ELF News Archives
February 2008
- Schumer wants elder abuse law -
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., on Wednesday said it was time for the federal government to get serious about elder abuse...Schumer said that in 2007, about 8,693 cases of elder abuse were reported in New York.
Auburn Pub 02/29
- ElderTouch Health Brings Peace of Mind to Caregivers of Elderly Loved Ones -
ElderTouch Health offers peace of mind to caregivers of elderly loved ones, ensuring that appropriate services are available and coordinated when needed. ElderTouch Health care managers, typically registered nurses, work with caregivers throughout the United States to help them navigate the complexities of the health care system and identify necessary and available care resources in their communities.
PR Web 02/29
- Nursing home staffing -
What the nursing home industry has said is that they understand the different needs of their individual facility populations and each facility must have control over its staffing, based on their specific acuity level.
Courier-Journal 02/29
- Nursing Home Association Gives Big Dollars to Congress -
The American Health Care Association (AHCA), which represents nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, spent $860,000 in the first half of 2007 and $881,000 in the second half, according to a disclosure form posted Feb. 14 by the Senate's public records office. That is a total of $1.7 Million Dollars!
Injury Board 02/28
- Plugging the Eldercare Dollar Drain -
It's a question without an easy answer, a question asked every day by many and often hauntingly left unanswered: How can I continue to care for my aging parents when I can no longer afford the financial sacrifice? ...Family who offer to help an aging or ill loved one are often met with reluctance or downright resistance from the loved one who fears becoming a burden. And yet the reality is that while family caregivers give their help freely and lovingly, they are creating their own burden through mounting out-of-pocket caregiving expenses and forever-lost wages from time away from work or having to leave the workforce entirely.
Agis 02/28
- Nursing Homes Need Protection From Out-Of-Control Litigation -
The primary issue we are facing is availability of service. Currently, community and private owned nursing homes in Tennessee are being forced to pay high insurance premiums and expensive attorney's fees just to combat litigation.
The last thing we want is for nursing homes in Tennessee to close up because of fear of being sued.
Chattanoogan 02/28
- Aging in Place -
Older people overwhelmingly prefer to age in place?to stay in their homes or apartments as they age, rather than move to new settings. Most of them do so: fewer than 10 percent live in nursing homes, assisted living or adult foster care facilities, or continuing-care retirement communities. In fact, during the 1990s, the number of people living in nursing homes in the United States declined although the number of people over age seventy-five rose. About 6 million older people who need assistance, including many with complex medical conditions, get help at home. Laws, regulations, and court decisions increasingly ensure the rights of people with disabilities to live in noninstitutional environments, with maximum control over the services they use.
Agis 02/27
- Antibiotic Use High Among Nursing Home Patients With Advanced Dementia
-
The extensive antibiotic use demonstrated in this study is concerning given the lack of demonstrable benefits and the potential burdens of treatment in this terminally ill population for whom the goal of care is often palliation," ..."Moreover, we believe that the widespread use of antibiotics in advanced dementia may pose a potential public health risk through the emergence of antibiotic resistance."
Science Daily 02/27
- Senior housing feels real estate crisis -
Elderly can't sell homes; new complex loses deals...Loudon's new elderly apartment complex has attracted plenty of interest from potential tenants, but the grim real estate market is keeping some seniors from moving in.
Concord Monitor 02/27
- Time off mulled for elder care -
Norwegians get generous amounts of fully paid leave when they have children and when they need to take care of sick children. Now there's a move afoot to extend paid leave to workers who also need to take care of ailing and elderly parents...
After Posten 02/27
- Robot dogs in nursing homes? Sony a matter of time -
Researchers at St. Louis University have concluded that robotic dogs are just as good as real dogs in alleviating loneliness among elderly folks in nursing homes...The researchers compared how residents of nursing homes interacted with Sparky, a living, medium-sized mutt, and Aibo, a robot dog manufactured by Sony.
Weblogs 02/26
- Nursing homes to face strict new rules on standards -
The rules include mandatory levels of training for staff, individual care plans for all residents, minimum bedroom sizes and limits on the number of patients per ward.
Belfast Telegraph 02/26
- Not a nursing home, but a nurturing home -
The people who live here aren't called residents or patients, but "elders." Those who care for them are not nurse's assistants or aides; each is called a shahbaz, a Persian word that means "royal falcon."
Baltimore Sun 02/26
- A Bill Aims for Nursing Home Reform -
The byzantine world of the corporate nursing home industry may soon become a whole lot clearer. A controversial new proposal by Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley and Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl seeks to force nursing homes to provide more information about ownership and accountability...If it passes, the legislation will trigger the largest reform of nursing home care in 21 years. "More transparency, enforcement, and staff training are all needed...
US News 02/25
- California's Largest Healthcare Union, Launches Historic Statewide Bargaining Campaign for 75,000 Hospital and Nursing Home Workers in nearly 200 facilities -
An aging population, the development of new technologies that demand a highly-trained workforce, competition between providers... coupled with the need for increased access... provide the backdrop for this historic undertaking by the nation's oldest health care union.
Street Sider 02/21
- Reform of elderly care 'should be priorty' -
A poll for the Resolution Foundation, which campaigns on behalf of low earners, suggests almost three quarters of people view elderly care as equal to or more important than improving hospitals, with an even larger proportion regarding the issue as just as crucial as improving dental services or extending GP opening hours.
Guardian 02/21
- Managing Eldercare and the Workplace -
Elder Care: A Six Step Guide to Balancing Work and Family 2nd Edition meets the needs of caregivers looking to balance work and family, employers wanting to avoid productivity losses, and healthcare professionals supporting families.
Pr-Inside 02/21
- Prof. to study nursing home quality -
Feng said, as he researched, he discovered a large amount of literature on "the quality of care in nursing homes."
But, he said, "there's very little literature on the quality of life - if residents feel at home and if they feel comfortable."
Brown Daily Herald 02/21
- Nursing homes want more funding for seniors -
The nursing home industry is calling on the Department of Public Welfare to sharply increase Medical Assistance payments for low-income senior citizens who live in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities.
Post Gazette 02/21
- Reform of elderly care 'should be priorty' -
Reforming care for the elderly should be as great a political priority as the NHS most people now believe, according to a new survey. New figures forecast care costs doubling over the next 20 years to an average of £223,476 for a four-year stay in a home.
Guardian 02/20
- Bank of Ireland to target nursing homes with €75m -
Investment in nursing homes has attracted the interest of a wide variety of players, including some big names like bloodstock supremo John Magnier, although principally through major operators in the UK market.
Independent 02/20
- Many Sex Offenders Live In Nursing Homes -
As people age, they often find themselves needing care from others -- care that people convicted of serious, sexual crimes also need.
WPTZ 02/20
- Elderly housing program lauded -
A year after a unique program to offer supportive housing services to seniors began at two Chicopee Housing Authority complexes, officials say it is going well and reaching the goal of keeping elders independent and out of nursing homes.
Mass Live 02/19
- Depression a key problem at North Central Wash. nursing homes -
North Central Washington nursing home residents are more likely to show signs of depression or anxiety than their counterparts throughout the rest of the country, a federal rating of nursing home care shows.
Seattle Pi 02/19
- Over 4,000 Bad Nursing Homes in the US -
CMS created the Special Focus Facility (SFF) Initiative to monitor Nursing Homes with irregular compliance histories...
- Country housing for elder citizens -
I’d like to stop renting, but don’t want to live in a retirement home, condo or trailer park.
Can I get financing to purchase land in a rural area, then get additional funding to build a home on the property?
Boston Herald 02/19
- Union sets up information pickets at nursing homes -
The union representatives from Miramichi Lodge said residents here enjoy good conditions compared to other homes in the province thanks to extra funding provided by the City of Pembroke and Renfrew County, however, they added that residents still aren't receiving 3.5 hours of nursing care per day. That is the figure CUPE feels would ease stress on staff and benefit residents.
Daily Observer 02/15
- Nursing homes want $513M for more staff, supplies -
Residents in local nursing homes are getting caught in a squeeze as government funding wrestles with increasing health costs, according to local nursing homes. The long-term care facilities are banding together to beg the government for more staff and supplies.
Bradford Expositor 02/15
- Long-term Care in Nursing Homes -
An overhaul of Tennessee's state services to the elderly and disabled may not be in the too distant future.
Injury Board 02/15
- Care homes: restraint of elderly people is rife -
At what point does careful consideration for the safety of someone in your care cross the line and become abuse? For people working in residential care with older people this can be an everyday issue.
Community Care 02/14
- Adult day care fills a niche -
It's a scene played out every day at more than 3,500 day-care centers across the U.S., as baby boomers and others seek quality care for frail parents unable to stay at home alone.
Star-Telegram 02/14
- Educate public about nursing homes -
Recent stories and editorials on long-term care require a response. The public fears bad care. Nursing homes fear unfair inspections. Fear is a reckless driver. Quality is inadequately defined. The needs of residents and caregivers are often lost.
Des Moines Register 02/14
- Worst US Nursing Homes Listed -
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has built upon historic action it took last November by making public more names of underperforming nursing homes across the country.
Science Daily 02/14
- Nursing homes seek financial cure -
Seniors living in nursing homes aren't receiving the type of care they need because of funding shortages from the province, say administrators running the facilities.
Nursing home managers across Ontario are speaking out about shortages in staffing and supplies in an effort to get the attention of the province, which funds the majority of long-term care costs.
The Whig 02/12
- Half of California's Nursing Homes Don't Meet Federal Standards -
A new government report says nearly half of all nursing homes in California don't meet federal standards for preventing surgical infections or bedsores. 23 nursing homes in San Diego County fall short. KPBS reporter Kenny Goldberg has the story
KPBS 02/12
- Legislators study nursing home lawsuit reforms -
Some members of the state House Judiciary Committee say they are torn about a bill that would limit the liability of nursing homes in abuse and neglect lawsuits.
Times Free Press 02/12
- Matron given nursing home ban over horseplay -
A SENIOR nurse was banned from working in nursing homes for two years yesterday after she admitted leaving patients alone while she had water fights with other nursing home staff.
Ic Network 02/12
- Staying home long term -
Tennessee’s long-term care system is undergoing reform that state officials hope will give better — and cheaper — options to the state’s elderly and disabled population.
Times Free Press 02/11
- Eldercare Specialists Ask Congress to Support New Technologies -
Having grown up with technology, they are looking for technological innovations to help them in their advancing years. Eldercare specialists recently brought some of those innovations to Capitol Hill in a quest for Congressional support.
Voa News 02/11
- Homes 'help elderly contact prostitutes' -
Many Danish nursing homes do not shy away from helping residents contact prostitutes, the Politiken newspaper reported. The newspaper quoted a recent survey conducted by the Danish Nurses Organization that suggested the practice was not uncommon.
The Age 02/11
- Elderly and disabled could move soon under Money Follows the Person -
More than a year after Connecticut received a multimillion dollar federal grant, a select number of elderly and disabled residents are expected to move out of institutions and into homes starting in May.
Last January, Connecticut was awarded $24.2 million to fund a pilot program called Money Follows the Person. The idea is to let people who need long-term care choose where they want to live, in a nursing home or other facility or with family and friends, and receive equal Medicaid funding with either option.
Rep-Am 02/11
- Over 4,000 Nursing Homes Identified as Subtandard -
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) today named 4,037 nursing homes whose pressure sore and/or restraint rates it says have targeted them for improvement. Although CMS officials maintain these are "not the worst nursing
Injury Board 02/08
- Elder Care Expert Shows Boomers How to Relieve Caregiver Stress -
If you have concerns about your parent's health and well being that you have not yet voiced, Valentine's Day can be the perfect day to bring them up...
Media Wire 02/08
- In-home help for elderly -
The state receives $1.2 billion in Medicaid money for elder care. Nearly all of it — about $940 million — is spent in nursing homes.
The Leaf Chronicle 02/08
- HSE Documents Confirm Abuse Of Elderly Patients In Irish Nursing Homes -
Instances where the elderly inmates were assaulted, restrained, over-sedated and left to wander out of homes have come to light during the probes that took place between 2005 and 2006.
Med India 02/08
- In-home help for elderly -
The state receives $1.2 billion in Medicaid money for elder care. Nearly all of it — about $940 million — is spent in nursing homes.
The Leaf Chronicle 02/05
- Medicare Cuts in Bush Budget 'Shortsighted, Far Off the Mark' in Protecting Seniors' Long Term Care Needs -
The Alliance for Quality
Nursing Home Care characterized the Bush Administration's FY 2009 budget
blueprint released today as "far off the mark," and said if implemented,
the proposal would have serious and lasting negative repercussions on
efforts to maintain the economic stability crucial to sustained quality
improvement in nursing home care for 1.5 million frail, elderly and
disabled citizens.
PRNews Wire 02/05
- Get Out Of Wheelchairs -
In North Carolina, for example, more than 24,000 nursing home residents — about two-thirds of the total population — use wheelchairs as their main means of getting around, according federal statistics. And that number has risen steadily this decade, as sicker patients have entered nursing homes.
Courant 02/05
- Elderly housing program lauded -
A year after a program to offer supportive housing services to seniors began at two Chicopee Housing Authority complexes, officials say it is going well and reaching the goal of keeping elders independent and out of nursing homes.
Republican 02/04
- Scams hit the elderly twice as hard -
The elderly and vulnerable are being targeted by an array of increasingly sophisticated scams that are ripping consumers off to the tune of £3.5bn a year, the Office of Fair Trading warned today.
Guardian 02/04
- Proposed Legislation Takes Aim At Soaring Nursing Home Liability Costs In Tennessee -
Tennessee's limitless nursing home lawsuits and resulting record verdicts have driven the liability cost per bed here to second highest in the nation, studies show.
Medical News Today 02/04
- 'HSE not reporting investigations into nursing homes'-
The Irish Independent reports this morning that a number of serious incidents have been investigated, and in a number of cases complaints have been upheld.
Belfast Telegraphy 02/02
- 'Name and shame abusive nursing homes'-
"They are only inspected twice a year and if an incident happens the day after the inspection, there are no more checks until six months later," said Mr Timmins. "We get calls every week from family members who are worried about their relatives and they want to know what to do.
"These people are very concerned about their
relatives.
Independent National News 02/02
- Secret files reveal new nursing home hell -
THE abuse of elderly and vulnerable patients is continuing in Irish nursing homes -- but the Health Service Executive will not tell the public where.
Independent National News 02/02