Who Moved My Dentures? Essential Information for Boomers on Healthcare, Aging and Caregiving

Depressed or Lonely at Increased Risk of Cdiff

2013-06-19T09:00:00.000-04:00

Stay Positive My Friend!

People who are depressed or lonely are at increased risk of Clostridium difficile infection, according to University of Michigan Health System researchers. Cdiff is nasty stuff. It
caused my mother to be rehospitalized a few times. Of course getting it would make you depressed too!

In one study, they interviewed nearly 16,800 participants every other year from 1992-2006. The average age of participants was 68. The researchers linked the interview information with data from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Standard Analytical Files from a variety of healthcare settings.

The second study focused on C. diff patients in hospitals.

The results of the first study showed a relationship between depression and C. diff infection.

Those with major depression were 36% more likely to get C. diff, and those with depressive disorders were 35% more likely to become infected.
Widowed participants were 54% more likely to be diagnosed with C. diff, while people who did not live alone were 25% less likely to get the infection.

“Self-reports of feeling sad or having emotional, nervous or psychiatric problems at baseline were also associated with the later development of CDI,” the researchers wrote.
The second study showed that patients on Remeron (mirtazapine) and Prozac (fluoxetine) were twice as likely to be diagnosed with C. diff.
It remains unclear whether depression itself spurs microbial changes in the gut that are conducive to C. diff , or whether medications given to treat depression are the culprits.

Stay positive my friends.

13 Percent of Americans aged 60+ Report Growing Memory Loss (VIDEO)

2013-06-18T09:00:00.000-04:00

Elderly Parent Care Coach Helps Adult Children (VIDEO)

2013-06-17T10:00:00.000-04:00

13 Percent of Americans aged 60+ Report Growing Memory Loss

2013-06-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

Coach Pat Summitt's has become a face for Early-Onset Dementia

From ALFA -

A large survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that 13 percent of Americans aged 60 and older reported worsening memory loss or confusion in the previous year, highlighting the need to be alert for early signs of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
The CDC collected data from almost 60,000 respondents in 21 states, all of whom were aged 59 or older. Of the 13 percent who had experienced increasing confusion or memory loss, over one-third also reported functional difficulties that interfered with their work, social activities, or ability to perform household chores. 80 percent of these seniors said they required regular assistance, but only half were able to receive help from a friend or family caregiver.
Memory loss tended to negatively affect younger seniors more severely, as the highest rates of functional difficulty were in respondents in the 60 to 64 age range (44.7 percent, versus 37.8 percent of those 85 and older). “These findings suggest a need for future studies to examine the relationship of age and functional difficulties caused by increased confusion or memory loss,” said Amanda Deokar, a public health adviser at the CDC.
Also of note in the findings, only 32.6 percent of those who reported functional difficulties due to memory loss said they had discussed their symptoms with a health care provider. Deokar and her colleagues stress the need for providers to facilitate discussions with older adults about cognitive issues, as some causes for cognitive decline are reversible but must be treated as soon as possible. Early diagnosis can also provide opportunities for individuals and families to initiate financial planning, develop advance directives, enroll in clinical trials and anticipate future care needs.

I would caution not to wait until symptoms arise to initiate the planning cited above. The earlier you address these issues, the more peace of mind and security you will have.

Elderly Parent Care Coach Helps Adult Children

2013-06-14T09:00:00.000-04:00

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The following is a guest post by Rhonda Caudell RN, CCM, CGCM, Elderly Parent Care Coach who can be found at www.EndlessLegacy.com.

Following years of caring for medical needs of seniors, being a caregiver for parents and grandparents, I am now a boomer realizing my friends are totally lost and in the dark about caring for elderly parents. My friends, like many other adults are:

Overwhelmed with medical jargon overload, or with the total lack of information from medical providers.

Stressed due to important decisions needed quickly about medical and non medical care providers, safety in the home environment, money sources, transportation needs, end of life issues...the list goes on.

Distracted with their work/career due to added responsibilities of aging parents.

Guilty and angry because of added responsibilities for parents' needs, long term dysfunctional parent-child relationship, and arguments among siblings.

I have seen looks of pain, confusion, dread, and fear in the faces of many smart, educated, very capable people. The main problem:

There is no model…no pattern…no instruction booklet to follow.

To compound this main problem, one can rest assured; your kids are watching you as you care for your elderly parents!

You become their model…their pattern…their ‘how to’ instructions.

For the sake of families, and leaving a legacy worth repeating and remembering, I chose to be a more informed, less stressed, anger-free, loving caregiver of my elderly parent.

The definition of coach is simply to give instructions and advice…To be an educator, teacher, trainer, mentor, tutor…

With the proper coaching and skill sets for their specific circumstances, adults in their existing or potential care giving journey can gain:

confidence
clarity
answers to questions
options
wins

I am sure you realize, every family is different and has different problems and needs. I want to give you a sampling of what an elderly parent care coach can do for you, or teach you to do:

1) Explain and answer medical condition questions, assist in formulating questions for physicians and help to interpret the responses.

2) Offer instructions in how to effectively communicate with different health care professionals and how to advocate for your parent.

3) Identify options for medication management, transportation needs, social needs.

4) Communicate with parents to achieve different outcomes.

5) Teach home safety tips and other check lists.

6) Teach crisis prevention skills, thereby avoiding some hospitalizations.

7) Determine ways to manage care from a distance, and locate referrals with specific expertise.

I want to conclude with a summary of a story of how a well informed, confident, guided caregiver gained a big win. I will call this woman Dora, and her loved one Bob. Bob had been diagnosed a few years ago with dementia and was told how the disease would progress. Over time as Bob digressed physically and mentally, Dora chose to be well informed and begin to conduct research on her own…talked to others caring for loved ones in a similar situation…consulted with other professionals. Through her connections, she ultimately learned about NPH (Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus). Basically this is "water on the brain", and leads to brain swelling. One of the symptoms required to be diagnosed with NPH is a change in walking pattern to the feet being wider apart, shuffling, and unsteadiness. This can also be a characteristic in people with progressive dementia.

Dora ultimately convinced the doctor to test Bob for NPH, which was positive, and he underwent surgery for NPH. Following a brief period, his gait improved drastically. Dora and Bob are thankful and hopeful that some of his memory loss will also improve.

I caution the readers that many medical facts and details are omitted in this story. This scenario does not apply to everyone with the same symptoms. For more details on NPH, refer to: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/.

My point is evident however. In this real story, Dora gained new skills, new knowledge, confidence to make changes in the care of her loved one, which generated some remarkable results.

I encourage you to evaluate your care giving experience and consider who is watching your model or pattern. Make a choice to create an elderly parent care process that leaves a desired and duplicable pattern for those watching.

To meet Rhonda Caudell and learn more, click this link: www.endlesslegacy.com/elderparentcoach

June 14 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

2013-06-12T15:35:00.000-04:00

June 14 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD). You can use this event to raise awareness by hosting a screening of An Age for Justice. Produced by NCOA and WITNESS, this short documentary tells the real story of elder abuse in America. See how to host a screening.

Insomnia May Be Linked to Future Hospitalization, Increased Health Service Use (VIDEO)

2013-06-11T22:54:00.000-04:00

Sandwich Generation Pressures Grow & Shifts from Boomers to Gen X'ers (VIDEO)

2013-06-10T10:00:00.000-04:00

Insomnia May Be Linked to Future Hospitalization, Increased Health Service Use

2013-06-10T09:00:00.000-04:00

Having trouble falling or staying asleep? Insomnia may be an important indicator of future hospitalization among middle-aged and older adults, according to a new study published online in the Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences. A team led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health examined the association between insomnia and use of home healthcare services, nursing homes, and hospitalization, and found that insomnia symptoms experienced by middle-aged and older adults were associated with greater future use of costly health services.

“In a large representative sample of U.S. middle-aged and older adults, we found that individuals with a greater number of insomnia symptoms were more likely to be hospitalized, and to use home healthcare services,” said Adam Spira, PhD, senior author of the study and an assistant professor with the Bloomberg School’s Department of Mental Health. “Over 40 percent of our sample reported at least one insomnia symptom, consistent with previous studies that showed insomnia to be very common in this population. If the association between insomnia symptoms and health service utilization is causal, our findings would suggest that the prevention of insomnia could decrease health service use by 6 to 14 percent in this population.”

According to the National Institutes of Health, insomnia is the most common sleep complaint at any age and affects almost half of adults ages 60 and older. Insomnia symptoms include difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or both, and individuals with insomnia often report getting too little sleep, having poor sleep quality,y and not feeling refreshed when they wake up.

Lead author Christopher Kaufmann, MHS, and his colleagues examined the association between insomnia symptoms and reports of health service utilization using data from the Health and Retirement Study. Participants were asked how often they experienced trouble falling asleep, trouble with waking up during the night, trouble with waking up too early and not being able to fall asleep again, and how often they felt rested when they woke up. Researchers evaluated health care utilization in 2006 and respondents were asked questions about their use of several health services two years later, including whether they were hospitalized, used home health care services, or were placed in a nursing home. Participants’ demographic characteristics as well as current or previous medical conditions were also recorded.

“We found that there was a statistically significant relationship between the report of insomnia symptoms and the future use of costly health services,” said Kaufmann, a doctoral student with the Bloomberg School’s Department of Mental Health. “A relationship was even found between insomnia symptoms and hospitalization as well as use of any of the three health services after accounting for common medical conditions and elevated depressive symptoms. These results suggest that treating and carefully monitoring insomnia symptoms in middle-aged and older adults might somewhat reduce the use of health services and presumably the poor health outcomes that necessitate these services.”

I have to sleep on this study. See you tomorrow.

2013-06-07T10:30:00.000-04:00

Sandwich Generation Pressures Grow & Shifts from Boomers to Gen X'ers

2013-06-07T09:00:00.000-04:00

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A Pew Research study has revealed some disturbing trends regarding the infamous sandwich generation. Nearly half (47%) of adults in their 40s and 50s have a parent age 65 or older and are either raising a young child or financially supporting a grown child (age 18 or older). And about one-in-seven middle-aged adults (15%) is providing financial support to both an aging parent and a child.

While the share of the sandwich generation has increased only marginally, the financial burdens associated with caring for multiple generations of family members are mounting.

According to a new nationwide Pew Research Center survey, roughly half (48%) of adults ages 40 to 59 have provided some financial support to at least one grown child in the past year, with 27% providing the primary support. These shares are up significantly from 2005. By contrast, about one-in-five middle-aged adults (21%) have provided financial support to a parent age 65 or older in the past year, basically unchanged from 2005. The new survey was conducted Nov. 28-Dec. 5, 2012 among 2,511 adults nationwide.

While middle-aged adults are devoting more resources to their grown children these days, the survey finds that the public places more value on support for aging parents than on support for grown children.

Who is the sandwich generation? Its members are mostly middle-aged: 71% of this group is ages 40 to 59. An additional 19% are younger than 40 and 10% are age 60 or older. Men and women are equally likely to be members of the sandwich generation. Hispanics are more likely than whites or blacks to be in this situation. Three-in-ten Hispanic adults (31%) have a parent age 65 or older and a dependent child. This compares with 24% of whites and 21% of blacks.

More affluent adults and married adults are more likely to be sandwiched. However, the survey suggests that adults in the sandwich generation are just as happy with their lives overall as are other adults.

The strain of supporting multiple family members can have an impact on financial well-being.Among those who are providing financial support to an aging parent and supporting a child of any age, 28% say they live comfortably, 30% say they have enough to meet their basic expenses with a little left over for extras, 30% say they are just able to meet their basic expenses and 11% say they don’t have enough to meet even basic expenses.

While some aging parents need financial support, others may also need help with day-to-day living. Among all adults with at least one parent age 65 or older, 30% say their parent or parents need help to handle their affairs or care for themselves; 69% say their parents can handle this on their own.

When aging adults need assistance handling their affairs or caring for themselves, family members often help out. Among those with a parent age 65 or older who needs this type of assistance, 31% say they provide most of this help, and an additional 48% say they provide at least some of the help.

When the Pew Research Center explored this topic in 2005, Baby Boomers made up the majority of the sandwich generation. They were more than twice as likely as members of the next generation—Generation X—to have a parent age 65 or older and be supporting a child (45% vs. 20%). Since 2005, many Baby Boomers have aged out of the sandwich generation, and today adults who are part of Generation X are more likely than Baby Boomers to find themselves in this situation.

Source - Pew Research

Just for Fun - The Pina Colada Song

2013-06-06T12:15:00.001-04:00

I am going to start posting some of the music I have recorded, either audio or video, from time to time. I became involved in elder issues when I first started going to nursing homes and singing. I now use song in my keynote speeches and of course still perform for all types of audiences. Just thought I would show another side of me. We will start with my most viewed You Tube video song.

Seeing is Believing When It Comes to Saving for Retirement (VIDEO)

2013-06-06T09:00:00.000-04:00

Seeing is Believing When It Comes to Saving for Retirement

2013-06-05T09:00:00.000-04:00

Stanford University scientists have found that younger people have trouble visualizing themselves as elderly, which can limit how much they invest in their retirement plans.

When the researchers showed a group of young people computer-aged photos of themselves, they became more inclined to increase their retirement investment. You can experience your own photographic aging by going to the Web site faceretirement.merrilledge.com. I have to say that this is both very cool and scary as hell and I can see why it would work in getting you to start thinking about saving for aging.

The Employee Benefit Research Institute has a savings calculator at choosetosave.org/ballpark.

The Ballpark E$timate is an easy-to-use, two-page worksheet that helps you quickly identify approximately how much you need to save to fund a comfortable retirement. The Ballpark E$timate takes complicated issues like projected Social Security benefits and earnings assumptions on savings, and turns them into language and mathematics that are easy to understand.

Try out these tools especially the first and it may just scare you into saving!

Courtesy - Met Life

Psychologically Vulnerable Seniors More Vulnerable to Financial Exploitation (VIDEO)

2013-06-04T09:00:00.000-04:00

40+ Are Not Prepared and Misunderstand Long-Term Care Options (VIDEO)

2013-06-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

Treatment With Antidepressant Results in Lower Rate of Mental Stress-Induced Heart Attack

2013-06-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

According to a study in the May 22/29 issue of JAMA, patients taking six weeks of treatment with the antidepressant escitalopram, compared with placebo, resulted in a lower rate of mental stress-induced myocardial ischemia (MSIMI).
“A robust body of evidence has identified emotional stress as a potential triggering factor in coronary heart disease (CHD) and other cardiovascular events,” according to background information in the article. “During the last 3 decades, the association of emotional distress and myocardial ischemic activity [insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle, often resulting in chest pain] in the laboratory has been well studied."

In the laboratory setting, MSIMI occurs in up to 70 percent of patients with clinically stable CHD and is associated with increased risk of death and cardiovascular events.” Few studies have examined therapeutics that effectively modify MSIMI.

Wei Jiang, M.D., of the Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C., and colleagues conducted a randomized trial that included patients with clinically stable coronary heart disease and laboratory-diagnosed MSIMI.

The researchers found that at the end of six weeks, more patients taking escitalopram (34.2 percent) had absence of MSIMI during three mental stressors compared with patients taking placebo (17.5 percent). Analysis showed that the escitalopram group had a significantly higher rate (2.6 times) of no MSIMI compared with the placebo group.

The 6-week intervention was associated with greater improvements in certain measures of psychological functioning.

Bottom line, stress as we all know can cause health problems. While I do not advocate for taking drugs to control it, I am sure that certain people need and would benefit from that kind of intervention. For the rest of us we need to chill out.

Psychologically Vulnerable Seniors More Vulnerable to Financial Exploitation

2013-05-31T09:00:00.000-04:00

Financial exploitation of the elderly is on the rise according to the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, and the numbers are expected to continue to grow as Baby Boomers age. This exploitation, which includes telemarketing scams, fake home repairs, fake check scams, identity theft and more, costs approximately $3 billion each year.


Just sign here.

Researchers at Wayne State University, in collaboration with Illinois Institute of Technology, recently published a study advising clinical gerontologists in the field to be aware that psychologically vulnerable older adults could be more likely victims of financial exploitation.

The study, “Is Psychological Vulnerability Related to the Experience of Fraud in Older Adults?” published in the recent issue of Clinical Gerontologist, is the first study to include prospective predictors of reported financial fraud victimization of older adults, and is the first to review financial exploitation of any kind with the same population from a psychological-vulnerability perspective.

“Said Peter Lichtenberg, Ph.D., director of WSU’s Institute of Gerontology and lead author of the paper - “Those in the clinical study showed characteristics of extreme depression symptoms and perceived low social-status fulfillment, thus showing they were more vulnerable to the experience of theft of scams. “

The study included 4,440 participants. Those participants that were the most psychologically vulnerable with the highest levels of depression and lowest levels of social-needs fulfillment, experienced higher levels of fraud compared to those that were not vulnerable psychologically.

“One of the most significant findings of our study was with the most psychologically vulnerable population,” said Lichtenberg. “The combination of high depression and low social-status fulfillment was associated with a 226 percent increase in fraud prevalence in this population. This supports our theory that depressive symptoms and lack of social-needs fulfillment have an effect on fraud prediction, and serves as a reminder to clinical gerontologists how psychological vulnerability can affect older adults’ lives in a variety of ways.

The research team recommends that this population be assessed for the potential of financial exploitation, and this assessment should be a regular part of clinicians’ toolkits when working with highly vulnerable individuals.

The implications for caregivers are clear. How is your loved one's state of mind? Could they be exploited? What steps will you take to make sure they are not?

What Causes Age Stereotypes - Three Things (VIDEO)

2013-05-30T09:00:00.000-04:00

What Causes Age Stereotypes - Three Things

2013-05-29T09:00:00.000-04:00


Forever Young on TV Land Does a Good Job at Debunking Myths and Promoting Cross-Generation Learning

Princeton University psychology professor Susan Fiske and graduate student Michael North conducted research on the challenge society faces to adjust to a graying population and the intergenerational tensions that can arise.

While most are familiar with descriptive ageist prejudice, in which seniors are discriminated against based on negative stereotypes (i.e. seniors are “slow” or have poor memory), the researchers focused on ageism that is based on what psychologists call prescriptive prejudice.

Prescriptive ageist prejudices are beliefs about how older adults should differ from others. When older adults do not adhere to these beliefs, they are punished by those who discriminate against them.
The researchers found that the prescriptive stereotypes center on three key issues:

Succession, the idea that older adults should move aside from high-paying jobs and prominent social roles to make way for younger people
Identity, the idea that older people should not attempt to act younger than they are; and
Consumption, the idea that seniors should not consume so many scarce resources such as health care.

I have to say that a new reality show entitled Forever Young, on TV Land, does a good job of addressing these stereotypes. It bridges the generation gap as "juniors" and "seniors" work together to experience each other's point of view and find out just how much they do or don't have in common.

40+ Are Not Prepared and Misunderstand Long-Term Care Options

2013-05-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research recently released “Long-Term Care: Perceptions, Experiences andAttitudes among Americans 40 and Older.”

They conducted a national survey of Americans 40 or older to understand the experiences and attitudes of this population as they begin to plan for their own care and interact with the long-term care system to provide care for loved ones, we examine their understanding of the long-term care system. In all 1,019 interviews with a nationally representative sample of adults were conducted.

The study reveals several critical issues:

· Although Americans 40 years or older report several concerns about aging and losing their independence, they are not taking actions to plan for their own long-term care needs.

· Only 41 percent of this population has taken the important first step of discussing their preferences for long-term care with their families and only 35 percent have set aside money to pay for their long-term care needs.

· There are widespread misperceptions among those 40 or over surrounding the costs of long-term care services, with significant proportions of the population underestimating the costs of nursing home care and overestimating the role of Medicare in paying for that care.

· A majority supports some public policy options for financing long-term care. This includes bipartisan support for tax incentives to encourage individual saving for long-term care expenses.

· Americans 40 or over count on their families to be there for them as they age, but those who are currently receiving long-term care or who have received it in the past are less likely to believe they can rely on their family in a time of need.

Key findings from the survey are provided.

· Three in ten Americans 40 or older would rather not think about getting older at all, and, when prompted to think about it, a majority worry about losing their independence.

· Even with widespread concerns about aging, many Americans have not translated those worries into effective planning strategies.

· People frequently misperceive the costs of long-term care and they overestimate the role of Medicare in paying for their care.

· Americans 40 or older show majority support for several policies to help individuals pay for the costs of long-term care, though with some partisan divides.

· The majority of Americans 40 or older have some experience with long-term care.

· Americans 40 or older count on their families to be there for them in times of need and as they age.

· When thinking about their living situation as they age, Americans prioritize features that promote independence.

AARP Says Trade Your Eye Doctor for an E-Book (VIDEO)

2013-05-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

AARP Says Trade Your Eye Doctor for an E-Book

2013-05-22T09:00:00.000-04:00

According to AARP, citing a Robert Wood Johnson study, for people with eye diseases like macular degeneration, digital tablets increased reading speed by as much as 42 words per minute, compared with that of print books or newspapers.

The illuminated screens of the tablet offer sharper resolution than printed materials and help readers discern words more easily. Researchers suggest setting the brightness to maximum, avoid places with background glare and increase the font size.

Spinal Posture Indicator for Nursing Home Admission So Sit Up Straight! (VIDEO)

2013-05-21T09:00:00.000-04:00

Medicare's "BLUE BUTTON" Can Help You Track Care (VIDEO)

2013-05-20T10:00:00.000-04:00