ELF News Archives

October 2007

- Ming the mollusc holds secret to long life -

This discovery is not just a curiosity - it is a chance to discover how it remains fit and healthy for hundreds of years.”

Times On Line 10/30

- Lawmakers To Investigate Private Equity Companies That Own Nursing Homes -

...private equity companies "often cut expenses and staff, sometimes below minimum legal requirements, to increase their profit" and use "complicated corporate structures to avoid liability when residents suffered from neglect,"

Kaiser 10/30

- Scouting out retirement? The old motto holds -

Retirement planning is about gathering information on ways to spend the rest of your life, and then acting upon it. Getting a jump-start on planning

Newsday 10/30

- For Profit v. Non Profit Nursing Homes - does it matter? -

I was at a social function last week when a friend asked "How many cases do you have against non profit nursing homes?" after a moment of reflection, I realized we don't have a single case against a non profit nursing home. Now, does that really say anything about the level of care at non-profit nursing homes, or is neglect more frequent at for profit facilities?

Injury Board 10/25

- INHO: Older people at risk from tight budget -

The Irish Nursing Homes Association has appealed to the government not to let older people become the main casualty of a tight budget.

Belfast Telegraph 10/25

- Just Work: The Golden Years? -

People say that you should judge a society by how it cares for its young and old. These days, this country isn't doing very well at either. The substandard care available to our aging parents and grandparents is particularly shameful. The golden years have become bleak years for too many older adults who spend their last days in poorly managed nursing homes. In the worst cases--like my Mom's--the wrong nursing home can even be deadly.

Huffington Post 10/25

- Poor hospital care of nursing home residents -

A new report has painted an appalling picture of the way that elderly people are treated in Australia's hospital system. Hundreds of nursing homes were surveyed in the report, and a majority reported multiple cases of their residents being mistreated while in hospital.

ABC 10/24

- Aged care study exposes poor care -

Aged patients are often discharged from hospital malnourished and with bed sores, a national survey of 370 nursing homes found.

SMH 10/24

- Carlyle to pay $6.3 billion for nursing homes -

In one of the largest purchases in the industry, the Carlyle Group, a private investment group, plans to spend $6.3 billion next week to buy a nursing home chain that has 31 Michigan facilities.

FREEP 10/24

- On Fixing Social Security -

Social Security has another budget-busting factor, she says: an increase in payments to retirees based on today's workers' increased productivity. This increase should be dropped, she says. So, what Fred Thompson really meant to say was this: "Stiff the geezers. Change the rules again. Take away the promised benefits." He just wasn't as clear as he might have been.

Lew Rockwell 10/20

- Suffering an unhealthy business model -

Shareholders in nursing home provider Manor Care will make an important decision today. They'll vote on the proposed sale of the company to private equity's Carlyle Group. Among the critics of this $6 billion deal is a union of health care workers. From Ohio Public Radio, Karen Kasler reports.

Marketplace 10/17

- Flexible Housing for Changing Needs of Elderly -

Developing elder housing of any type is challenging in populous areas of New York, industry specialists say. Land costs and property taxes are high, and many neighborhoods are worried that allowing greater density will increase traffic. “Most senior housing experts would identify New York as the single most underserved market in the United States...

NYTimes 10/17

- Reforms pushed in elderly care -

State lawmakers are discussing ways to better oversee personal care homes nearly a year after a 69-year-old Alzheimer's patient died of undiagnosed breast cancer at a Simpson facility.

Times Tribune 10/17

- Care homes 'charge wealthy residents more' -

Pensioners paying for their own care are being charged more than double the amount local councils pay for places in some areas...

Telegraph 10/17

- First boomer applies for Social Security -

An estimated 10,000 people a day will become eligible for Social Security benefits over the next two decades... .

Yahoo News 10/15

- Family Leave for caregiving -

Not all caregivers are able to provide care for a family member on a full time basis. Many remain employed as they continue their new role. But companies are required by law to provide a certain amount of time for those employees who are caregivers. .

KHON 10/12

- Nursing homes can bloom with beauty, resilience -

The other reason I lingered in front of the flowers: I never wanted to go inside. Didn’t want to inhale the air with its whiffs of cafeteria food, disinfectant and urine. Didn’t want to walk past the woman who blocked the corridor with her wheelchair and said, “Help me!” though she could never tell me what she needed. .

Kansas City 10/12

- UCSF nursing school launches project to reform nursing homes -

The UCSF School of Nursing has launched a demonstration project to design and test nursing interventions to improve the quality of care in California nursing homes.

UCSF News 10/12

- An industry in financial crisis: State nursing homes need you -

I am a Licensed Practical Nurse who has worked in long-term care for my entire career. I have cared for hundreds if not thousands of nursing home residents, perhaps some of them are or were loved ones of yours. While the work is at times very challenging, the rewards of providing the services and care that I do are immeasurable.

FDL Reporter 10/10

- Census Bureau Nursing Home Data 'Misleading -

Recent data from the Census Bureau that indicated a decrease in the percentage of elderly U.S. residents who live in nursing homes provide a "highly misleading picture of nursing home care in America today...According to the data, 7.4% of residents ages 75 and older lived in nursing homes in 2006, compared with 8.1% in 2000 and 10.2% in 1990

Kaisernet 10/10

- Nursing Homes: More Profit and Less Nursing -

The New York Times analyzed records collected for Medicare and Medicaid Services and revealed that at 60% of nursing homes bought by large private equity groups in 2000 to 2006 have cut staffing and do not have the required amount of registered nurses.

Injury Board 10/08

- U.S. Medicare Battle Heats Up Again -

While saying that their only concern was for older people the health insurance companies and nursing homes lined up against doctors and the AARP, all while failing to mention their own financial interests.

All Headline News 10/08

- Elder care: How a local family juggles its work and home life to care for a loved one -

Vestal residents Leann Lesperance and her husband, Drew Deskur, have learned a lot about elder care since Charlotte Brown, Leann's 93-year-old grandmother, began living with them earlier this year.

Press Connects 10/08

- Skilled Nursing Homes is not for All Seniors -

a number of elderly folk who are in skilled nursing home facilities who only need help with their ADLs, due to the lack of experience and the knowledge, they are unaware of the options that are accessible to them. Skilled nursing homes supply solutions for patients with complicated medical issues.

Pr-GB 10/08

- Easy retirement unlikely for today's elderly -

The U.S. Census Bureau just released its annual data on social and economic and housing characteristics for the nation. One of the critical topics deals with older workers. "Nationally, nearly one in four people between the ages of 65 and 74 (23.2 percent) were in the labor force (either working or looking for work) in 2006, an increase from 19.6 percent in 2000."

Madison 10/03

- Region not ready for boom in boomers -

Northern Kentucky, like most communities around the state and nation, needs to take a hard look at housing, transportation, health issues, jobs for older workers and the little things that allow an aging population to remain independent for as long as possible...

KY Post 10/03

- Use care when choosing a skilled nursing facility -

Thinking about turning the care of an elderly or disabled relative over to a skilled nursing facility? Do your homework and choose carefully. Slick brochures showing smiling senior faces do not tell the whole story. And Texas, which has more than a 1,000 nursing homes, ranks among the worst states on several quality measures – including restraint use, staffing and housekeeping – according to figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Dallas News 10/03

- Can Profits and Nursing Homes Mix? -

We are facing a quagmire: the need for nursing home care in a system that compromises its goal of offering quality care in order to enhance profits. The government must redirect policy to meet increasing demands to provide accessible and safe long-term care.

NY Times 10/02

- Profit can distort motives -

As for-profit businesses, their natural organizational purpose and the focus of their decisionmaking is to provide income and profits for their owners.

SP Times 10/02

- Nonprofit is best approach for nursing homes -

"As investors buy nursing homes, care takes a fall" clearly articulates how the most unscrupulous providers of nursing home care attempt to maintain their profit margins, at the purported result of diminished care and increased deaths of the most vulnerable among us. Major staffing cutbacks of direct caregivers are pathetic.

Herald Times 10/02

- Compassion should be first priority for nursing homes -

I worked as a nursing assistant 27 years, so I know about the work. No two days are the same when you are working with human beings. The work is not like factory work or assembly line.

Chillicot the Gazette 10/02

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