational therapist, master’s
level social worker, professional organizer and aging in place
specialist to pursue her passion of providing therapeutic care in the
patient’s home environment and in educating their caregivers. To that
end she is eagerly launching a new initiative called “At Home for Life”
to facilitate a senior’s desire to remain in their own home as they face
the crossroads of diminished physical and cognitive abilities. Lynda
will provide residential assessments and make recommendations to enable
people to safely access and navigate their own homes, thereby allowing
them to age in place.

Defining Non-Medical Home Care for Seniors | In Home Care for Elders

Defining Non-Medical Home Care for Seniors | In Home Care for Elders


Home Care is a service that assists those in need to continue living and celebrating life from the comfort of their own home. Home care is a model of care that includes both professional and informal support networks that include family, neighbors, and friends. To remain independent, these individuals construct your ‘Care Team’ which work together to meet your goals and expected outcomes. At some point, you may determine that a professional Home Care company is needed to join your Care Team.

Considering your options



When selecting a Home Care services company, you will have many questions. The first thing to understand is that Home Care services vary from facility-based options. Chances are if you’re researching senior care you’ve heard a lot about senior housing options such as a nursing home, assisted living community, adult day care, retirement community, or continuing care retirement community (or CCRC). These elderly care options all have unique benefits, however, at home care is often the preferred choice for seniors who wish to age in place at their own home. Your financial, social, and health situation will often determine which environment you choose.




Choosing the right care for loved ones is an important decision and it starts with knowing when to call. Professional care givers can assist your loved one in a number of important ways



Paying for In Home Care | Affordable Quality Home Care: Paying for Home CareWhen it comes time to find non-medical, in-home care for your loved ones, paying for this important service is probably the last thing on your mind.

The 3 P’s of Reducing Elopement Risk: Prevention -

The 3 P’s of Reducing Elopement Risk: Prevention -: The 3 P’s of Reducing Elopement Risk:

 http://www.seniorlivingsmart.com/

Wandering and elopement are common behaviors seen in Alzheimer’s and
other types of dementia. Due to the nature of the disease process, often
judgment and reasoning are impaired, making it critical that the
environment meet the needs of the resident by providing a safe and
secure setting that allows for the residents independent mobility.

Did You Know?

• Nationwide, researchers estimate that 34,000 Alzheimer’s patients wander each year.


• Thirty percent made it more than two miles before they were found, with 15 percent wandering more than 20 miles.


• In 80% of cases, the resident was a known wanderer with prior elopements.