You are currently browsing the monthly archive for June, 2008.
Late in 2007 we wrote about the importance of care coordination for individuals moving from one level of health care to another. The OECD’s study highlighted four key areas for reform and gave an overview of practices in three countries – the US, Germany and England.
Now according to a recent report, the Australian Government has allocated AUS$300 million to provide transition services for elderly to help them regain heath and independence after discharge from a hospital. The program will provide a range of low intensity therapy services, including physiotherapy, dietetics and podiatry, as well as nursing support and personal care services.
This is a very important part of a comprehensive health care plan and is a good model for others to replicate.
The European Commission wants to see Europe developing as a hub for ICT for older people through the development of smart home technologies, electronic alarm systems and remote health facilities, for example.
It is hoped that smart devices, mobile technologies for monitoring vital signs and user-friendly interfaces for people with impaired vision or hearing will improve the quality of life of elderly people, their carers and families.
According to an article on VNUNET, the plan, proposed by the European Commission in June 2007, had already been approved by the European Parliament in March 2008 in a first reading. Twenty EU member states, as well as Israel, Norway and Switzerland would participate in this € 600 million joint research project called “Ambient Assisted Living” programme.
Between now and 2013, another € 400 million are allocated to research and innovation for the elderly people under the E.U.’s seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. “There is no reason for older people in Europe to miss out on the benefits of new technologies. The solutions and services resulting from this program will help them to remain active in society as well as staying socially connected and independent for a longer time,” said Viviane Reding, E.U. Commissioner for the information society and media.
The Care Home Olympics took place on Thursday, 19 June 2009, in Sheffield, England. Competitors tested each other’s skills in sports such as bowling, skittles, mini golf, target throwing and dominoes. Teams were made up of residents from 20 care homes, with the event starting with a chair-based, mass warm up and ending with dancing.
A prime goal of the Olympics was emphasizing the importance of physical activity. And of course having a chance to meet people and socialize are great benefits too.
And the Lord Mayor presented metals and prizes to the winning homes.
Go Team!!
There have been numerous articles and studies about the tidal wave of retirees swamping retirement pension systems as the baby boomers leave the workforce. Not only have the prognosticators declared that there will be a financial drain both in terms of increase in health care expenditures as well as in tapping of government pension systems, there will also be a workforce crisis as jobs go empty.
Not so, says Kevin Coyne of the Coyne Partnership. In a recent article in Business Week, Kevin and his business partner Shawn Coyne say that the Silver Tsunami will be more of a trickle – certainly in the US. According to their calculation more older Americans will choose to work beyond age 65 and there will be fewer retirees and more workers.
This is certainly a much rosier picture than we’ve seen elsewhere. Thoughts? Is this true in your country???
Remember the Zimmers?? Have you seen the movie Forever Young? Both are examples of how talented and innovative our elder citizens are. And here is another group, the RejuveNation singing the Turtles hit song, Happy Together. A film about them was part of Pangea Day a global film festival…Enjoy.
Have you ever wanted to learn more about housing policy in the United States? If so, we have some great resources for you.
Thanks to IAHSA Board Member Steve Protulis we are able to connect you to reports that have been compiled in response to inquiries by international delegations visiting the Department of Housing & Urban Development in Washington.
These visitors have many questions about applying U.S. practices in emerging markets, structuring an effective secondary mortgage market, and managing credit risk. Three reports compiled in response to these inquiries are now available in multiple languages and
can be downloaded, free of charge, from the web pages listed below:
o Evolution of the U.S. Housing Finance System: a
Historical Survey and Lessons for Emerging
Mortgage Markets,
www.huduser.org/publications/hsgfin/US_evolution.html
(in English, French, Spanish, and Russian).
o Mortgage Securitization - Lessons for Emerging
Markets, www.huduser.org/publications/hsgfin/Mortgsecurity.html
(in English, French, and Spanish).
o The Measurement and Management of Mortgage Credit
Risk in the United States: Implications for
Emerging Mortgage Markets,
www.huduser.org/publications/hsgfin/MortgCreditRisk.html
(in English, French, and Spanish).
Sunday is the 3rd Annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, launched three years ago by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse.
The purpose is to raise awareness of the issue of elder abuse and to encourage the adoption of a comprehensive strategy to prevent elder abuse and ensure quality of long-term care for older people.
Studies show that 4% of older people living in private households and 30% of older people in institutions are victims of elder abuse. Elder abuse can take various forms: physical, psychological or emotional, sexual, financial or neglect. Inadequate care is more often related to the incapacity of overburdened and stressed carers to cope with the increasing demands posed on them, rather than a real intent to exploit or harm vulnerable older people.
An example of what is possible is demonstrated by IAHSA member The Hebrew Home at Riverdale in NY, USA. They created the Weinberg Center for Elder Abuse Prevention, Intervention and Research, the first comprehensive elder abuse center in the US. The Center provides a coordinated system of crisis intervention that includes an emergency residential shelter and community based services for victims of elder abuse; a broad spectrum of community education and training programs to increase professional knowledge; a national replication training program; and a research component to profile victims.
Share with us other examples of innovative approaches for dealing with this terrible problem. And mark Sunday 15 June as ELDER ABUSE AWARENESS DAY.
According to a new national survey of working adults in the US, one in four employees currently cares for an older or disabled adult.
The study, conducted by work-life benefits firm Workplace Options, noted that of the employees caring for an older adult, nearly half have missed work time.
The role of the employer was also reviewed and 61% of the respondents said that they would utilize a service that assisted with care giving if it was provided by the employer free of charge.
It would be interesting to see if the situation is similar elsewhere in the world. Please add a comment to let us know what you see in your country.
A recent article in the Telegraph UK featured a story about using a fake bus stop as a simple yet effective way to prevent dementia patients from wandering off.
Directors at the Benrath Senior Centre in Duesseldorf, Germany, tired of relying on local authorities to round up roving patients, joined forces with a local care association and the public transportation department to erect a faux bus stop outside their facility.
The idea is that seniors who wander will recognize the familiar green and yellow bus stop and wait there to be taken home. Care givers retrieve the patients from the stop by telling them the bus will be along shortly, and then they invite them in for a cup of coffee, says Richard Neureither, Benrath’s director.
This offbeat concept has proven so effective that several other nursing homes around Germany have set up their own bus stops to snare seniors.
I saw a similar set up when I visited some IAHSA member facilities in Australia a few years back. In addition to the fake bus stop, they also had an automobile in the yard that dementia patients could sit in to recreate the sense of everyday traveling. What a good idea! And it works.
The Australians have done it again – providing leadership in the creation of a user-friendly website to help carers develop cultural awareness and build appropriate strategies for building a respectful, caring relationship with client who are Greek and who have limited knowledge of English.
Greek Care provides practical advice and information on how to work with Greek elders — communication strategies, activities, religious information, information about beliefs and values that impact on service delivery — as well as background information about Greek history, geography and tradition. There are many hints on how to enhance the practitioner-client relationship. Often they are quite simple strategies that will nevertheless engage your client and elicit satisfaction on their part.
In the past we’ve blogged about the Australian Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing – another example of the importance given to this complex issue.
Thanks to Tim Dixon, Deputy Editor of Australian Ageing Agenda for telling us about Greek Care.
Recent research at the University of Helsinki, Finland, indicates that if a person’s spouse passes away, the surviving spouse is more likely to enter a long-term care facility than those with a living spouse.
The study to be published in July in the American Journal of Public Health analyzed how the death of a spouse affects the likelihood of needing institutionalized care. According to an article in Reuters, the research team followed nearly 141,000 adults in Finland, age 65 and older, living with a spouse. They were followed for five years, and results showed the risk of entering long-term care was higher in those who lost a spouse as compared to those still living with their spouse.
One conclusion of the study was that targeted bereavement counseling would help reduce the need for institutional care.
During and after major disasters, the elderly are often forgotten in the rush to save everyone else. We saw it during the tsunami, during 911, during Katrina. And we’re seeing it again in China after the earthquake that struck on 12 May.
According to an article in the Washington Post, nearly 12,000 elderly Chinese lost their relatives in the quake and many more are separated from their families with their long time homes and belongings lost forever.
In a country known for its revering its elderly, China’s economic growth has altered traditional patterns between parents and their adult children as young people concentrate on making a living.
The provincial and central government officials have promised that all elderly left homeless will be taken care of. But with this disaster, as with others, attention to this population comes late. Help Age International is a world leader in helping countries provide for the elderly in times of need. The Chinese could benefit from their assistance.
