Emergency room pressures

Every time there is a new announcement to replace or add LTC beds we should be told the ratio of beds to 1,000 seniors 75+ .This is public money which could be better spent building up community options ( I see that some money is going to Home Care)to promote care nearer the patients.......I cannot tell from this article if , in population terms, this is bringing Waterloo up to the plimsol line of other areas or not. Even if it isn't surely this would be an ideal opportunity to try something else? Responding to the insatiable appetite of emergency rooms with more LTC beds is short sighted in my opinion and not in the best interest of the system or the patient.

Funding gives hope of new long-term beds

risk of dementia in stroke

In this prospective study pre-stroke cognitive impairment was a significant risk factor for dementia (OR 12.4 95% CI 1.5-99)

Effect of a clinical stroke on the risk of dementia in a prospective cohort

Better than statins......

at last some good news, what other drug is this effective against heart disease.......?

Hazard ratio for 1-2 drinks a day = 0.38
p=0.04
nearly 9,000 subjects over 16 years
89 of the 106 MIs occured in men who abstained from alcohol or drank less than one drink a day.

Two Drinks Called Potent Addition to Heart-Healthy Lifestyle

good news for JAMDA

The Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (JAMDA), Official Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, published by Elsevier, has been accepted by Thomson Scientific (formerly ISI), for inclusion in the Science Citation Index ExpandedTM and Current Contents®/Clinical Medicine databases. JAMDA (published 9 times a year) offers coverage of the issues most important to healthcare professionals providing long-term care.

Journal of the American Medical Directors Association accepted into prestigious ISI Index

advocacy in Canada

CARP , the Canadian equivalent of AARP, is wading into the fray.....

Seniors group launches campaign to press politicians for health care reform

Nova Scotia

Accomodation charges going up by a dollar in Nova Scotia to $75.50. The 4,000 beds cost the government $326.0 million. Calgary Health Region , of comparable size, spent $165 million in 2005 on Continuing Care services. Accomodation charges are set by the province in Alberta and range from $42 to $48 a day.

Long term care fees up $1 a day

'departure lounges'

The UK's charismatic Tory leader Mr Cameron's description of some care homes in an address to Age Concern today. Interestingly he distances himself from the Scottish policy on 'free' LTC but talks only in vague terms on his future government's policy on LTC. A partnership between the individual and government and the removal of any asset depleting policies.


David Cameron speech: Our aging population

LTC in Alberta : perspective from CUPE

CUPE publishes its survey of staff working in LTC. Results point to staffing and care issues which have not improved since the Auditor General's report. A particularly disturbing finding was that 49% of respondents felt that there was not enough time to meet resident's needs.


Union survey paints a bleak picture of seniors' care

Crisis in seniors' care (the survey)

LTC vs HC in Vermont

An interesting study from Vermont in 2002 found that residential LTC cost $120 a day in comparison to Home Care ( $80 a day). Since last year a new programme has paid caregivers $10 an hour up to 30 hours a week to provide care in the home. There is now 155 fewer LTC beds and 123 more Home Care clients than last year. Not sure this would have the same success in a centrally controlled system but it does recognize that resource that has no line ie the caregiver.


Vermont Program Allows Elderly Residents To Receive Home Health Care

NPs in LTC

Some work being done in Ontario


Examining The Nurse Practitioner Role in Long-Term Care: Evaluation of a Pilot Project in Canada

transatlantic LTC review from CEPS

From the Centre for European Studies an interesting review of LTC and spending.

Analysis: Cross atlantic exchange to advance long-term care

Ed Stelmach

A 2% limit on property tax for seniors and more trained staff for LTC. Tory leadership hopeful Ed Stelmach

Seniors a priority

geriatrics , the specialty

Apparently the third most popular specialty in the UK.

To manage not neccessarily to cure, this is geriatrics and LTC



Geriatrics Lags in Age of High-Tech Medicine

estrogen and emotion

A fascinating study presented at Neuroscience 2006 yesterday that suggests that older women on hormonal replacement have a greater emotional reaction to negative events. The amygdala is a site for estrogen activity and it is suggested that replacement sustains emotional reactivity in this area of the brain. Unfortunately ( or fortunately) there is no improved memory for such events.


Women on hormone therapy regain emotion response

flesh-eating outbreak

I guess it's possible......

Flesh-eating bacteria kills three in NZ

'bed blockers'

The use of offensive language in our nation's capital.........19% usage in Ottawa , here in Calgary more like 5%.

Senior 'bed blockers' crowding hospitals

atypical antipsychotics

More evidence.......

Drugs to Curb Agitation Are Said to Be Ineffective for Alzheimer’s

Abuse

Caught on camera in Quebec

Woman sues long-term care facility

LTC in Ireland: who is going to pay?

Isn't it time Ireland led the way on elder care?.....it can certainly afford to.

Nursing home Bill to limit grants for older people

end game

These Dutch researchers find that cachexia/dehydration (35%) is the most common final pathway in end stage dementia in the group surviving to total dependance. Cardiovascular ( 20.9%) and pulmonary complications (20.1%) were the next most common.

The natural endpoint of dementia: death from cachexia or dehydration following palliative care?

Robert and Rosalie Kane

Scholars in LTC


Experts on aging to address long-term care Oct. 24 at WUSTL's School of Social Work

decreased demand for LTC

In one area of the US there has been a decline in skilled nursing facility beds by 450 since 2003. The county executive for Albany county is proposing a 'single point of entry' model called 'long term care point of entry' to provide services to those individuals who wish to remain at home..sound familiar?

Breslin proposal taps care options

LTC centre delayed

A proposed LTC centre for High River, Alberta has been deferred due to high labour and construction costs. The centre is now due to open 2009. There is a planned increase in LTC beds as they move from the hospital with the addition of supportive living units.

Long-term care facility on hold
High labour and construction costs

Not guilty plea

The owners of St Rita's nursing home in the St Bernard Parish of New Orleans, Salvador and Mabel Mangano, pleaded not guilty to charges of negligent homicide in the deaths of 35 residents last year after the levees broke and flooded their home in 20 minutes.


Nursing home owners say not guilty in storm deaths

multivitamins and chronic disease

This conference review article concludes “Evidence is insufficient to prove the presence or absence of benefits from use of multivitamin and mineral supplements to prevent cancer and chronic disease.” The reviewers felt that the studies were not rigourous enough for them to make a clear statement of benefit or harm. Who is going to tell the 50% of American adults that take dietary supplements?

National Institutes of Health State-of-the-Science Conference Statement: Multivitamin/Mineral Supplements and Chronic Disease Prevention

http://www.ahrq.gov/downloads/pub/evidence/pdf/multivit/multivit.pdf

FTD video

Video taken at the 2005 Frontotemporal Dementia Caregiver Conference on November 11, 2005 in Philadelphia, PA. The speaker for this segment ... all » was Valerie T. Cotter, M.S.N., C.R.N.P., F.A.A.N.P., on the topic of Staging & Long Term Care
Frontotemporal Dementia - Staging & Long Term Care (Valerie Cotter)

death by hot water bottle

9%
Nursing home patient died from hot water bottle burns, inquest told

LTC announcements in Ontario

George Smitherman ( Minister of Health in Ontario) will announce the Long Term Care Homes Act 2006 today. This will include whistle blower protection, a resident's bill of rights, regulations limiting the use of temporary staff, 24 hour a day registered nursing care, more training and education for staff.


Nursing homes face tougher rules

LTC in Kingston

more money for LTC and Home Care in Kingston

McGuinty Government Improving Access To Long-Term Care Services In Kingston