Dementia Care Needs to Become a Government Priority Now

Being diagnosed with Alzheimer's is probably one of the worst feelings in the world. Unlike those who are told they have cancer, doctors can offer no hope to Alzheimer's patients that they can ever beat the disease. Once a person has Alzheimer's, there's no expectations for the future except for a gradual decline in abilities and being unable to do the things the person once enjoyed in life. Anyone in the beginning stages of dementia knows that there will be no happy endings for them, that they aren't going to have a peaceful old age, and they aren't going to continue even being themselves for much longer.

Most of us don't know a lot about Alzheimer's because people who have it aren't able to become public and champion research and funding. Even public figures we know suffered from it, such as Ronald Reagan, seem to disappear from the public eye soon after diagnosis. No one wants the world seeing them deteriorate, and by the time they become completely oblivious to their condition, it's too late to promote any cause, no matter how important. What we do know, though, is that of the top ten causes of death in the United States today, Alzheimer's is the only one that has no prevention, cure, or way to stop the progression.

More than 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's. That's one out of every eight adults. Costs are soaring, because it's estimated that Medicare pays out $3 for a dementia patient for each dollar spent on seniors without. Medicaid pays 19 times as much. In all, experts are estimating that in 2012 the federal costs, including Medicare and Medicaid, to care for dementia patients will be more than $200 billion. This number is expected to rise with the escalating number of Alzheimer's cases and the aging baby boom generation. It's possible that unless something is done quickly, it will cost $1.1 trillion dollars to care for Alzheimer's patients in the year 2050.

The president of the Alzheimer's Association contends that the U.S. federal government needs to give higher priority to funding dementia research if we are going to have any hope of controlling costs in the future. In 2011, the government invested about $502.5 million for Alzheimer's research. That compares to $823 million that was earmarked for obesity issues. Although the proportion allotted to Alzheimer's seems fairly large, it isn't enough to tackle the problems of finding preventions and cures for this devastating condition.

Top 5 Tips on How to Manage in Home Care - Elderly Home Health Care

Managing in home care workers when you have elderly home health care services in the home can seem like a full time job. Putting systems in place and taking preventative measures will make the transition of having in home health care services an easier transition.

There is a trade off to keeping a family member at home for as long as possible. Many family caregivers make huge sacrifices that affect their own close relationships, careers, financial status and health. Usually, there is one family member that provides all the care the other family members have little to no involvement.

Providing care for elderly in home care can take its toll on a family caregiver. There are resources available to you to assist you in the home. Once you have the providers in place, I will help you put some systems and preventative measure in place to give you peace of mind.

Whether you are a long distance caregiver or the family caregiver that lives in the same neighborhood, these systems and measures will work for you. The first step to any relationship is communication. Managing or overseeing, whatever you see your role here; this is going to be very different from any other role you have had in the past. Even if you are a seasoned manager over many people, this still will be a different experience for you.

I will explain. Elderly home health care workers are individuals that are going to be providing very intimate services in the sanctuary of your home. This is a delicate situation on many different levels.

The aging senior has expectations of things done a certain way at a certain time, just the way they like it. The home health care worker is coming into a person's home and must learn their routines, likes and dislikes wants and needs. It is not an easy job.

Some seniors just cannot be pleased and the slightest little thing has them upset and frustrated. So the first thing that you will need to prepare yourself to learn is to communicate and compromise.

More on top 5 tips on how to manage in home care. Elderly home health care.

When a new individual is first introduced to the home and the aging senior, try to be there and help make them familiar with the surroundings. Try to have a place to put their belongings, a place in the refrigerator to keep their lunch and drinks. If they are going to be there long hours, offering food or take out menus from local places that will deliver would be thoughtful.

Long hours means a place to get a break, so make sure that you give permission to use a room or a table or allow for some privacy to make phone calls on those breaks.

Acknowledge when a health are provider does something right. Praise goes a long way. If a worker does something exceptional, take time to put it in writing to the company to the attention of their supervisor.

Encourage a relationship between you and the in home care employees. They are there to care for your aging parents, but they will be there and see and hear things you may miss. Or your parent may try to hide something from you that they will tell the health care worker and not you.

Monitoring in home care is the next step and that should be done on a regular basis. For those that are long distance care givers ask neighbors, family or church members to stop in unannounced intermittently. Elderly home health care when managed properly and preventative measures are put into place will allow an individual to remain in the comfort or their home, for as long as possible.

Nursing Home Abuse - The Truth Behind It

For the most part, the nursing home and elder care facilities that comprise the bulk of the assisted living communities across the United States are filled with well trained, caring and attentive staff members who keep the surroundings clean and attend to the patients to the best of their abilities. Unfortunately, though, this isn't the case across the board and in a field like this -the majority simply isn't enough.

There have been plenty of reported cases in the last several years of nursing home abuse and neglect. Some of these cases stem from the facilities being grossly understaffed and some from hiring unqualified or unscrupulous employees who don't have to go through any type of training process and who aren't watched as closely as they should be while they are caring for the patients and residents.

Sadly, nursing home abuse is a tragedy that is one hundred percent preventable - if the offending facilities had better management and more structured rules and policies in place then we would probably see a very large percentage of the abuse that occurs today disappear - add in background checks and stringent hiring policies for all prospective employees and it's likely that nursing home abuse would all but disappear.

Nursing home abuse isn't limited to just actual physical abuse, it could include a number of other equally reprehensible offenses including theft of money and property from residents, neglecting the food and medicinal needs of residents and not keeping the residents or their environment as clean as necessary for the best chances of remaining healthy.

If you have a loved one who resides in a nursing home and have any proof, or even any suspicion of potential abuse, you need to take action immediately. The first step is to speak with the management of the facility to express your concerns - let them know exactly what you've seen as well as any suspicions you may have, if the situation is an isolated incident or if the party suspected of the abuse has had any previous complaints or allegations against them then this contact with the management may be enough to end the alleged abuse.

If you suspect and/or see evidence of physical abuse like unexplained bruising, cuts and scrapes or broken bones then a meeting with the management won't be enough. If you feel that your loved one is being physically abused in the nursing home at which they reside you should get in contact with a personal injury lawyer right away.

A local personal injury lawyer may already have knowledge of previous abuse situations that have gone on in the same facility, they will be able to look at medical records and identify if the injuries listed are consistent with physical abuse and they'll be able to guide you through the entire process as it unfolds.

Promises and excuses from the management of a nursing home are never enough in the event of abuse. Understand that the management will do whatever it takes to protect themselves from appearing in court as a defendant.

If the allegations of abuse are true, something needs to be done so that nothing like that ever happens again in that location. Threat of and follow through with a lawsuit and representation by a reputable personal injury attorney can force those necessary changes.

A widely publicized lawsuit could lead to the necessary staffing changes, the stricter rules and hiring policies put in place by the management and reparations for the damage that has already been done. Though none of these things will take away the pain that was inflicted from the initial abuse, they can collectively help to ensure that it will never happen again.

An In-Depth Look at Smoke on Florida Highways

Smoke that limits visibility on Florida roads is an ongoing and extremely dangerous problem. It causes numerous auto accident injuries, and, in some cases, deaths. This smoke is even more dangerous on high-speed, limited-access highways such as I-10, I-75 and I-95. It is also more dangerous at night and in Florida's cooler months, when low-lying fog is common.

Multiple Causes

Forest and brush fires are natural occurrences, especially in Florida, a state that has the most lightning strikes. However, fires have other causes that can be avoided.

Sometimes, intentional wrongdoing, arson, causes fires and, sometimes, they are caused by carelessness. Negligence in burning trash and other fire-related activities by campers or homeowners are examples of causes that can easily be avoided. Faulty equipment or carelessness with construction, logging, and railroad equipment can cause these fires, so can traffic accidents themselves.

Prescribed or "controlled" burns relate to the management of Florida's forests. Recently, Florida's Commissioner of Agriculture noted a significant reduction in prescribed burns in 2012 because of drought conditions. The Florida Forest Service devised a plan to address future use of prescribed burns that carefully balances against Florida's growth and urbanization. It is important that those who use these fires take great care to do it right.

Accountability

For auto accident personal injury victims of crashes caused by smoke that reduces or nearly eliminates visibility, those who suffer personal injury and the families of those who suffer death in such tragic accidents, rules vary based on circumstances and facts. Wanting to determine fault and bring accountability to wrongdoers is normal, so much so that it is enshrined in the Florida Constitution as a basic right: "SECTION 21. Access to courts - the courts shall be open to every person for redress of any injury, and justice shall be administered without sale, denial or delay."

Actions of Drivers

No matter who, if anyone, is responsible for the smoke on a highway, the actions of the drivers involved in these wrecks will be closely examined. This will bring into play the obligation of vehicle operators, whether passenger vehicles or tractor-trailer rigs, buses or heavy equipment, to drive with reasonable care under the circumstances. It will be examined and complicated by the following questions:

What is the safe thing to do in a cloud of smoke?
Was there a safe way to pull off the highway?
How could the drivers even know where such a safe place was?

Each driver is responsible to drive at a speed appropriate for the conditions, but many drivers may worry about slowing down and being hit from behind by vehicles that do not slow down. Investigators consider all these factors. Unfortunately, in the worst of these accidents, drivers and passengers may have died or been injured too badly to help reconstruct the accident.

Pre-Accident Condition of Drivers

Another factor investigators always look at is the pre-accident condition of each driver. This includes whether any drivers involved were impaired by alcohol or drugs, or distracted by cell phones or other devices.

For professional drivers especially, pre-accident condition examines the operator's driving history. If the driving record is poor, investigators will then look at whether the trucking company was or should have been aware of that driving record, and whether the company took reasonable precautions to protect the public from poor drivers. Training, supervision and licensing are investigated, in addition to the amount of hours driven by truck drivers and the accuracy of driver logs. Trucking companies and their drivers are governed by strict rules with the intent of safety and saving lives. It is necessary for drivers to be alert and capable of making the right driving decisions when operating such large vehicles to avoid trucking accident injuries.

Responsibility for Smoke on the Highway

Who is responsible for the presence of smoke on a highway? Lightning provides its own answer when it is the initial cause. However, there are times and circumstances when carelessness in working with fire, or failure to take precautions as to when and under what weather and wind conditions to set "controlled" burns, can add up to negligence and bring liability. After all, without the smoke, the accident likely would not have occurred. In a case of a controlled burn alleged to have caused a tractor-trailer to crash into a small car killing people, the appeals court for the North Florida area held the company responsible for the fire that put smoke on the highway at 9:30 at night was held potentially liable for losses even by the truck driver who himself was uninjured but lost his job after the accident. Waters v. ITT-Rayonier, Inc., 493 So.2d 67 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). Negligence in fire fighting, especially when that work is done by government, raises questions of whether sovereign immunity has been waived by statute and whether there are any exceptions to that waiver that might defeat the ability to assess liability against the government. That issue has been addressed elsewhere. Myers v. McGrady, 628 S.E.2d 761 (N.C. 2006) (multi-vehicle collision at night in smoke and fog on I-95).

Vehicles on a Smoky Highway

Another issue emerges and is addressed in part by a newly released Florida Department of Law Enforcement report. This report analyzes the role of the Florida Highway Patrol in the closing of I-75 due to smoke from a fire on Paynes Prairie near Gainesville, Florida in January 2012 and then reopening I-75 with subsequent major collisions with numerous deaths and injuries. Document-FDLE-I-75-Incident-Review

While much of the investigation is yet to be done, the report points to factual issues that open the question of potential liability by the State of Florida. The State has, by statute, waived its sovereign immunity for liability for its negligence, but that waiver is subject to rules that give leeway to state entities in taking actions in dealing with many issues, including public safety. Questions will arise about whether negligence was involved in the decision to reopen I-75 to traffic the night of this tragic accident. Investigators will also examine whether there were warnings about the potential for smoke resettling on the highway and blinding drivers, and, if so, whether the warnings were adequate, and whether FHP patrol cars could have done more to warn and control the vehicles traveling on the reopened interstate.

The Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Forest Service and the Florida Department of Transportation adopted a uniform set of warning signs to be used for smoke on Florida roads, including signs for use at times of prescribed burns. The State's waiver of sovereign immunity also contains limitations on the amount that can be recovered for wrongful death and serious injuries, although recoveries exceeding the caps can be made through legislative claims bills. Section 768.28, Florida Statutes.

Conclusion

Smoke on Florida's highways will continue to be a problem. The first thing we can do is be careful to prevent fires from starting or, if using prescribed or controlled burns for the management of underbrush and forests, taking every reasonable step to protect the public from the danger of smoke on the highways. There is no room for shortcuts; lives are at stake. Proper planning, training and diligence by responsible parties are vital.

Care Giving Secrets - Ways to Encourage Clients and Prevent Caregiver Burnout

"The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking." ~Albert Einstein

The Heart of Caregiving is basically, part of the important discipline of nursing; caring in a loving and professional way. The principles that guide this discipline are dignity, independence, communication, safety, infection control, and privacy. These bottom line principles of DISCIP-LINE may be applied in any situation and be easily remembered:

Dignity, Independence, Safety, Communication, Infection, Control Privacy, bottom LINE.

There are many myths regarding health and aging, for example, memory loss is not a normal symptom for healthy aging. The reality is there are more than 1/10 Americans who are 65 years or older. Most men are married and women are twice as likely to live alone and widowed. Common with aging are loss of important people and meaningful things, such as height, sight, taste, teeth strength and hearing, in 1/3 of elders over 65 years old. Attentive Caregivers put their personal thoughts, feelings, troubles second to the person they are caring for.

Caregivers may avoid negative feelings by being balanced and focused, while understanding older people and the disease process. Practicing the six principles of care allows caregivers to understand how to participate as part of a team and offer emotional support while providing direct care. Being balanced within allows caregivers to do focused care flexibly and creatively, while enjoying the celebration of life and caring. Dignity is being treated with respect at all times.

Clients heal and function best when they are treated as individuals and are allowed to direct their care. Each person's beliefs affect their health and attitude. Caregivers are best able to provide care to clients when they are balanced and focused in the present moment. Many caregivers are overwhelmed by the tasks involved in care giving. Below are some basic concepts and tools that can combine with the principles of care for self care and care giving, to combat this pattern of overwhelm.

For example, when we treat ourselves with DIGNITY, it is a natural process to extend this behavior to those in our care. How do we treat ourselves with dignity? A simple adjustment to BEING instead of DOING makes an amazing difference. What we focus on expands, so we can choose to focus on what we want. By acknowledging what we want within ourselves, we will create more of this value in our lives. For example, the daily 6 principles of care giving may be balanced with the six principles of self care. Decide on one value (such as; clarity, courage, creativity, focus, fun, being consistent, flexible or generous) to focus on and one of the six principles of care giving and Self care, each day. Think about how this relates to the person we care for. "How can I have fun with my client and dignity, today?"

Be thoughtful and do insist on CONNECTION and invite what you hate. Many things influence a person's behavior and there is always a reason behind the behavior, even if you do not understand what it is. What are your experiences of someone doing something they wouldn't normally do, or that seems inappropriate or unnecessary? What have you done to put yourself in danger of harm, embarrassment or another kind of risk?

A caregiver's responsibility is to provide care with kindness, no matter what the client's behavior is. UNDERSTANDING basic needs and the life cycles can be useful. From the time we are born, we search for closeness and connection. Peekaboo, tag and hide & seek are all games that play with connection. Sometimes our clients do not connect or reconnect so easily. They may feel so isolated that they come out swinging both arms aggressively or retreat to a corner. This is a signal that more connection is needed, even if it feels annoying, obnoxious or infuriating. Hyperactivity or inability to calm down and depression may be other symptoms of this need for connection. No value comes from punishing or leaving the client isolated. Setting relaxed expectations and eye contact can be useful for breaking the ice. Playful physical and verbal bumbling attempts to be close (beg & plead, close your eyes and kiss the air, wall or chair instead-open eyes), can bring laughter and a softening of the stuck feelings. Deep within, the client may have a feeling of something being wrong with themselves. Pay attention to how near or far, from the client, brings the most laughter or tenseness and repeat for more laughter. A few minutes of eye contact and laughter can make all the difference in feeling connected while providing direct care. When you are finished say, "Great! I got no hugs. no kisses. But someday, someday, someday, I'll get one! I'll just have to try again next time! Thanks for a good run around the house!"

Be on SAME PHYSICAL LEVEL level: Do remember that you are delivering care in a balanced way for the client and yourself. Your right hand represents giving and the left hand represents receiving. Keep them both together at your heart level, near your mind. Keep your body within one foot of your client, keeping your elbows at your waist whenever delivering direct care. Being aware of your hands together at your heart level, connected to your mind, allows you to be balanced and focused, preventing you from injuring your back, while creating closeness and safety with the client. Keep your body within one foot of your client, keeping your elbows at your waist whenever delivering direct care. Communicate what action you want before doing. Cradle with palms only to assist movement. Do not grasp with your fingers.

Be aware of GENDER DIFFERENCES Respectful of the male hunter's one track focus and the female as gatherer of information and pleasing others roles. Knowledge of the instinct for direct immediate relation of the hunter versus diffuse awareness of "hostess head" gatherer can save many hours of frustration. Key differences and helpful generalization tools for gender communication: For him; don't interrupt, simply wait, do not rephrase or give options. For her; state the obvious in a thoughtful tone. Use questions to help talk about feelings and see chapter three for further communication tips.

Be willing to lose your own dignity, in order to protect the RIGHTS of your client. Individual rights are guaranteed by law and no one can take them away. A person's rights are protected by law because rights are crucial to a person's freedom. People have a right to competent, compassionate care that is delivered with respect. A person in your care should not be expected to give up any of their rights. Which rights would you give up? Caregivers have an obligation to be ethical and do the right thing.

Celebrate POWER versus Powerlessness. What are your Daily personal six principles of care? Because inner creates outer and roots create the fruit, these are my six principles of care and may or may not work for you.

1) Daily Be GRATEFUL for ten things in your life.

2) Daily Be APPRECIATIVE of ten things about yourself.

3) Do daily EXERCISE; bounce on the balls of your feet, elbows in, chopping at waist level to be grounded, then chest level to be focused and above your head to the heavens, to release any stinking thinking.

3) Do the RIGHT thing.

4) ASK for what you want.

5) Be willing to RECEIVE it.

6) CELEBRATE every small and large success, immediately. The celebration will energize you for the next task and could be any joyful action; a statement of well done, a hooray, pat on the back, jump for joy, cup of tea, garden, phone call to share, reading, writing, listening to music or an inspiring bit of information.

TIP: Use a ten minute timer, a buddy and a journal as allies. Remember to provide balanced and focused care in a loving and professional manner, by keeping your giving and receiving hands close to your heart and mind, while using DISCIP-LINE: Dignity, Independence, Communication, Infection Control and Privacy.

We would love to hear your comments about this guide, so if you prefer to email rather than blog, send your comments to sonia.morrison@gmail.com For additional information regarding these tools and principles of care visit http://www.soniamorrison.com or order the book, The Heart of Caregiving.

Kings and cabbages go back to compost but good deeds stay green forever. ~ Rick DeMartinis

The shorter way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time. ~Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it. ~Winston Churchill

The Surgery Recovery Process for the Elderly

Unlike young people who tend to spring back from a surgery with ease and few complications, the elderly tend to have a much harder and slower time recovering from surgery. They are also much more likely to suffer complications.

Medical complications are common among elderly post-operative patients. Often prescription painkillers cloud the mind and cause visual impairment in the elderly. This can lead to an inability to read the print of pill bottles and the potential for mixing up medication. Elderly people who already have memory problems are also at risk for taking too many pain medications because they may take some and forgot they took it and take it again. A short term rehab center can make sure that medical regiments are followed.

Problems can also occur if your elderly loved one takes an oral medication (or medications) daily and cannot after surgery (some surgeries require fasting before and/or after the procedure). Make sure to let a doctor know if your elderly loved one is on a daily medication so that arrangements can be made for non-oral administration. Stopping certain medications abruptly (seizure medications, blood pressure medication) can be harmful. A short term rehab center can administer medications in a safe way. There is also the issue of day to day living during recovery. Elderly patients can be bedridden for long periods of time. Things like getting food, using the bathroom and other day to day functions can be difficult especially in the days after surgery. If you don't have the time to watch your elderly loved one you should consider a nursing home to care for them in the weeks after their surgery.

A nursing home has staffed experienced in geriatric patients. They know more about the recovery process of older adults than a hospital staff who sees hundreds of different patients in a day. A nursing home can also offer daily monitoring, unlike hospitals which will send you home and then re-admit you once a problem becomes apparent. Being monitored by doctors ensures problems are solved before they bet so bad hospital re-admission becomes necessary.

Rehab centers and nursing homes speed up the recovery process. No one wants to be bedridden, recovering from surgery. If that is the case, however, you want to do so as quickly as possible and under the most through supervision. Choosing the right short term rehab center or nursing home is an important part of the recovery process.

The 3 Main Causes of Pedestrian Accident Claims

The majority of accidents involving pedestrians are the fault of motorists, and it is exactly this type of accident that leads to these types of accident claims. With many country's roads becoming increasingly overcrowded, instances of pedestrian accident claims are sadly on the rise.

So what are the leading causes of pedestrian accident claims?

Technology - with gadgetry increasingly finding its way into the glove boxes of cars around the world, drivers are being distracted by mobile phones, with millions of road users admitting to texting, calling and even signing into social network sites whilst they drive. The last decade has also seen the introduction of satellite navigation devices for drivers, which are now ubiquitous on the roads and severely distract drivers from the task at hand. Eating and playing with the stereo are also age old causes of pedestrian accident claims, and all can be easily avoided with just a little bit of consideration and self-discipline.

Aggressive driving - driving techniques differ greatly from person to person and are even changeable on a daily basis depending on time constraints, stress, etc. Inner-city driving can be particularly poor as congestion may reduce visibility and make it difficult for some drivers to remain calm and fully cognisant of the possible hazards that may lay in wait. A recent study carried out by a leading transport agency found that the most common manoeuvres immediately preceding an accident were left or right turns, reversing or completing a three point turn.

Ill-prepared pedestrians - accidents are not always the fault of car drivers; there are also measures pedestrians can take to increase their own safety when walking on the pavements. Perhaps the most obvious piece of advice is - wherever possible - to only cross the road at designated crossings. Some pedestrians will cross the road within sight of a crossing without actually using it; such behaviour will likely remove any possibility of a subsequent pedestrian accident claim. When walking at night, it is also advisable to wear high-visibility clothing, particularly if you will be walking on poorly lit streets or on country lanes.

Whatever the cause of your pedestrian accident, even if you believe that you may have been partly responsible, it is always worth contacting a professional team of pedestrian accident claims solicitors, who will be able to tell you whether you have grounds for a claim in just a matter of moments.