Living Well Blog

Archive for May, 2010

Depression Among Seniors in Residential Care

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

In a study released  by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), data shows that nearly 45% of seniors in residential care live with depression or symptoms of depression. The report states “…More than two in five (44%) Canadian seniors living in residential care homes are diagnosed with or have symptoms of depression. The study, Depression Among Seniors in Residential Care, is one of the largest of its kind in Canada to examine the prevalence of depression and the impact it has on persons living in residential care Depression in senior living in Facilities, such as long-term care, nursing or personal care homes. Based on data from CIHI’s Continuing Care Reporting System, the study included nearly 50,000 residents age 65 and older across four provinces and one territory (Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Yukon).

CIHI’s study found that, while about one in four (26%) seniors living in a residential care facility had a diagnosis of depression, a further one in five (18%) had symptoms of depression with no documented diagnosis. Residents were considered to have symptoms of depression if they had a score of at least 3 on the Depression Rating Scale, which measures symptoms such as persistent anger, tearfulness and repetitive anxiety. Read More

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Posted in Aging at Home, Announcements, Health & Wellness | 3 Comments »

There is No Evidence that Current Strategies Prevent Alzheimer’s

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
Living Well with Alzheimer's

Living Well

In a recent article published on the Wall Street Jurnal online, by Shirley Wang (April 28, 2010), we learn that after a panel discussion led by specialists at the National Institute of Health (NIH), there are not clinical or other interventions that had proven effective in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. They concluded “…There’s not enough evidence to suggest that medicines or dietary supplements prevent Alzheimer’s disease or cognitive decline, an independent committee of experts convened by the National Institutes of Health concluded today.

The three-day meeting of 15 experts took a critical look at the state of science surrounding the memory-robbing disease, which is now the sixth-leading cause of death in the U.S. The main conclusion: there’s not enough good research out there to show that any intervention prevents the disease. Read the panel’s draft statement here.

Some factors that appear to be related to decreased risk of Alzheimer’s include “cognitive engagement” like training people in reasoning and memory, walking and a Mediterranean diet. But there’s no consistent evidence that multivitamins, gingko biloba or other supplements can do anything to stave off the disease.

The experts didn’t find evidence that Alzheimer’s drugs like Pfizer and Esai’s Aricept and Forest’s Namenda, approved to treat memory loss and other symptoms of the disease, are also effective in slowing or preventing dementia. Read More

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Posted in Aging, Aging at Home, Alzheimer's & Dementia, Announcements, News & Discoveries | No Comments »

There is Hope….New Tools to Detect Alzheimer’s

Sunday, May 16th, 2010
Avid, Bayer, General Electric Push Agents to Spot the Disease From Brain Scans.

Living Well has been doing research for the best practices to assist and support people with Alzheimer’s. Now we have good news.

In an article by Shirley Wang,  in the Wall Street Journal on April 15, 2010, we learned that “…companies specializing in medical imaging are pushing to develop chemical agents to detect Alzheimer’s disease from brain scans, a process that one day may make it possible to predict who will suffer from the progressive ailment before symptoms appear.

Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc., a tiny imaging company based in Philadelphia, and multinationals like Bayer,  AG and General Electric Co., are among those working on imaging compounds to help doctors spot signs of the memory-robbing disease. Such chemical compounds would be a first of their kind and would help their makers tap into the multibillion dollar Alzheimer’s diagnostic market. These diagnostic tools will be important to developing new treatments as well. Many experimental Alzheimer’s treatments appear to work better in patients with less severe forms of the disease but are too weak to have an effect on patients by the time they are diagnosed today…” Read more

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Posted in Aging, Aging at Home, Aging in Place, Alzheimer's & Dementia, Announcements, Health & Wellness, News & Discoveries, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Assisted Living Facilities Can Not Be the Havens We Think!

Friday, May 14th, 2010
You do not need to leave your home

Aging in Place: You do not need to leave your home!

In an article by Rochelle Oliver, published on Psych Central, we learn that although “… a  large number of the elderly population spends their remaining years in assisted living facilities, new studies have brought to light the effects these sorts of facilities have on an older person’s mental and physical wellbeing.

The research conducted in Los Angeles by lead author Jennifer Martin, PhD of the University of California Los Angeles and VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System suggests that 65 percent of the elderly in assisted living facilities aren’t able to get the necessary amounts of sleep they need to maintain good health… read more.

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Posted in Aging, Aging at Home, Aging in Place, Announcements, Health & Wellness, News & Discoveries | 2 Comments »

Technology Can Help Track “Wanderers” with Dementia

Monday, May 10th, 2010

High Tech - High Touch to keep seniors safe at homeThe need for special training and smart technology to help track the rising number of people with dementia who wanders beyond logic patterns was raised in a recent article by Kirk Johnson in The New York Times, Johnson explains that “…For generations, the prototypical search-and-rescue case in America was Timmy in the well, with Lassie barking insistently to summon help. Lost children and adolescents — from the woods to the mall — generally outnumbered all others…But last year for the first time, another type of search crossed into first place here in Virginia, marking a profound demographic shift that public safety officials say will increasingly define the future as the nation ages: wandering, confused…” Read more

Living Well Assisted Living at Home, Inc. proposes combining smart technology with specialized services can help to keep these people safe at home. Models like the one they called High Tech-High Touch offers a solution to the challenge of caring for elders who experience any type of dementia or cognitive decline and want to stay at home instead of going to an institution.

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Posted in Aging, Aging in Place, Alzheimer's & Dementia, Health & Wellness, News & Discoveries, Products & Services, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Seniors Get Into the High Tech…I-Pad is the New Gadget!

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

High Tech for seniorsLiving Well Assisted Living at Home, supports a model of High tech and High Touch to support aging in place.  Some people believe that older people are not into technology at all. Nonetheless research shows that the recent largest population entering the internet are seniors (mainly to use email with family members and shop online).  On May 3, 2010, the San Francisco Chronicle published an article stressing the appealing that the new i-pad by apple has for seniors. “… It’s too early to get a demographic breakdown of the people who have bought the new tablet computer – more than half a million of which have been sold. But Apple’s new gizmo appears to be resonating well with older adults, who see the 10-inch computer as a device that speaks to their particular needs…” You go grandma!

Read more

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Posted in Aging, Aging in Place, Health & Wellness, News & Discoveries | 2 Comments »