Continuing Care in Alberta : announcements

Haven't posted anything in a while but I thought this was worth a look

Province increases support to help aging seniors live at home

Aging in the Right Place: Alberta's continuing care strategy (PDF)

capacity problems eased in Halifax

A year ago 150 waiting in hospital for LTC , 80 new beds later, 75 remain .........simple math, right?

Nursing home beds a help

"Aging at Home"

Eastern Ontario's plans
Home-care supports for one senior living at home cost $6,787 annually, a fraction of the $33,489 annual cost of a long-term care bed.
Today's Ottawa Sun

Aging at home cure to hospital woes: Top doc

jazz

now this is the sign of a civilized institution

Volunteers perform jazz concert for medically complex patients
which reminds me of George Melly

LTC in the UK

commentary on the state of LTC in the NHS as the government prepares another review.

Long-term care must change for the better

Irish update

Bill for private nursing home care soars to €1,300 per week

antipsychotics and pneumonia

from JAGS

an OR of 1.6 for pneumonia found in elderly patients on antipsychotics further supporting the case of risk. Worse with antipsychotics and in the first few weeks of initiation

Antipsychotic Drug Use and Risk of Pneumonia in Elderly People

antibiotic use in advanced dementia

in this study , the mean number of antibiotic courses was 4
the number of antibiotic courses was seven times higher in the last 2 weeks of life compared with the previous 2 months

Antibiotic Use ‘Extensive’ in Advanced Dementia

seniors centres

the evolution of seniors centres in the US

Its Appeal Slipping, the Senior Center Steps Livelier

terminal sedation

Today's BMJ, use of palliative sedation has increased in this study since 2001 to 7% of all deaths in the Netherlands while rates for euthanasia have declined

Continuous deep sedation for patients nearing death in the Netherlands: descriptive study

seniors and emergency

Comments made by AMA president on nursing home access to ED this week. This has not exactly been my experience in Calgary.

Seniors needing ER care left in nursing home beds: AMA

young disabled and LTC

a story from Australia and efforts being made to move adults out of nursing home care into the community

Disabled to be offered alternative to nursing home care

patient power

it's a start..

Seniors rally for more long-term care funding

violence on the job

violent behaviour , not abuse

Nursing home staff often too busy to report abuse

limited litigation

this sounded interesting



New Bill Aims To Limit Nursing Home Lawsuits

retirement concepts ?

Care home staff fired for taking inappropriate photos

pressure ulcers

a concerted effort


Fighting Bedsores With a Team Approach

heart failure

Geriatricians did the best in this survey of end stage heart failure and the risk of death

Doctors uncertain about approaches to care for very sick heart failure patients

LTC in Strathmore

Stelmach in health-care hot seat

Eden alternative

alive and well in CT

It's not your father's nursing home

idraparinux

is the bell ringing for INRs with this factor X inhibitor?

Comparison of idraparinux with vitamin K antagonists for prevention of thromboembolism in patients with atrial fibrillation: a randomised, open-label, non-inferiority trial

falls

prevent falls not fractures.......why not both? A Finnish article from today's BMJ

Shifting the focus in fracture prevention from osteoporosis to falls

women

a trope on women in LTC and the need for more not-for-profit facilities

Women and long-term care

influenza

it's coming

December 23, 2007 to December 29, 2007 (Week 52)

Visitors asked to avoid Swift Current Care Centre

Ontario Auditor General looks at Medication Management LTC

The usual list, safe disposal, appropriate use, standing orders, psychotropic drug use, documentation, consent, polypharmacy, medication errors etc. The recommendations are not very exciting and seem to be in keeping with the drift towards greater regulation in the province( see Bill 140).

It was interesting to note that facilities with higher rates of prescribing were more likely to prescribe psychotropics by a factor of three over facilities with lower prescribing rates.

Long-term-care Homes—Medication Management