Photo: macprohawaii (U.S. Geological Survey) via Flickr
Older adults can be especially vulnerable to natural disasters, be it a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, or the recent eruptions from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano. On top of health concerns, they often are socially isolated and lack good transportation options that can slow their response before, during and after a disaster.
Photo: BournemouthBC via Flickr
Is it worth it to provide more skilled – and higher paying – home health care?
That is the question that New York Times’ economic columnist Eduardo Porter tackled in a recent piece examining whether staffing the nation’s long-term care system with better-trained and higher-paid aides could give them more responsibilities and better address health care gaps. Continue reading
Photo: Fairfax County via Flickr
Men now make up about 40 percent of all family caregivers, but a new report says most are not reaching out for emotional support or even recognizing their role as a caregiver.
Some 16 million adult men are caring aging or ill parents or spouses, and nearly two-thirds of them (63 percent) are the primary caregiver. That is up from 34 percent just eight years ago. More than half (54 percent) say it is hard to help their loved one with certain activities of daily living (ADL) like bathing, feeding, or dressing, according to Breaking Stereotypes: Spotlight on Male Family Caregivers from AARP. Many say they have a hard time finding resources specifically tailored to their needs. Continue reading
Photo: jfcherry via Flickr
Predictive analytics is an area of data science that is getting a lot of attention in health care.
Predictive analytics offers a tantalizing solution to problems plaguing resource-restrained hospitals. Namely, if providers can predict which patients will be readmitted within 30 days, or who will acquire an infection in the hospital, they can apply scarce resources to those high-risk patients and change the predicted outcome. This has the potential to improve quality outcomes and lower costs. Continue reading
Photo: Michael Coghlan via Flickr
Family caregivers want and need technology that allows them to better support their loved ones, but only about seven percent of respondents in a recent national survey actually use available caregiving technology.
New research finds a huge gap between what caregivers say they want and actual adoption of apps, programs, or hardware. Lack of awareness, about appropriate options or the potential caregiving benefits, is one reason cited by a representative sample of family caregivers. Continue reading
Photo: Frederick Dennstedt via Flickr
Family gatherings during the holidays are an ideal time for adult children to assess the well being of aging parents and other older relatives.
This is especially important for those who may visit just a few times a year, since changes in mental or physical health and safety issues in the home may be more noticeable. Holiday visits are a good time to ensure that aging parents can still care for themselves.