ELF News Archives
May 2007
- Care received in chain-owned nursing homes generally not on par with care received in nonprofit and singly-owned nursing homes -
Staffing rations and quality of care are strongly related.
News Medical 05/24
- Staffing Ratios at Nursing Homes Must be Maintained -
Staffing rations and quality of care are strongly related.
North Country Gazette 05/24
- Cost of elder care hits middle class hard -
"If the dignity and independence of our aging and disabled would cost our community about $9,000 a year (for home care), while a nursing home stay is . costing the community about $40,000, shouldn't we at least consider using our tax dollars in a way that is both cost-effective and honors the wishes of our aging population...
WBIR 05/22
- Healthcare: Chain-owned nursing homes hurt by too much standardization -
Standard marketing and strategic planning practices can hurt patient care throughout a nursing home chain, but only if too much emphasis is placed on such administrative standards to the detriment of clinical and facility standards, a new study indicates.
Spirit India 05/22
- Caregivers, nursing home vie for funds -
...the program created to help people stay in their own homes and out of nursing homes is essential.
Coshocton Tribune 05/22
- State makes it difficult for elderly to stay home -
"People would rather stay in their own home, and the cost is much less," ..."You can serve a lot more people for a lot less money outside of a nursing home," ...
Tennessean 05/21
- Home nursing: Rethinking elderly care -
Everyone will be better served when nursing homes house only those who absolutely need to be there and everyone else is cared for in the comfort of their own home.
Union Leader 05/21
- Keeping house in the family takes careful planning -
No matter how long we have owned our homes, no matter how much we depended on the house as a security against bad times, no matter how lovingly we remodeled that guest bedroom, one day we die and our homes don't go with us. And what's more, there are often a number of interests vying for control of the place called home.
San Francisco Chronicle 05/21
- Cash for elder care ‘best thing that could happen’ -
Budget 2007 delivered $150 million over four years to the aged residential care sector and an additional $81.2 million to further enable older New Zealanders to maintain their independence in their homes.
Gibson Herald 05/21
- Nursing homes adjust style of care in new age -
An estimated 1.6 million Americans live in long-term care facilities...Many more are expected to move in as baby boomers age. The industry anticipates they'll want more than a place to sit.
Shreve Port Times 05/18
- Options push for staying put and staying out of nursing homes -
The various government-backed programs aimed at reducing more expensive nursing home use can be confusing to figure out.
Post Gazette 05/18
- Funds shifted to seniors at home -
A legislative committee has given the state commissioner of Health and Human Services permission to shift $3 million in Medicaid funds from nursing homes to home-based care for ailing seniors.
Sea Coast On Line 05/17
- Juggling careers, parents -
Move over, working moms and dads. More and more for U.S. companies, it's make room for working daughters and sons.
Star Tribune 05/17
- Is elder care now what child care was in the 1970s? -
With lengthening lifespans, many people will spend more years taking care of their parents than their children, according to the Council on Contemporary Families, a national research organization.
Star Tribune 05/17
- Long-term care insurance may be worth the premiums -
Many people believe the government will largely take care of them in their old age. But Medicare doesn't pay for most long-term care, and Medicaid kicks in only when there's virtually nothing left - when you have less than $4,200 in cash or assets in your name.
Home Town Glen Burnie 05/16
- Nevada Legislature Passes Elder Care Measure -
The Nevada Assembly has given final legislative approval to a bill that lets the state's elder abuse investigators get criminal history information from police agencies.
KRNV 05/16
- Health Care :: State spending keeps childless seniors out of nursing homes -
Older Americans without children have a much lower risk of being admitted to a nursing home if they live in a state that spends more on home- and community-based services...
Spirit India 05/15
- Staying power: Seniors stress importance of affordable housing -
Nancy Irwin, 73, says she can't sleep nights pondering a move to senior housing and parting with possessions like the corner cabinet her husband built.
Eagle Tribune 05/15
- Grant to help people leave nursing homes -
Kentucky will get nearly $50 million in federal money over the next five years to help people now living in nursing homes or other facilities move to the community if they choose.
Courier Journal 05/15
- State gets funds to return disabled, aging to community -
The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced $94 million would be allocated to Pennsylvania over the next five years to help it shift more institutionalized individuals and enhance the services they can receive.
Post Gazette 05/15
- State on verge of 'very ugly' elder-care crisis -
With a rapidly expanding elderly population and a shortage of nursing homes, Hawaii is facing a crunch in long-term elder care...The state has the third-lowest number of nursing facility beds per capita in the nation,
Honolulu Advertiser 05/14
- Senior housing in great demand -
"To qualify for housing your income has to be less than $41,000 year. That's combined between two people. Also another concern they are asking $40,000 down and we think that it's not normal.
SW Booster 05/14
- Nursing homes in the red -
The state's 60 public nursing homes, most of them operated by county governments, reported total deficits of $62.5 million in 2005,...That is an 87% increase from 1998, when public nursing homes lost $33.4 million.
JS Online 05/14
- Irons introduces personal care homes legislation -
Irons, a Democrat, introduced legislation that would create a new license classification called personal care homes for small residential facilities with fewer than seven-residents.
Times Daily 05/11
- Event emphasizes importance of planning in elder care decision-making -
Too many families do not take steps to plan for the care of a terminally ill relative, according to a local expert in elder care matters. As a result, many such patients endure long and painful last days in a hospital while their families and other loved ones sit by almost helplessly...
Sun Gazette 05/11
- Rising gas prices pick pockets of working poor -
After gasoline gushed past $3 a gallon last month, Coralynn Hatton, scrambling to find cash to fuel her car, faced a tough decision. She could save money by reducing the daily doses of her heart or diabetes or cholesterol pills. But which doses could she skip while causing the least harm?
Patriot News 05/10
- Omega-3 from Fish Oil May Halt Muscle Loss in Senior Citizens -
Ability to convert food into muscle proteins decreases with age
Senior Journal 05/10
- Elder-care partnerships on horizon -
Most Americans prefer to gamble that they will not be bedridden or senile in old age, so insurance to cover future long-term care needs is a tough sell.
Heald Tribune 05/09
- Nursing homes need more money -
We are on the verge of a crisis in rural Minnesota. One in three nursing homes is in serious risk of closure due to inadequate funding by Governor Pawlenty and the Legislature.
Daily Journal 05/08
- CMS Proposes Increase In Medicare Payments To Nursing Homes For 2008 -
This 3.3 percent increase would affect payment rates to nursing facilities that furnish certain skilled nursing and rehabilitation care to Medicare beneficiaries recovering from serious health problems.
Medical News Today 05/08
- Some lives valued less -
Fear of liability or fines can drive institutions to focus on safety, but when it comes to institutions that house older people in North Carolina, that incentive is often lacking.
News and Observer 05/07
- Negotiating elder care is difficult, but necessary -
More 50-something adults are worried about caring for their own aging parents. Midlifers whose elderly parents may need assistance need to create a family plan for negotiating these new demands.
Ventura County Star 05/07
- Direct-care worker ranks dwindling -
Debbie Benner knows staying in her profession makes no sense economically or physically.
She makes $8.55 an hour after 14 years as a personal support specialist for Maine-ly Elder Care in Oakland. And that wage comes with no health insurance, no paid vacation, no retirement plan, not even reimbursement for the many miles she puts on her car traveling to patients.
Kennebec Journal 05/07
- Elder Care and 'Loving Life' Meet Online -
Carol Bradley Bursack of Minding Our Elders can be heard on the "Loving Life Radio Show" discussing, with host Jane Carroll, ways to survive the physical and emotional rigors of prolonged caregiving. The show will air Tuesday, May 8, at 8 p.m. EST and again Wednesday, May 9, at 2 p.m. EST on www.byforandaboutwomen.com/lovinglife. (Also See-www.mindingourelders.com)
Expert Click 05/07
- It's time to get tough with recalcitrant nursing homes -
THE RESIDENTS of nursing homes are among the most vulnerable in our population. Families must have confidence that their loved ones are receiving adequate care. A recent federal report found federal regulation of nursing homes is lax even when facilities have a track record of mistreating patients. We urge federal legislators to push for more vigorous enforcement of regulating nursing homes.
Inside the Bay Area 05/07
- I-Team: Horrors at Nursing Homes -
A Big I-Team investigation uncovers nursing home residents at risk. Serious risk of abuse, neglect and dangerous living conditions.
The Mature Market 05/04
- Panel seeks to end elder self-neglect -
A 64-year-old Rolling Meadows man had a habit of putting himself in danger, including walking down I-355 for about three hours...A statewide elder self-neglect panel of police, social service providers, mental health clinicians and medical professionals are trying to change that.
Daily Herald 05/04
- Demographic Change is also a chance for Europe -
In co-operation with the European Commission a European congress titled "Demographic change as an opportunity – the economic potential of the elderly" will be hosted by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs..."By using their professional experience, their outside work commitment and not least their purchasing power, elderly people may significantly contribute to growth and economic development."...the 60+ generation in Germany has a purchasing power of 316 billion Euros and thus contributes nearly one third of the total private consumption.
The Mature Market 05/03
- One in Five Adults Responsible for Elder Care -
As the population of senior Americans continues to grow, adults already juggling mortgages, college funds and retirement plans are adding another responsibility: elder care. New research shows that about one in five U.S. adults today (19 percent) is responsible for managing some aspect of the finances and/or healthcare of a family member age 65 or older. And with the number of Americans age 65 and older projected to more than double to 71 million by 2030(1), this percentage of caregivers could increase in the years ahead.
PR NewsWire 05/03
- It's time to get tough with some nursing homes -
THE residents of nursing homes are among the most vulnerable in our population. Families must have confidence that their loved ones are receiving adequate care. A recent federal report found federal regulation of nursing homes is lax even when facilities have a track record of mistreating patients. We urge federal legislators to push for more vigorous enforcement of regulating nursing homes.
Inside the Bay 05/02
- Senior housing plan draws concerns -
The heat was on Tuesday as the Plan Commission spent more than an hour debating the merits and drawbacks of plans for a federally subsidized apartment complex for those 55 and older...many of his constituents, including one longtime resident in her 70s, are concerned about property values and are considering moving if the project goes forward.
NWI 05/02
- Guilt is taken away by insurance scheme -
A RESIDENTIAL care home owner has praised a States scheme that stops elderly people being forced into selling property to pay for care.
Guernsey News 05/01
- Find time to make special eyes sparkle -
The quality of life in nursing homes may be more a matter of the human heart than of politicians lacking the will to alleviate staffing shortages or Medicare cuts that plague many of our homes for the aging.
Courier Journal 05/01
- Managing Aged Care -
Is it time for another over haul of Residential Aged Care and the manner in which standards are assessed?...Alleged breeches of standards such as those we are witnessing right now in Victoria, where five people have died in tragic circumstances, and the allegations of sexual assault in nursing homes in 2006 can sadly be added to the litany of lesser sins committed within the Aged Care sector over recent years.
Online Opinion 05/01