ELF News Archives
December 2007
- New Year's Resolutions for the Desperate Long Distance Caregiver -
Eldercare expert gerontologist Cheryl Kuba offers strategies as New Year's resolutions to make long distance caregiving a stress-free success for you and your aging parent.
PR Web 12/31
- Turning A New Page On Elder Care Issues -
Employees can turn to the TI Intranet and access links to find a senior caregiver, home health care aids, cleaning services and social support. Moreover, an elder care e-mail group enables employees to discuss where to find the best caregivers and not feel so isolated. "It's like a virtual water cooler
Money CNN 12/31
- High costs of nursing homes puts residents in the middle -
Tennessee has backed itself into a corner on elderly care. It has failed to provide enough home- and community-based services for the elderly and disabled, and with a recent crackdown on violations at nursing homes, residents are being tragically forced out of the homes with little place to go. The most innocent of citizens are having to pay for the mistakes of the state and the nursing-home industry.
RC Times 12/31
- Elder care the benefits of staying home -
In Vermont, a new program called Choices for Care allows government dollars to pay for home care rather than nursing homes.
In more than 100 communities across the nation, neighborhoods are banding together to pay for services that can help older people remain in their homes longer. Such organizations charge dues to cover an array of services, from transportation to home repairs.
Fredericksburg News 12/28
- Communal housing is coming of age -
The idea of cohousing was born in Denmark in the 1960s and imported to the United States nearly three decades later ...There are about 100 multi-generational cohousing communities in the United States -- more in Northern California than anywhere else -- and they usually consist of town houses or separate residences built around a common house and shared open space...The basic premise of cohousing -- that life is better together than apart -- is an even neater fit for people as they age, because "aging is a team sport...
LaTimes 12/28
- Many nursing homes lack cancer care -
Many U.S. nursing home residents do not receive cancer screening, surgical treatment or hospice care -- despite the increased risk of cancer as people age.
Earth Times 12/27
- Changing nursing home culture -
Wine and cheese are bringing residents together at Live Oak Retirement Community.
Periodically, residents gather in the central living area of the home, which is furnished with comfortable couches, a couple of TVs and a pool table, for a party just like one they might have had at home.
ShrevePort Times 12/27
- Nonprofit secures financing -
Hebrew SeniorLife arranges $457m for innovative care site...the final step in its ambitious plan to build an innovative community in Dedham that will be home to about 800 seniors.
Boston.Com 12/27
- Day care for seniors -
ONE OF THE MOST humane and effective ways to help senior citizens stay out of hospitals and nursing homes is through preventing health problems or dealing with them at an early stage. That is the mission of the Center for Elders Independence. It has sites in Berkeley and Oakland, and it is planing new facilities in Oakland, Hayward and Richmond.
Contra Costa Times 12/27
- America's Senior Citizens Rightfully Support Ron Paul -
Ron Paul is the chief sponsor of the Social Security Preservation Act of 2007 (HR 219), which would prohibit Congress from raiding the Social Security Trust Fund . It also requires that the money paid into the Trust Fund be invested in U.S. Treasury Bonds and FDIC-insured, interest-earning certificates of deposit.
Seniors Forum 12/21
- Seeing an elderly parent for the holidays? Take a close look -
Don't be surprised if your elderly relatives show some wear and tear – maybe even some serious decline – since the last time you saw them...Does the elderly person require help with chores or housekeeping? Can they prepare their own meals? Are they paying bills on time? When did they last see the doctor? Do they get out regularly?
OC Register 12/19
- Report slams elderly care home treatment -
The appalling treatment of elderly people in care homes has been laid bare in a report which found some are dragged around by their hair, strapped into wheelchairs, locked in their rooms and sedated.
Telegraph 12/19
- Nursing home citations climb 22% -
More nursing homes are being cited for serious violations as inspectors face increasing pressure to crack down on dangerous conditions...From 2000 through 2006, the number of citations for putting patients in "immediate jeopardy" increased 22%, according to the records from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which regulates nursing homes.
USA Today 12/19
- 'Retirement a recipe for disaster' says author -
The main problem with many nursing homes, Bennett said, is they are built like hospitals, where patients are often warehoused and have little privacy.
"I advocate an orderly system of replacing traditional nursing homes
Mass Live 12/19
- Crackdown on nursing homes airs system flaws -
Hard as it may be to believe, there is a good side to what's happening with the state's unprecedented crackdown on nursing homes.
Advocates for the elderly have been saying it for decades: The system should be set up to allow Tennessee's residents choices about how they are taken care of as they get old. Right now, it's the nursing home industry that makes that call almost every time. Not the individual.
Tennessean 12/19
- Something wrong in state veterans homes -
RECENT SERIOUS incidents at the William F. Green Veterans Home in Bay Minette have led to changes in its operation, but state officials need to review the nursing home's entire history of problems.
Al.Com 12/17
- Arizona nursing-home citations increase -
The Arizona Department of Health Services has taken 114 enforcement actions against 75 long-term care facilities since November 2004. All but one of the enforcements resulted in civil penalties...
AZ Central 12/17
- Important Funding News! -
Thanks to the extraordinary efforts and dedicated spirit of ELF advocates, UBS Bank and T.C. Holding Company of Zurich, Switzerland, the Foundation is firmly positioned to achieve its major funding goals for 2007. The week of December 17, a special bulletin will be distributed announcing the success and detailing the plans for 2008.
- Senators want list of troubled nursing homes made public -
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has compiled a list of nursing homes that have repeatedly fallen in and out of compliance with government health and safety regulations and caused harm to their residents. Those homes are not subject to more frequent inspections.
Des Moines Register 12/14
- Is This Year For Reform? -
But with major revelations about problems at the now-bankrupt Haven Healthcare homes, Prague and other legislators say this is the year for action as nursing homes have become a high-profile issue. Prague joined Wednesday with the chairmen of the legislature's human services and public health committees to call for more workers in nursing homes and more legislative oversight.
Courant 12/14
- Nursing homes call on state for financial help -
Minnesota nursing homes say legislative action -- started but not completed last spring -- is needed to help their dwindling numbers regain a stronger financial footing.
startribune 12/12
- 5 killings at elder-care home investigated -
A nurse and her husband were arrested for allegedly killing five people under their care at a southwest England home for the elderly.
UPI 12/11
- As the rules on elder care grew, so did their firm -
White Bear Lake consulting firm earns its keep by translating complex government regulations for senior health care clients
startribune 12/11
- Barack Obama Calls on HHS to Provide List of Failing Nursing Homes -
U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today called on Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael Leavitt to release the list of the 128 “special focus facilities,” the list of worst performing nursing homes in the country.
allamericanpatriots 12/11
- Britain's elderly to decide their own care -
Elderly people in Britain are to be given money to pay for their own care in a move hailed as one of the most radical welfare reforms in a generation. They will have the right to decide how and where they spend the cash, and take control of their daily lives as well as a higher standard of service
xinhuanet 12/10
- Families Must Be Informed About Nursing Homes -
The nursing-home question — whether or not to put a loved one into a long-term-care facility — is one of the most difficult decisions families ever face. With the rash of recent reports about serious problems in the long-term-care system, the issue of where to put mom just got even harder.
Courant 12/10
- Medicare / Medicaid and nursing homes -
We know it is confusing... but remember it this way. Medicaid is a state program for low income families - it is AID for those in need. Medicare is health benefits for older Americans - CARE for those who are 65/66 or older.
InjuryBoard 12/10
- Do research to learn about financial strain brought on by elder caregiving -
My husband and I willingly made the decision to move my mother into our home after my father passed away. I was prepared for the amount of time her care would require; she has very limited mobility and some loss of cognitive functioning as a result of a stroke. What we didn't realize is the financial strain we would be under in providing adequate care for her. Is there any help out there for people like us?
Eagle Times 12/04
- Prescription Abuse Seen In U.S. Nursing Home -
Nursing homes across the U.S. are giving these drugs to elderly patients to quiet symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.
WSJ 12/04
- A Few Helping Hands With Eldercare -
I wanted to suggest Web sites that caregivers can use for information and support on a variety of issues. Not surprisingly, the people behind these resources have firsthand experience with eldercare — just another one of the ways people are shaping their careers based on their own life experiences.
Shifting Careers 12/04
- MIT study shows families do more than care--they are caregivers -
Despite the lack of formal training and monetary compensation, families have become a part of the geriatric health care workforce, researchers at the MIT Workplace Center at the Sloan School of Management have concluded in a new report.
Press Media Wire 12/03
- Medicare Release List of Worst Nursing Homes -
The Place and other homes on the list failed to make improvements after being flagged by inspectors. Inspectors look at medications, help with daily tasks, and preventing accidents and infections when making their requests for improvement.
WRBL 12/03
- Nursing Homes That Flunk the Care Test -
Nursing homes that want Medicare or Medicaid funds must submit to state inspections to see whether residents covered by those programs are receiving decent, safe care. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services posts the results of the inspections online as part of its Nursing Home Compare tool, and the results, unsurprisingly, show that such care is by no means universal. But a handful of homes out of the roughly 16,000 operating in this country do badly over and over in these inspections; CMS calls them special-focus facilities, and they are inspected more frequently and watched more closely. As of last month there were 128 such nursing homes.
US NEWS 12/02
- Proper glasses lead to less depression in nursing homes -
Nursing home residents with proper glasses enjoy life more and are less depressed than those with uncorrected vision problems, a study has found.
Chronicle 12/02
- What We Should Expect Out of Our Nursing Homes -
Nursing homes seem to be in the news every day. First in late September, the New York Times reported about the declining quality of care in nursing homes across the country as a result of their purchase by big investment firms.
HealthCare Central 12/01