Posts Tagged ‘independent living for seniors’
Monday, July 5th, 2010
Home Safety, important matter to age in place.
Our homes fulfill many needs for us. Often, the most basic need is for shelter from the elements and intruders. Once we are protected and secure, other needs can be met. Comfort and a place for self-expression are vital for our well-being. Home gives a feeling of independence. Ourhome should also be a place in which we can be safe from accidents and injuries.
A Housing Safety Checklist for Older People prepared by Sarah D. Kirby, Extension Housing Specialist, and published by NORTH CAROLINA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE. North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race,color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability. The guide-checklist stresses that “…Home accidents are a major source of injuries and can cause death. Older persons, whose bones are often less dense and more brittle, are especially vulnerable to serious injuries from home accidents. A simple fall that results in a broken bone can become a serious, disabling injury that limits one’s independence…”
On the guide, you will find a series of checklists. Use these lists as you go through your home. Make a check mark next to those items or behaviors that you already have. If there are items that you do not check, then your home is not as safe as it could be. By improving those items not marked, you can make your home a safer and more comfortable place to live. While the suggestions in this publication are for older people, they apply to all age groups as well.
To Download the guide, click here.
Tags: age in place, Aging, Assisted Living at Home, High Tech to age in place, Home Care, Home Renovation for seniors, Home Safety, independent living for seniors, Living Well Assisted Living at Home, Living Well best practices to age in place
Posted in Aging, Aging at Home, Aging in Place, Caregiver and family support, Health & Wellness, Home Renovation for seniors to age in place, Home Safety, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Sunday, June 27th, 2010
There is evidence that even short episodes of hospitalization on elders can hinder recovery from patients’ initial conditions, extending hospitalizations, delaying scheduled procedures like surgery, requiring more time and attention from staff members and escalating health care costs. Afterward, patients are more often placed, whether temporarily or permanently, in nursing homes or rehabilitation centers.
Medical advocacy is a key component of Living Well’s approach to care that has been demonstrated to lead to improved quality of life and avoid further complications for seniors’ health. It is vital to avoid unnecessary visits to the ER and prolonged home stays.
Pam Belluck offers advice on how to prepare when an elderly patient is headed to surgery or a hospital stay in a recently post in The New York Times. She offers Six Questions to Protect Elderly Patients.
Read the article.
Tags: age in place, Assisted Living at Home, independent living for seniors, Living Well best practices to age in place, Medical advocacy, Medical Advocacy for Seniors
Posted in Aging, Health & Wellness, Home Care, Medical Advocacy for Seniors | 6 Comments »
Sunday, June 27th, 2010
One of the most common reasons why seniors are forced to leave their homes and move into an institution is the occurrence of a fall or the existence of a high fall risk. Adult children and friends are scared of finding their loved one, who has fallen, a little too late. Time is important when a senior falls and help an immediate response is needed.
Despite of the widely use of the “emergency response buttons”, we realized that most of the times these devices are not being used at the moment of the fall. The risk of falling increases with age and falling is the number one cause of injury in adults over 65. These numbers are cause for great concern, but awareness and prevention can help decrease the likelihood of falls in the senior citizen years.
Living Well Assisted Living at Home has researched thoroughly different alternatives to bring safety at home and enable seniors to live independently while keeping seniors safe at home and providing real time report and request for assistance. We partner with Grand Care System, Halo Monitoring, and Universal Design to tailor made the house to the senior’s needs and bring peace of mind to the family members and friends.
ABC News recently featured a video about how preventing dangerous falls.
Watch ABC News Video on Preventing Falls
Trisha Kellog supports independent living with some assistance and in a recent blog entry, Trisha stresses the need for systems that supports safety. She states that “…With age comes the risk of falls and falls can lead to serious injury or death. Improving health and being aware of potential hazards will help ease the mind of you or your loved-one…” Read the article
Tags: Aging in Place, Alzheimer's, Assisted Living at Home, High Tech to age in place, independent living for seniors, Living Well Assisted Living at Home, Living Well best practices to age in place, Physical health for seniors, senior wellness
Posted in Aging at Home, Aging in Place, Caregiver and family support, News & Discoveries | 1 Comment »
Monday, April 12th, 2010
Every 70 seconds, somebody in the U.S. is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. Approximately 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer’s. If nothing is done to reverse current trends, we will have a projected 11-16 million Alzheimer’s patients by 2050, according to a new report by the Alzheimer’s Association. [1]
Issues of depression, loneliness, powerlessness, and communication problems can be painful and difficult to deal with. Elders with dementia who do not have an outlet by which to express them are more likely to feel isolated and overpowered by the accompanying emotions. Whether institutionalized or not, seniors can benefit from art therapies and other expressive arts. All humans are creative, but for those living with dementia, that impulse may need to be supported and encouraged by others trained to foster creative expression.
Many of these elderly have limited access to mental health services; few receive the support they need to alleviate symptoms. The emphasis in most assisted living facilities is primarily on the physical needs of the residents; this, combined with staffing shortages, and a growing trend whereby elders are being cared for at home by inexperienced, albeit loving, family members, means that millions of older adults’ needs for psychological support are not being met. These elders lose the ability to express their feelings and desires and can be shut up from the consensus reality. Interventions belonging to the expressive arts can give elders, experiencing the challenges of dementia, a voice to express themselves.
Read the white paper:Helping Elders with Dementia by Doris Bersing, PhD
(President and co-founder of Living Well Assisted Living at Home, Inc)
[1] Alzheimer’s Association, 2010 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures, Alzheimer’s & Dementia, Volume 6
Tags: Alzheimer's, Dementia Care, independent living for seniors, Living Well best practices to age in place, livng well with Alzheimer's
Posted in Aging, Alzheimer's & Dementia, Health & Wellness, News & Discoveries | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
I recently noticed a thread on a New York Times blog about how much people who have elderly relatives with some form of senility or dementia would like to be able to engage their loved ones in meaningful interactions – and how hard a time they have figuring out how to do that. I command the famous media for bringing the issue to the front burner.
NYT invited the clinical psychologist Cynthia Green, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and the author of several books on memory (including “Through the Seasons: An Activities Book for Memory Challenged Adults and Caregivers“), to join the conversation. Dr Green has some suggestions. She said: “…When someone we love receives a diagnosis of memory loss, we fall headfirst into the (usually) unasked-for role of manager, overseeing both the major decisions — whether a move is necessary, for example — as well as the minor, everyday ones.
Yet once the dust has settled and we’ve established a routine, we face a different problem. What can Mom or Dad do? How should they spend their time? Shouldn’t they be doing something?
Shouldn’t we be doing something with them? Join the discussion
Tags: age in place, Assisted Living at Home, Dementia Care, High Tech to age in place, independent living for seniors, Living Well best practices to age in place, livng well with Alzheimer's
Posted in Aging, Aging at Home, Aging in Place, Alzheimer's & Dementia, Health & Wellness, Home Care, News & Discoveries | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
There is a m
yth in the eldercare field: “people with dementia, including Alzheimer’s need to leave their normal lives…and being institutionalized for their safety..”
At Living Well Assisted Living at Home, we are happy to offer smart technology and comprehensive services that allow people with dementia to continue with their usual lives.
To support this concept, USA Today has been publishing the “Blackwells’ journey into Alzheimer’s”. “…USA Today: Focus on the present helps couple handle Alzheimer’s. The reality of Alzheimer’s disease is different for everybody. Bob Blackwell, an Alzheimer’s Association early-stage advisor, and his wife, Carol, choose to focus on the present when dealing with his diagnosis. They travel together and blog about their Alzheimer experience, and Bob continues to exercise and partake in photography, his favorite hobby. The couple also traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby their elected officials at the Alzheimer’s Association Alzheimer’s Action Summit. Read the USA Today article
Tags: age in place, Aging well, Alzheimer's, assisted living, Assisted Living at Home, Dementia Care, High Tech to age in place, Home Care, homecare, independent living for seniors, Living Well Assisted Living at Home, Living Well dentists, living well with dementia, livng well with Alzheimer's
Posted in Aging, Aging at Home, Aging in Place, Alzheimer's & Dementia, Health & Wellness, Home Care, News & Discoveries | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
Doris Bersing, PhD President and Co-Founder, Living Well Assisted Living at Home comments on the results of an AARP survey that shows 89% of Americans do not want to leave their homes when they age. Most of these people will be live alone and receive support from a variety of health and community-based providers, family caregivers. Read Dr. Bersing’s article
How will the long-term care system provide care to a growing number of seniors living in increasingly scattered locations? And more importantly, how can that system continue to provide quality care in the face of workforce shortages, rising care costs and decreasing resources? Technology has the potential to play a critical role in launching a new model of geriatric care that allows older people to live independently for as long as possible, supports family caregivers in the important work they do and gives health care providers the tools they need to deliver high-quality care at a reasonable cost.[1]
The mix of caring people, technology, and expertise in gerontology is the key to being able to keep people living and aging within their own homes regardless of whether they are healthy and engaged or dealing with chronic physical illness or dementia.
In other countries, along with the USA, a device touted as a future of health care is freeing nurses from long road trips, and instead beaming them into lounge rooms. An article by Danny Rose “Hi-tech alternative to nurse home visit” on the 9news, explains how technology can be used to help seniors to take care of their health and age-in-place. Read Danny’s article
[1] On the State of Technology in Aging Services report (2008) by The Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST). You can download the report from
their website
Tags: age in place, assisted living, High Tech to age in place, homecare, independent living for seniors, Living Well Assisted Living at Home
Posted in Aging, Aging at Home, Aging in Place, Alzheimer's & Dementia, Announcements, Health & Wellness, Home Care, News & Discoveries, Products & Services, Public Policy | No Comments »
