Say No to Standard Nutritional Shakes The New York Times reported that the American Geriatrics Society has made a new warning in their Choosing Wisely recommendations against using products such as Boost and Ensure because they are little more than ‘liquid candy’. Interestingly, this is a label usually ascribed to soda. Like soda, the primary…
Diabetes affects a disproportionate number of older adults—approximately 25% of Americans aged 60 and over. In the United States, our growing aging demographic is clearly one of the drivers of the diabetes epidemic. Another less known condition, prediabetes, is even more common and affects an estimated 50 percent of Americans over 65. Pre-diabetes is where…
Perfect Storm: Diabetes and Tuberculosis With 382 million people affected with diabetes worldwide in 2013 and that number poised to rise to 592 million by 2035, a warning bell is being sounded with respect to the real possibility of a serious co-infection – tuberculosis (TB). Since diabetes is a disease that weakens the immune system,…
The shuffle. It’s something we’ve come to accept as a normal part of aging, or as a result of certain medical conditions. Certainly, following a stroke or coinciding with the onset of Parkinson’s disease we expect a change in gait. But, what if there was more to this somewhat gradual change in a person’s gait?…
Recruiting Doormen & Staff in” the Army” Doormen are now being enlisted to fight the growing problem of elder abuse and neglect. The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Center for Elder Abuse Prevention at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale has devised an ingenious idea to combat elder abuse by utilizing those friendly attentive people that greet…
Readmission Problem Hospital readmission is a persistent problem amongst the elderly and reforms by hospitals and other health-related agencies enacted to date have done little to make a real impact. The truth is healthcare policymakers are not even sure where the problem lies. Are the hospitals discharging patients too early or is the post-hospital home care…
Incontinence Embarassment Incontinence is a tricky disorder to manage. Unlike many other conditions whose effects can go undetected, the inability to control one’s bladder function can become public knowledge very quickly. The appearance of moisture on clothing and the presence of urine’s distinct odor make it obvious. In the US, nearly 3.5 million Americans deal with…
Simple Pleasures is the Key For our most senior citizens, the way to their hearts and minds is through simple companionship. Rather than wasting money and energy on new fangled gadgets for older loved ones, a visit and a simple dinner is the best gift in the world. What they most want is time and…
Senior Moments They’re quips we hear often enough. When a companion forgets a well-known nameor when you’ve forgotten where you left your keys: “I’m having a senior moment,” or, “My Alzheimer’s is setting in!” The lapse in memory in itself may be disquieting. After all, no one likes to forget things. However, jests of this…
According to a recent article in Home Healthcare Nurse entitled “Diabetes, Depression, and OASIS-C: A Guide for Home Healthcare Clinicians”, among the population 65 years and older, one in six suffers from depression and this is especially true among elderly adults who receive home care. Identifying depression in the home bound elderly and effectively treating…