Living Well Blog » Health & Wellness

Bringing Health Care Home

Doris Bersing — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:30:21 +0000

Jesse Lefkowitz, NY Times

An article on the New York Time state that “…patients who are treated at home by a doctor and nursing staff who know them intimately and can be available 24/7 are happier and healthier. This kind of care decreases the infections, mistakes and delirium, which, especially among the elderly, are the attendants of hospital care. And it is far more efficient. According to a 2002 study, for the patients treated by the Veterans Affairs’ Home Based Primary Care program, the number of days spent in hospitals and nursing homes was cut by 62 percent and 88 percent, respectively, and total health care costs dropped 24 percent… The fact that this care is possible at home means that the role of hospitals must change. Acutely ill patients who need operating rooms or intensive care will still be brought to hospitals. But they should be quickly discharged to the care of the doctors and nurses who know them best”
Read the article

Dangers of Common Painkillers: There’s mounting evidence that regular use is risky for older people

Doris Bersing — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:11:41 +0000

A recent article on AARP states that “…Most of us don’t think twice about taking a nonprescription pain reliever to ease a headache or soreness that might follow a game of tennis, but there is growing evidence that commonly used painkillers such as Advil can trigger heart attacks or strokes in some people.” Read the article and read about some drug free alternatives to pain management.

Essential Checklist for Good Dementia Care

Doris Bersing — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:37:15 +0000

Marguerite Manteau-Rao, LCSW, ATR, Mindful living advocate, Memory care consultant, published on the Huffington Post The Essential Checklist for Good Dementia Care. She shares the work of Jane Verity’s about the 5 universal needs to be an essential framework for good care of people with Dementia. These unmet emotional needs are:

To be needed and useful
To have opportunity to care
To love and be loved
To have self-esteem boosted
To have the power to choose

Read the article

Secrets our Loved Ones hide and How Gero-Technology can help….

Doris Bersing — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:41:46 +0000

When it comes to care for our loved ones, we worry about falls, their being alone and injured, time response to a crisis and most of the times, our alternative is moving them to an institution. Living Well Assisted Living at Home believes that there are options to give choices to the elders and peace of mind to the family members. Aging.com reported on 10 secrets that our aging parents keeps from us and some ways to deal with and approach them. I couldn’t help but think of all sorts of technology solutions (remote monitoring like GrandCare, Internet technology, etc.) that could assist in dealing with these 10 “secrets” shared in the story. Of course, technology is only one piece to the puzzle. Read More

The Cognistat web seminar

Doris Bersing — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 17:47:15 +0000

Tuesday, June 28, 2011 | 12:00 PM Pacific / 1:00 PM Mountain / 2:00 PM Central / 3:00 PM Eastern

We are entering an era in which an increasing percentage of the US population will be older than retirement age. These older adults will bring a renewed focus to brain and body fitness, including access to quality medical screening and diagnosis. Cognitive assessment is a critical component of both brain fitness and medical management, and proper assessment tools are essential. A seminar that examines specific needs of an aging population, as well as five major areas of cognition. Available methods of cognitive assessment will be explored, along with the design of one of these methods: the Cognistat Assessment System.

Learn more.

Eldercare Robots Ready to Help Tend to Needs of Aging Population

Doris Bersing — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 23:26:24 +0000

James Vlahos/The Daily

In an article in The Daily by James Vlahos, we learn that the elder-friendly robots are here to engage and to help burnout caregivers. Vlahos says: “…Robots may be our best option to pick up the slack — or so say the pioneers of eldercare robotics, which is being pursued by corporations from Toyota to NEC as well as university robotic labs worldwide…”

Read Part 1

Read Part 2

A Doctor’s Focus Is the Minds of the Elderly

Doris Bersing — Mon, 02 May 2011 19:30:35 +0000

James Estrin/The New York Times

Now, a growing number of experts are calling for integrating mental health professionals into all levels of communities for the rising population of aging Americans, from nursing homes to assisted-living centers.

Gary Kennedy, the director of geriatric psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, says psychological care is “equally if not more important than” medical care for this group. “Health policy continues to lag behind the reality that these are now mental health facilities,” Dr. Kennedy said of communities for the elderly.

While Alzheimer’s receives the lion’s share of public attention, garden-variety depression, anxiety and sleep disorders also accompany old age. Particularly for late-life depression, Dr. Agronin points to data assembled by the psychiatry department at the supporting behavioral and group therapy, treatment rarely tried with patients from generations typically considered averse to discussing such issues.

Temporary memory loss strikes hospitalized seniors

Doris Bersing — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 22:08:09 +0000

Battling an illness, lack of sleep and strange surroundings can make any hospital patient feel out of sorts. Medical advocacy is key when having a senior in this condition. Hospitalization not only jeopardizes the general wellness of a senior but his/her dignity and self-confidence. Besides getting sicker at some point, seniors are usually placed on diapers to avoid labor-intensive trips to the bathroom and usually when confused, they are misunderstood on their needs. This article about how confused they can be and how memory loss occurs is the icing on the cake.

As we said, for seniors, hospitalizations actually may cause temporary memory loss and difficulty in understanding discharge instructions, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.

The cited study found that seniors go back to normal one month after the hospital stay. But immediately following a hospitalization, it is a critical time in which seniors may need extra support from professionals and family, according to Lee Lindquist, the lead author of the study, published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, March 2011.

2011 Annual Conference of the American Society on Aging

Doris Bersing — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 18:26:13 +0000

Living Well is at the “Aging in America” – the 2011 Annual Conference of the American Society on Aging. The Aging in America conference is the largest gathering of a diverse, multidisciplinary community of professionals from the fields of aging, healthcare and education. Join us to find the answers, the experts, the research, the best practices, and the most comprehensive educational offerings available to professionals.

April 26-30 is just around the corner… Get excited, Come and see us.

Date & Time: April 26 – April 30, 2011
Location: Hilton San Francisco Union Square Hotel

Stop by the Exhibitor Hall, Booth 313 and talk to one of our team members about our innovative model of care for adults with chronic and debilitating conditions – like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and ALS – that compromise their ability to live safely in their homes, where they want to be.

After visiting our booth, join us for two informative workshops.

Workshop Schedule

Wednesday April 27, 2011: 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM

Hilton San Francisco Union Square Hotel – Room: Franciscan C (Ballroom Level)

Connection, Safety and Beauty: The Effects of Human-Centered Design
with Howard Lau (Living Well advisor), Susan Stadler, architect, and Dr. Tessa ten Tusscher (Living Well C.E.O)

By bringing together teams from the worlds of design, technology, social and medical services we can create programs, buildings, products and a community that is truly interdisciplinary. This session will introduce principles that can be applied by anybody who works with elders and facilitate comprehensive solutions to physical and emotional needs.

Friday April 29, 2011 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Location: Hilton San Francisco Union Square Hotel, Plaza B (Lobby Level)

High Tech and High Touch: Eldercare in the 21st Century
with Dr. Doris Bersing (Living Well President) and Dr. Tessa ten Tusscher (Living Well C.E.O)

This presentation will explain how combining caring people with innovative technology is an efficient solution to keep elders safe at home, regardless of whether they are healthy and engaged or dealing with chronic physical illness or dementia. This model is an alternative to institutional living and represents a comprehensive model of care to age in place.

2011 California Senior Games Championships

Doris Bersing — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:08:27 +0000

The 2011 Bay Area Senior Games/California State Championships will be held from March 26 – April 3 at venues at Stanford University, in the City of Palo Alto, and other locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Games are open to all athletes over the age of 50. There is still time to register, visit www.bayareaseniorgames.org.

Admission to watch all sports is free and open to the public.