A force to be reckoned with…and I mean Pat, not the dementia. Kudo’s to Pat Summitt for coming forward and sharing her story. Anyone that has dementia or has been involved with those suffering from this diagnosis is aware of the changes it brings to your life and that of your family. However, strength can be garnered by the support of family and friends as Coach Summitt and her team will show us this season…
Cars are already being programmed to parallel park, sense slippery road conditions and alert drivers to impending collisions. Soon they’ll be helping diabetics monitor their blood glucose levels, detect unhealthy air conditions and offer wellness advice.
That’s the plan from the Ford Motor Company, which is working with healthcare companies WellDoc, Medtronic and SDI Health to include health and wellness in-car connectivity solutions on the Ford SYNC platform. The platform makes use of AppLink to allow drivers to access smartphone apps by voice control.
With studies showing that Americans spend more than 500 million “commuter hours” per week in their automobiles, the concept of providing access to information while they’re driving or stuck in traffic is certainly attractive.
“Ford SYNC is well known in the industry and with consumers as a successful in-car infotainment system, but we want to broaden the paradigm, transforming SYNC into a tool that can improve people’s lives as well as the driving experience,” said Paul Mascarenas, chief technology and vice president of Ford Research and Innovation.
Ford is joining with WellDoc, a Baltimore-based developer of chronic disease management solutions, to integrate WellDoc’s DiabetesManager System in the SYNC platform to help people with type 2 diabetes manage their disease while in their car. The integration is designed to allow diabetics to enter data such as medications, exercise and diet information through speech-to-text interaction while in their vehicle, then gain access to WellDoc’s clinical decision support tools.
“WellDoc was founded on the concept of helping people manage their chronic disease with the help of everyday personal tools that are easy to use and accessible on a regular basis,” said Anand K. Lyer, WellDoc’s president and chief operating officer. “People with diabetes must adhere to a strict regimen to manage their disease. Through our research with Ford, we’ve created a unique in-vehicle environment that supports those with diabetes so they can be continuously connected to the tools that help them maintain their daily routines without interruption.”
Read More Here
I’m in the kitchen starting the coffee when Mom comes in. “What can I do to help?” she asks before she even clears the door.
It is very important to Mom to feel useful. She doesn’t like others doing things for her. I try to make sure there is always a job she is able to do. Sometimes that is difficult, but this morning I am prepared.
“There’s Windex and paper towels on the table there,” I say. “Can you just wipe the table off for me?” She cleaned it last night, but she won’t remember that.
“K.O., I’ll do it!” she says, tearing off several paper towels with alacrity. “Is this the Windex?” She motions toward the blue spray bottle.
I turn from the coffeemaker. “Yep, that’s it.”
But before she can start, Mom sits abruptly in the large kitchen armchair, wincing. “Oooh,” she murmurs, rubbing her legs, the paper towels still in one hand.
Mom does not show pain often, so I’m alarmed. “What?”
“Well, it’s just …” She pulls both soft cotton pant legs up to her thighs. Her lower legs are puffy above her tight ankle socks and around her knees.
Thanks to the NY Post Blog for this article!
There are several bills currently in Congress that will impact Medicare and senior service providers:
The first is a reintroduced initiative to forgive student loans for those medical professionals who agree to service seniors in underserved areas.
The second is a bill which would modify the new rule requiring a face to face doctor visit for ordering Medicare home health nursing services, by expanding the rule to allow nurse practitioners to order the visits as well.
Third, patients, families, and facilities are negatively impacted by the arcane rule requiring a three day stay in the hospital in order for Medicare to pay for the skilled nursing facility charges. There is a bill before Congress that would change this requirement to include “observation” time.
Thanks to Robin Smith Consulting for these valuable updates
Do you remember your parents telling you to stand up straight, don’t slouch at the dinner table, balance a book on your head while walking? Did they also send you out to play at the first sign of light with a reminder to get yourself home by dinner? If so, you, like many in the Baby Boomer group is no stranger to realizing now why that advice was important and why we need to continue to impart the same to our children and grandchildren. Fitness and good posture are preventative measures to falling.
Every day hundreds of seniors over the age of 65 fall down and cannot get themselves up. They end up with serious or at least temporary injuries from these falls.
The main reason seniors fall is a loss of balance, changes and shifts in the body’s center of gravity and the loss of bone density and muscles happening at the same time make these ‘changes’ ones that need our full attention.
Falls can and do decrease mobility and many times cause seniors to reduce their activity. They may become less independent and less socially active. In essence, the fall changes their lifestyle. Compounding the problem is the fact that many seniors do not ‘share their fall’ with their doctor or family members because they fear losing their independence. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happens, because they stifle the chance for rehabilitative care and/or supportive preventive measures. So in the long run they actually hasten the loss of their independence.
Simply stated it is the physical and mental supportive system and care services provided to those persons wishing to remain in their homes or assisted living apartments by a caregiver, caregiving agency, and/or assisted living environment when they can no longer perform (without help) the day-to-day activities of everyday living.
Today, many persons are opting for home care, and or home care assistance in assisted living environments as outpatient care has become the ‘norm’ for hospitals and insurance companies. Home care is appealing to many of us as we most often feel that our home is an extension of ourselves. Receiving ‘in-home-health-care’ can be a great benefit to those recovering from surgery or other medical procedures that can limit their ability to easily take care of themselves, or maybe they just require a little extra help managing things as they grow older or maybe they are learning to live with a medical condition or disability. Whatever the scenario, I urge you to review and consider the questions below as this ‘issue’ nears closer to you and yours.
Heat waves are upon us and summer has yet to be officially announced so be sure to alert the seniors around you (as well as others) to stay hydrated! Dehydration is dangerous and specifically more so in the summer months when seniors are most vulnerable. Seniors often forget to drink enough fluids and now when the temperatures are soaring it is even more crucial to their good health to be well hydrated…
Dehydration impacts our senior population frequently because
· Those with dementia often ignore the body’s cue for thirst
· Chronic illness, such as diabetes, and taking certain medications are risk factors.
· Even those seniors in good health tend to underestimate how much water they need
· Seniors may be weak and/or tired and may not have the energy to get up and get a glass of water.
· Seniors many times suffer from incontinence and hence limit their water intake to prevent ‘accidents’
Dehydration may cause:
· Confusion, fatigue, fainting, and unconsciousness.
· Kidney, bladder and bowel problems
· Muscle cramping
· (Depending on illnesses and medications being taken) toxin build up
To stay hydrated in it is best to:
· Limit caffeine and alcohol consumption
· Encourage seniors (and others) to keep a glass or bottle of water handy
· Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, as they are high in water content.
Several weeks ago I wrote a column in relation to some proposed changes to Healthcare in America and my thoughts regarding those changes. Low and behold others must have felt the same. I think we should all take another long hard look at this ‘healthcare proposal’ of Paul Ryan’s and all others that are presented and then we must be prepared to voice our approval or dislike – loudly!
I have said it before, the Boomers have a strong influence and lately with the mortgage fraud and financial manipulation of securitized investments, many of our contemporaries have seen their retirement funds dwindled to nothing or near to nothing. On top of all that some government leaders, such as Ryan, were thinking of causing those very same Boomer-Seniors to have less health support as they age.
Thanks to Robin Smith for this informative article
While the majority of the healthcare delivery system is plagued by runaway costs and obtuse and arcane billing practices, consumers often overlook aspects of their benefits that can actually save money, and possibly improve their health. All Medicare Prescription Drug Plans (aka “Part D”), include underutilized features that seniors who take multiple medications may want to utilize. The first is medication management provided by the plan at no additional cost to the client. Details on this service, as practiced by individual plans, are in the membership booklet, or can be explained by calling customer service. Secondly, if the senior has a drug prescribed by the doctor which is not in (or has been removed from) the plan’s formulary, the senior does have avenues available to get the plan to cover the drug. Called “step therapy,” the patient’s doctor can write a letter to the plan, stating the reasons why the patient must receive the drug. Reasons can include things like: all other drugs for the condition have been tried and failed, interaction with other drugs the client is taking, etc. Once again, the membership book outlines how this benefit may be accessed.
Patients should always discuss whether or not they can afford the drug the doctor has prescribed, as cost is one of the main drivers of medication non-compliance. 78% of the drugs prescribed in the USA are now generics, although there is recent evidence that Big Pharma is fighting back by slowing the manufacturing of generics to create shortages. For seniors on multiple medications, consultations with pharmacists are free of charge. To prepare for a pharmacist consult, the FDA has a list of things the senior should bring. Seniors should always include non-prescription drugs on their lists, as drugs like Tylenol PM, with an active ingredient of Benadryl, can have very bad side effects when taken by the elderly.
When Medicare Open Enrollment comes around again, seniors can bring their medication list to Walgreens or CVS to determine the best PDP plan for them for 2012, free of charge
Social media is ‘booming’ in all markets so when I hear talk about social media use by “seniors”, I would ask what is a ‘senior’. It used to be that people aged 65 and older were automatically classified as seniors because that was the age at which most people retired. Today, not all people over age 65 want to be called seniors…heck most of us cringe when we receive the AARP card at 50! (anyway I did)
According to a Pew Research Center article Older Adults and Social Media, social networking use among people age 50 and older nearly doubled in the last year, up to 42% in 2010.
The point to this article is that recently someone said (to me) that persons in their 50’s (seniors) are not very tech savvy. I was floored, first because I fell into that age category and secondly because I do not think of myself as a senior.
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