HEALTH, NEWS, AND THE LATEST EVENTS!
Why In-Home Care Is Better than Nursing Homes June 07, 2016 By
Dan Basel
June 07, 2016 By Dan Basel
As your parents grow older, it’s natural for you to worry about how they will get along from day to day. This is especially true as they become feebler and more forgetful, as they’re more vulnerable to accidents and injuries. It becomes more evident that they need senior care.
Now as a responsible son or daughter you may want to take care of the problem yourself, but often this isn’t practical or even possible. So what should you do to make sure that your elderly mom or dad gets the elderly care they need?
Traditionally, the solution to this situation is for your elderly loved one to go to a nursing home. But more and more people are now opting for in home care instead. More people have realized that there are more benefits to home care than to have elderly parents live in a nursing home.
Here are some reasons why:
- You can also be sure that a home caregiver will give your parent the one-on-one attention they need. The focus of the caregiver will always be on your parent. That’s often not true in nursing homes, where in general the seniors outnumber the caregivers. So they may have to “wait their turn” for the attention of the aides.
- Your parents will also feel more comfortable staying at home than
moving to a nursing home. A nursing simply doesn’t feel “right”, no
matter how homey the health aides there try to decorate the place.
There’s simply no substitute for the comfort of a favorite couch or the
view from a favorite corner of the house. Besides, relocating can be
very stressful. With in-house care, your parents retain these familiar
comforts.
- Seniors who stay at home tend to live longer than those who live in
nursing homes, and studies have confirmed this fact. In addition, those
who stay at home tend to be physically and mentally healthier compared
to the residents of nursing homes.
- Home health care also promotes the healing process. Research studies
have shown that patients can recuperate and heal faster and much more
comfortably when they’re at home, compared to staying in a hospital or a
nursing home. There’s also less chance of needing the services of the
hospital again when their recovery process is at home.
- Home health aides can also customize their services and attention to
the needs of your elderly parents. So they can tailor what they can do,
such as if your parents are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or
dementia. This is in stark contrast to the generic “one size fits all”
approach that most caregivers offer in nursing homes. With home care,
you’re aware of the fact that not all seniors need the same kind of
attention and care.
- It may turn out that a nursing home is also much more expensive than
home care, even if you ask for as much as 8 hours a day of assistance.
That’s because nursing homes offer live-in facilities, and they may have
other special equipment that can be used for elderly care. But it may
mean that you’re paying for equipment and services that your parents
don’t really need.
- With a home caregiver, your parents can also enjoy the freedom and
independence that they’re unwilling to give up. They can set the rules
and they can even go out when they want to visit friends and socialize.
But in nursing homes, this may not be possible. Many nursing homes have restrictive rules. And you may even have to visit your parents only at certain times. At your parents’ home, you can drop by at any time you want. And they can be driven by their caregivers to the supermarket or to the homes of their friends. - At home, your parents also enjoy meals that they actually like. Nursing homes may prepare food for large numbers of people, and in some days the food may not be to your parent’s liking. You can also ensure that the food your parents eat are properly prepared, tasty, and nutritious.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Pregnancy and Alzheimer's
By Sandee LaMotte, CNN
Updated 4:00 PM ET, Wed July 18, 2018
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/18/health/pregnancy-childbirth-alzheimers-study/index.html
By Sandee LaMotte, CNN
Updated 4:00 PM ET, Wed July 18, 2018
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/18/health/pregnancy-childbirth-alzheimers-study/index.html
(CNN)Women who have given birth five or more times may be 70% more likely to develop Alzheimer's later in life than those who have fewer births, according to a new study of more than 3,500 women in South Korea and Greece. Even women without dementia who had given birth five or more times scored lower on a commonly used cognitive test than those with fewer children.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
May 11, 2018 @ 02:02 PM Forbes Magazine
https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2018/05/11/the-silent-epidemic-dementias-global-impact/#41ec5f3c6195
Nearly 50 million people globally are living with dementia. The condition strikes so often, so arbitrarily, and with such little warning that many have dubbed it the Silent Epidemic.
Most of us are familiar with the most common type of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease. Other common forms of dementia are less known but equally destructive: vascular dementia, frontotemporal disorders, and Lewy body dementia, the form of dementia Robin Williams was diagnosed with after his death.
At an individual level, dementia affects everyone it touches: the person diagnosed, their loved ones, caregivers, family, and friends. At the global level, dementia takes an equally exacting toll. This article is the beginning in a series of articles focused on this devastating condition.
Dementia is a complicated disorder and providing high quality, integrated, and affordable care is a challenge for any country. Because of these challenges, people living with dementia often receive fragmented and uncoordinated care that does not properly address their needs or the needs of friends and family who care for them. (Visit the link above to read the rest of the article. More is promised to come by the author.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Elderly in U.S. Are Projected to Outnumber Children for First Time Census Bureau predicts milestone will be hit within 17 years
People over 65 years old would outnumber children by 2035, a first in U.S. history, according to updated projections released by the Census Bureau on Tuesday.
The milestone would be the latest
marker of the nation’s aging, which has accelerated with baby boomers’
move into their senior years and recessionary effects on births and
immigration over the past decade.
The growing elderly population will also put pressure on lawmakers to shift funding toward programs such as Medicare and Social Security, particularly because elderly Americans vote at high rates, said Kenneth M. Johnson, a demographer at the University of New Hampshire.