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The Institute for the Future of Aging Services recently published a new report based on analysis of the 2004 National Nursing Home Survey [USA]. The report shows that 1 in 4 nursing home residents aged 65 and older has diabetes. The report also examined the association between diabetes and ethnicity, activities of daily living, source of admission, payment sources, length of stay, pressure ulcers, emergency department visits and medication usage.
Not only does this brief demonstrate the extremely high prevalence of diabetes in U.S. nursing homes, but it raises important issues related to planning for the special needs of this large segment of the nursing home population.
And even though it is based on US data, the lessons learned can be applied in many countries around the world.
According to new data published in the Human Resources for Health journal, the international migration of doctors and nurses has contributed to the critical shortage and inequitable distribution of health workers in many developing countries, resulting in a situation where people living in the most deprived areas do not have access to health services.
Some countries have introduced voluntary Codes of Practice (COP) for the ethical recruitment of international health workers. These intend to restrict aggressive recruitment from countries experiencing shortages of their own and also to protect the rights of migrant workers and support them in their job.
IAHSA views this issue as a top priority in our long term care workforce strategy. We will continue to follow this issue very closely as it has a tremendous impact on the availability of workforce for ageing service providers.
The deadline for submitting proposals for IAHSA’s 8th International Conference in London, England, in July 2009 is fast approaching. Don’t be left out!! You have until 1 May 2008 to submit your proposal.
Join your colleagues from the Global Ageing Network and share your innovative and exciting ageing service programs.
All the information you need can be found on the IAHSA website.
The Australians continue to take a leadership position in providing resources for helping address issues facing people providing services to multiple cultures.
This time it is Multicultural Mental Health Australia, who recently released a number of new mental health resources in over 20 languages. The topics covered include mental illness, anxiety, bipolar mood disorder, eating disorders and depression and many more.
This would be a good resource to share with your staff and families, especially if you have residents and staff from many different cultures and language bases.
While April 22 may be the official day to celebrate our planet, every day can be Earth Day. Take a moment to think of what you can do in your daily life to reduce your footprint. We all have a role to play in conserving and restoring the Earth for future generations. And this is an issue that all generations can be involved in! Just look at the group Green Seniors. These elders engage their communities and inspire action around climate change and conservation. Also, take a look at Earth Hour – an amazing movement that began in Sydney, Australia. Do you have an hour for the Earth? There are so many ways just ONE person can make a difference. Share your activities with us and help make everyday an Earth Day!
Earlier this week, AAHSA posted this on their Future of Aging blog. Financing of long-term care in the US is a major issue and one in which the US is far behind other countries. Your thoughts and comments welcome.
The way we finance long-term care isn’t just a problem for older people. It affects all of us, including 20-somethings like me. That’s why our association is looking to get younger people’s opinion on caregiving and how our country pays for it.
Here are the five questions we’re asking young people (for now, that’s my mostly my friends) that I’d like any younger readers to take a moment to consider:
1. Do you worry about how you and your parents will pay for the care your older loved ones may need in the future?
2. Are you worried about how our country will cover the baby boomers’ health care costs as they age?
3. Do you worry about how you will pay for own health care when you get older?
4. Do you worry about how you would pay for care and assistance if you had
a major accident or illness?
and finally
5. Which of these four situations concerns you the most?
If you know a young person who’d be willing to share their insights, pass along the survey to them. Their responses will help us move our forward our plan to make affordable to care a little faster.
As IAHSA’s Global Ageing Network grows, we are blessed with the opportunity to serve as a catalyst for creating new communities of folks who share a common goal.
One such ‘new’ group is the brainchild of Professor Julienne Meyer from City University in London. Julienne and IAHSA are teaming up to take her ‘local’ network global.
By way of background, a few years ago Julienne and her colleagues in England created a UK research forum called the National Care Homes Research and Development Forum, composed of researchers who shared an interest in improving the quality of life for all associated with care homes for older people. The result of this collaboration was the creation of an innovative program called My Home Life – a new initiative aimed at improving the quality of life of those who are living, dying, visiting and working in care homes for older people.
Can we do the same thing on an international level? Of course we can!!!
We are using IAHSA’s 8th International Conference in July 2009 in London as the launching event for the International Research & Development Network.
If you or anyone you know is doing evidenced-based research on issues related to care for the elderly, please read the attached flier. This describes the activities related to the Network that are planned for London in July 2009.
Meanwhile if you have any questions, please get in touch with me at iahsa@aahsa.org or with Julienne at mhl@city.ac.uk.
Majd Alwan, Director of CAST, is a well known and respected researcher in robotics and elder care technologies. He is also a believer in the importance of using IAHSA’s Global Ageing Network as a vehicle for sharing knowledge about potential technological solutions to the challenges of global ageing.
He and Dr. Jeremy Nobel of Harvard University have written a compelling three-part report that outlines the state of the field in the United States with respect to the development of technologies for the ageing service field.
The report, funded by the Blue Shield of California Foundation, offers a vision for long-term care that includes using integrated information technology systems to support and enhance the health, safety and social connectedness of older people living in their own homes.
They identify several barriers to achieving this vision, but are confident that a combination of new knowledge, linked to effective collaboration among a variety of stakeholders, can overcome these obstacles to widespread technology adoption.
This is an important paper and most of the observations are applicable across the globe. Please share it with your colleagues.
For those of you interested in what’s going on in China – in addition to the Olympics and the issues surrounding Tibet – the Chinese Government has issued a paper describing its plan for dealing with its increasing elderly population. Entitled ‘The Development of China’s Undertakings for the Aged’, the paper outlines their official position on a variety of issues, including:
I. State Mechanism of Undertakings for the Aged
II. Old-age Security System
III. Health and Medical Care for the Aged
IV. Social Services for an Ageing Society
V. Cultural Education for the Aged
VI. Participation in Social Development
VII. Safeguarding Elderly People’s Legitimate Rights and Interests
In the ageing services world, we generally focus our discussions about technology on those advances that can be applied to the delivery of care for the elderly – such as remote monitoring devises, assistive devises, and tele-medicine, for example.
However all ageing service providers also need to be able to manage their organization’s internal operations using new technologies. According to an article in The McKinsey Quarterly, there are eight business technology trends that will help all organizations increase their effectiveness and efficiency.
These technology trends fall into three broad areas of business activity – managing relationships, managing capital and assets, and leveraging information in new ways.
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