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Much has been written in the US about the Green House movement, founded by Dr. Bill Thomas, creator of the Eden Alternative. The Green House model has been consistently featured in articles and as education sessions since its inception.
This recent article on Kiplinger.Com gives a good description of the model here in the US. If there are similar models of care in your country please share them with us.
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 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!!
Tomorrow is Pangea Day, a day devoted to bringing the world together through film.
At 18.00 GMT, locations in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro will be linked for a live program of powerful films, live music, and visionary speakers. The entire program will be broadcast – in seven languages – to millions of people worldwide through the internet, television, and mobile phones.
The 24 short films to be featured have been selected from an international competition that generated more than 2,500 submissions from over one hundred countries. The films were chosen based on their ability to inspire, transform, and allow us see the world through another person’s eyes.
Filmmaker Jehane Noujaim is the inspiration behind Pangea Day – her vision is to find a way to change the world. Jehane, IAHSA supports your efforts.
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.
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.
I read BBC online every day to see what’s going on around the world related to ageing. Today I’ll share three articles focusing on research on ageing and ‘drugs’ - I call it The Good, the Bad and the Tasty.
The Good News: Blood pressure drugs help elderly – Imperial College London researchers announce that blood pressure drugs cut the risk of strokes and heart problems in the over 80s.
The Bad News: Medication ‘worsens’ Alzheimer’s’ – a research report from Kings College London says that anti-psychotic drugs have no long-term benefit for patients with mild symptoms and may even cause a deterioration in behavior.
And The Tasty News: Daily Caffeine Protects the Brain – in the past there have been conflicting reports on the benefits or detriments of caffeine. Now research published by the University of North Dakota suggests that coffee may cut the risk of dementia by blocking the damage cholesterol can inflict on the body.
You never know what will effect your life. Personally I avoid taking any medications at all. But I do love a good cup of coffee. Thankfully I don’t have to worry about that, for now at least.
What do you get when you meld Starbucks, Bally’s Fitness Center and Elderhostel? A Senior Center that is meeting the needs of today’s elderly.
Studies in the US have shown that the senior center of the 21st century needs to include a wider variety of activities, including a full array of programs that promote healthy ageing, continuing education and programs that attract all ages.
According to a recent NYTimes article, the use of senior centers in the US has been declining, primarily because the old models carry a stigma associated with ageing. The new multi-faceted models attract a wider community involvement and can serve as ‘the place to go’ for everyone, not just seniors.
Meet you at the Café for coffee and dance class!!!
Last week I read an article from the Chicago Sun Times about the growing need for creation of accessible housing for the ageing baby boomers in the US - the Post-WW2 generation that will become the largest segment in US history to age at one time.
As they age and begin to hit geriatric roadblocks, some will need special housing.
Making new housing accessible is required by law – making new construction specifically designed to be lived in or visited by people who have trouble with steps or use wheelchairs or walkers.
But the term ‘visitable’ was new to me. And I think a good addition to the vocabulary. It means that the building is inclusive to everyone. It allows a person with a disability to become integrated into a community – to be able to ‘visit’. And these ‘visitable’ homes are designed to allow for greater adaptations as the owners’ needs change.
As I posted earlier this week, every 7 seconds there is a new case of dementia somewhere in the world. In 2001, 24 million people were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease or other forms of dementia. Researchers expect this number to rise to 43 million by 2025 and to 81 million by 2050.
The medical community has long been challenged on how to make a definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. Currently doctors use a combination of brain scans, blood tests and patient interviews, but distinguishing the disease from other forms of dementia is difficult, and time consuming, and the accuracy of diagnosis is only about 85%. A truly definitive diagnosis is only possible after death.
Now, according to a recent BBC News report, researchers at University College London have published findings in the journal Brain showing that, using computer technology, they can identify brain damage caused by Alzheimer’s with an accuracy as high as 96%.
Alzheimer’s Disease symptoms only emerge after a considerable amount of damage has already occurred in the brain so it is important to make an accurate diagnosis early to improve the chances of effectively preventing further deterioration.
Having a powerful, non-invasive, fast and cheap technology to provide early diagnosis would be a much needed advancement in the treatment of this terrible disease. The researchers are doing further analysis to understand the full benefits and accuracy of the technique and to see if it can be used to assess the effectiveness of new drugs.
We have our fingers crossed that they are successful.
Three communities in three different countries – places where people live longer than anywhere else on earth? Is that possible? Yes, according to a recent BBC news report.
The remote Japanese island of Okinawa has a population of one million and of those 900 are centenarians, four times higher than the average in Britain or America. The small Sardinian mountain town of Ovodda is the only region of the world where as many men as women live to be 100 years of age, bucking the global trend. And the city of Loma Linda, California, USA, has citizens who live between five and 10 years longer than fellow citizens.
What are the secrets? Diet perhaps? Genes? Religion? Whatever it is, each city is the focus of research programs to see if there are lessons to be learned.
Nintendo, the make of the Wii phenomenon, is taking their virtual world one step further. Earlier I told you about how retirement communities were using the Wii technology to get residents to be part of bowling leagues – increasing opportunity for exercise and social interaction.
According to a USA Today article, in May 2008 Nintendo will roll out the Wii-Fit Balance Board, a small platform where users can exercise, stretch and do yoga with on-screen avatars — all designed to help keep you fit and lose weight.
The Wii Fit product will also include access to the “Wii Fit Channel,” an interactive online channel that lets users check in daily to track fitness progress through weight and body mass index (BMI).
‘Change’ is constantly in the news these days – especially in the USA where all of the Presidential candidates are portraying themselves as ‘agents of change’.
I think that action speaks louder than words – as demonstrated in a recent Wall Street Journal article that eloquently describes 12 individuals who are true agents of change.
Two of these leaders, Eric Dishman and Dr. Bill Thomas, are well known to the IAHSA family, both having appeared at an IAHSA Global Conference in the past. Eric and his colleagues at Intel are developing technologies to help people stay home as they age and become frail. Bill is best known for his pioneering work in culture change and his Eden Alternative program. He also posts daily to his blog Changing Aging. Its very worth reading.
Others are also doing very important work in a wide variety of fields including financial planning, advocacy, retirement living, and urban planning, to name a few.
Let us know who the Ageing Change Agents are in your country.
There are days when reading the paper is down right depressing. Stories of elder abuse, rising health care costs and retirement woes dominate the headlines. But today was different. Two stories caught my attention and brightened my day and I hope they do the same for you!
Tuning into Music Therapy
Members of the Adult Day Support Program at Bethany Cochrane in Calgary, Canada are all recording artists. There debut album featured a selection of standards such as Amazing Grace and Springtime in the Rockies, with a few members even taking on solos. This is a fantastic example of how a creative project helps elderly maintain skills which help them stay independent longer. At Bethany Cochrane music is not the only activity residents engage in. There are debate sessions, hobby and games times and wellness clinics. This community is bubbling with examples of positive engagement between residents, staff and the community.
Manchester opens outdoor playground for elderly
The city of Manchester, England has opened a playground for the elderly. Town residents who lived in state housing lobbied the government for an outdoor recreation area after learning of a similar programme in Germany! So far over sixty elderly have tried out the new equipment and the response is very positive. The space also lends itself to intergenerational interaction because it was build next to a children’s play area. What a unique and enjoyable experience for the town’s elderly.
I’ve known Colin Milner, CEO of the International Council on Active Aging for a number of years. He is one of the most enthusiastic promoters of active ageing and his organization has amazing resources for everyone interested in wellness.
Colin travels constantly. And during his travels he collects information, ideas and facts. As a result he recently identified 8 trends that he thinks will impact the elderly and organizations that serve them, either through direct care or by supplying them with needed products and services.
Here are his trends to watch out for:
- The Internet is becoming the new link to health, social networking and travel
- Retirement communities are reinventing themselves
- Maintaining intellectual skills and brain health is top of mind
- Technology is inspiring activity
- Retirement means Boomers will continue to work – but on their own terms
- Lifelong learning opportunities and interests keep growing
- Age-friendly fitness opportunities are essential
- Health plans will pay for prevention
As Colin says in his report, ‘The ability to function and engage in life is what is important, not chronological age’.
Every time I pick up a paper or go on the Internet, I see more articles about the workforce. Where to find workers, how to train workers, how to keep workers.
And there is no shortage of good advice on the issue. A recent article in Business Week Magazine outlines the 10 Best Corporate Practices for 2008 - showing that sometimes the difference between the best and worst company policies comes down to one thing: trust.
Even though the message has been geared toward industry type corporations, anyone working with people can benefit from the program’s basic messages.
For example:
Pooled Sick-time Banks.
These very smart corporate solutions allow one employer or several to create time banks into which employees can deposit one or more sick days per year, for the use of other employees in the same bank. That way, an employee who has run out of sick time can withdraw time that’s been deposited by other employees. The system is overseen by leaders from the participating organizations who manage the deposits and withdrawals. Pooled sick-time banks are a smart way to support teammates, and they help keep people from suffering financially during a time of crisis.
Your employees are your most valuable asset. Implementing some of these suggestions should help you keep them happy and your organization humming.
China’s Health Minister Chen Zhu recently announced a plan to reform the health system and provide a national service for all citizens, including the rural population.
According to a BBC report, Healthy China 2020 will be similar to the UK’s National Health Service providing universal health service and promote equal access to public services.
Finding the right mix of government support and consumer responsibility is a challenge, even for countries that have had universal coverage for a while. A number of European countries who heretofore have had comprehensive coverage are making changes to their systems as they face a large ageing population growth.
The report doesn’t give much detail on how China expects to organize this massive undertaking but as we learn more we’ll let you know. We can only hope that the Chinese learn from the mistakes of others.
Living to 100 or more years is not an aberration anymore. Jerry Freidman author of Earth’s Elders: The Wisdom of the World’s Oldest People gave us an unprecedented look at the hearts, minds and spirits of these “extreme elderly,” and in the process, uncovers remarkable insights into health and the ageing process.
And many others are also looking at the ageing process from the perspective of scientific gerontology. A recent article in the Economist gives a good picture of the research that is going on to help find ‘replacement parts’ for our bodies – just like a good auto mechanic and his parts for your car.
Who knows if anything will ever come from the research and if it does I certainly won’t be around to make a trip to the ‘repair shop’. But for now, the best advice is to eat your green veggies.
The other day, I went to see my doctor for some tests. As I was sitting in the waiting room, I heard the nurse on the phone trying to help someone find a rehab hospital to go to after an operation. After placing a number of calls, the nurse finally found placement, only to be told that the patient’s insurance company wasn’t on the facility’s list of ‘preferred’ providers. Eventually they found a place for the patient to go but at a great waste of time and expense.
This is a scenario being played out every day here in the US, the story of a frustrating and inefficient system. The question is: How can we simplify the challenge of having to be transferred from one type of care to another and create patient-centered care that is more coherent both within and across care settings and over time?
And it is not just a problem in the US health care system, as discussed in a recent report by the OECD entitled Improved Health System Performance Through Better Care Coordination. This is a comprehensive paper focusing on the issue of care coordination and including an overview of the issue, identification of four key areas for reform, and an overview of practices in three countries – the US, Germany and England.
Major findings include:
- Interest in coordination of care issues is increasing
- Targeted programmes appear to improve quality but evidence on cost-efficiency is inconclusive
- Care coordination would be facilitated by better information transfer and wider use of ICT
- New ambulatory care models need consideration
- Care coordination may benefit from greater health-system integration
The OECD report didn’t mention NTOCC – the National Transitions of Care Coalition – probably because it is so new. NTOCC was formed in the US in 2006 with a mission of being an influential stakeholder in public awareness, education and health policy to focus on improvement of quality of transitional care. NTOCC is rapidly building a following among all sectors of health care and could be a good model for others. Is there anything like this happening in your area? If so, please share with us.
For a number of years folks have said that using your brain by doing crossword puzzles or mental exercises like Sudoku will help you retain mental capacity for a longer period as you age. There have been some studies to prove this theory but none were quite as extensive as the one just completed by the University of Southern California Andrus Gerontology Center.
According to an article in Medical News Today, the IMPACT study, conducted by Dr. Eliabeth Zelinski, showed that doing the right kind of brain exercise can enhance memory and other cognitive abilities of older adults.
‘The changes we saw in the experimental group were remarkable’, Dr. Zelinski said. ‘ From a researcher’s point of view, this was very impressive – people got better at the tasks trained, those improvements generalized to various standardized measures of memory, and peopled perceived improvements in their lives’.
The research was conducted using the computer-based Posit Science Brain Fitness Programone, of a number of products developed by the company Posit Science, a California based company whose goal is to create programs that change the way we live and age.
This is great news for those of us who love puzzles.
When I’m ready to post a message on IAHSA’s Global Ageing Blog, I often cruise the internet, looking at a variety of blogs to see what’s new in the field of ageing and what’s news that will interest IAHSA’s blog readers.
One blog I’ve found is the brain child of Dr. Bill Thomas, founder of the Eden Alternative and professor at Erickson University in Maryland.
His Changing Aging blog not only serves as a vehicle for his thoughts on a wide variety of topics, from Nobel prize winner Doris Lessing to the demise of the Red Hat Society, it also is developing a good list of blogs that deal with ageing. Check it out at changingaging.org
Unfortunately, most of the blogs I’ve found are US based. If you know of ageing related blogs from other parts of the world please send us the links – we’ll blog roll them.
And so does Grandpa!! As do all of the other residents at Riderwood, a retirement community in Maryland USA.
Erickson Communities, owner of Riderwood, is working with Nintendo to see if the new game technology Wii [pronounced wee] will work with seniors. So they have set up a Wii bowling alley here at the AAHSA conference. I played against Freek Lapre, IAHSA Chair, from The Netherlands, and I must admit he was pretty good at it.
In addition to being fun, video games and other cognitive training tools have been proven to provide an improvement in overall daily functioning, including hand-eye coordination and cognitive fitness.
Let’s play!!!
See the article below for a good description of the program at Riderwood.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071014/FAMILY/110140006/1016
As I entered the Orlando Convention Center on Sunday morning I came upon an incredible exhibit of 52 quilts telling the story of living with Alzheimer’s disease.
The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative is a grass roots effort to raise awareness and fund research for Alzheimer’s disease. It was started by Ami Simms whose mother is one of 5.1 million Americans who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. “I began the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative because I think it is possible to make a difference, one quilt at a time.”
The exhibit is beautiful and moving. Experiencing these quilts made me realize how many ways Alzheimer’s affects so many people. They also eloquently demonstrate how powerful art can be in telling a story.
Throughout the conference I will proudly wear my “I saw the quilt’ sticker.
Last week I read an article in McKnights’s Long Term Care entitled Study: Older Americans far less healthy than older Europeans. The study by researchers at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, found that US adults aged 50 and older are twice as likely as older European adults to have a number of chronic diseases. Many of the diseases are related to obesity and smoking, causing chronic conditions such as heart disease, arthritis, and diabetes.
As the study noted, this gap exists despite the fact that the US spends more on health care than any European country.
Reading this study reminded me of the movie Sicko, which came out this summer. Produced by Michael Moore, the controversial Academy Award winning documentary film maker, the movie investigates the American health care system, focusing on its for-profit health insurance and pharmaceutical industry and compares the non-universal and for-profit U.S. system with the universal and non-profit systems of Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Cuba.
A lot of people didn’t agree with the message from the movie and felt that the health care systems both in the US and the other countries were misrepresented. But you sometime need to exaggerate to get the point across. Exaggeration or not, I have recommended the movie to everyone I know – and the importance of the message is reflected in the fact that health care has reappeared as a major issue in the US presidential race.
Everybody’s talking about wellness these days, especially in terms of the benefits for the elderly. As the experts say, “It’s never too late to start a fitness program.”
IAHSA members have been providing wellness programs as an integral part of their services for many years. And now government is getting into the action.
Just today I read about one such program in Galway, Ireland. Called the Galway Healthy Cities Project, the city is promoting healthy ageing through a photography competition.
Evelyn Fanning, the person in charge, noted, “Healthy Ageing focuses on the ability of people of all ages to live a healthy, safe and socially inclusive lifestyle”.
The competition focuses on four photo categories:
- enabling and supportive environments such as places to walk, facilities and amenities;
- connecting with others through family, friends and the wider community;
- life long learning;
- and supporting healthier choices.
It is open to everyone and the winning photographs will be entered into the World Health Organization’s European Healthy Cities Network photo contest taking place in France in September.
I think I’ll go get some film!!
