Eldercare Professionals of Ohio Review & Updates
Eldercare Professionals of Ohio, LLC offers personal and professional resources. Many special features are on our newsletters and at the bottom of our blogs! Career, education, networking, products, continuing education resources, the resources are endless!Our dynamic meetings are held the 2nd Friday each month from 9:00-10:30 am. Meet new professionals every month. Learn about new career opportunities, CEU opportunities, networking events and other professional development opportunities.
Visiting our monthly meetings is simple, click here and we will direct you to the website to our calendar:
Lakewood Senior Health Campus
Assisted Living Building
1381 Bunts Road, Lakewood
LUNCH & LEARN
Thursday, July 23, 2009
11:30 a.m.
Speaker: Dr. Adel Zakari, Pain Management Center at Fairview Hospital
Topic: “General Pain Management”
Complimentary lunch provided. RSVP to (216) 226-4010 by July 21st.
AUGUST 20, 2009
Title: Employee Assistance Programs
Category: CEU Event
Location: Senior Health and Wellness Center
Address: 4229 Pearl Road
City: Cleveland
State: OH
Contact: MetroHealth
Phone: 216.957.3838
Email: jhoban@benrose.org
Description:
Employee Assistance Programs
Presenter: Kelsey Loushin
A two-contact hour program for social workers, nurses and counselors presented as part of the Senior Health and Wellness Center Collaborative Lecture Series sponsored by The MetroHealth System, the Benjamin Rose Institute, Concordia Care and the Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio.
Cost: $15
To register, call 216.957.3838 or register online at http://www.benrose.org/SHWC_Collaborative_Lectures.cfm
Email: jhoban@benrose.org
Website: http://www.benrose.org/SHWC_Collaborative_Lectures.cfm
SEPTEMBER 10 and SEPTEMBER 17, 2009
Title: Fostering Creative Expression
Category: CEU Event
Location: Rocky River Senior Center
Address: 21012 Hilliard Road
City: Rocky River
State: OH
Contact: Jeanne Hoban, Benjamin Rose Institute
Phone: 216.373.1686
Email: jhoban@benrose.org
Description:
Fostering Creative Expression
Presenters: Linda S. Noelker, PhD, Benjamin Rose Institute, and Susan Bazyk, PhD, OTR/L, Cleveland State University
A two-part, six-contact hour workshop for practitioners serving older adults in Northeast Ohio. A combination opf lecture, discussion, networking and creative activities,m including journaling for health, photo coloring, creative card making, and drumming.
Presented as a project of the Northeast Ohio Center for Creative Aging
Cost: $75
To register, call 216.373.1686 or register online at http://www.benrose.org
Contact: 216.373.1686
Email: jhoban@benrose.org
Website: http://www.benrose.org
SEPTEMBER 17, 2009
Title: Illness Management & Recovery Model
Category: CEU Event
Location: Senior Health and Wellness Center
Address: 4229 Pearl Road
City: Cleveland
State: OH
Contact: MetroHealth
Phone: 216.957.3838
Email: jhoban@benrose.org
Description:
Illness Management & Recovery Model
Presenter: Keith Brown, PhD, PCC-S, Mental Health Program, Eldercare Services Institute of Benjamin Rose
A two-contact hour program for social workers, nurses and counselors presented as part of the Senior Health and Wellness Center Collaborative Lecture Series sponsored by The MetroHealth System, the Benjamin Rose Institute, Concordia Care and the Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio.
Cost: $15
To register, call 216.957.3838 or register online at http://www.benrose.org/SHWC_Collaborative_Lectures.cfm
Email: jhoban@benrose.org
Website: http://www.benrose.org/SHWC_Collaborative_Lectures.cfm
Saturday, July 18, 10-2
13900 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood
(Campus is on NE Corner of Bunts & Detroit)
*Holistic Animal Communication & Reiki Sessions
*County Auditor - Dog Licenses Available for Purchase
*Lakewood Animal Hospital
*Camp Bow Wow of Westlake
*Doggie Play Area/Water Fun!
FREE ADMISSION, CONTESTS & PRIZES
For Immediate Release
June 10, 2009
Contact: Maribeth Bersani
mbersani@alfa.org, 703.894.1805
Comprehensive Assisted Living Data Released
ALFA, partnering organizations announce availability of 2009 Overview report
ALEXANDRIA, VA - The just-released 2009 Overview of Assisted Living provides senior housing providers, policy makers, associations, and other professionals essential facts and figures about assisted living to use when defining the business to investors, media, consumers, and others. It is the most comprehensive effort to detail key benchmarks in the assisted living business. The latest edition updates data gathered in the 2006 Overview of Assisted Living.
To order or download, visit the Web sites of the listed organizations responsible for the report: www.aahsa.org, www.alfa.org, www.seniorshousing.org, www.ncal.org, and www.nic.org.
ALFA members can download the report for free.
Among the data revealed in this study:
Primary Payment Plans
Forty-five percent of responding communities offer tiered pricing for bundled services vs. 51 percent in 2006; 24 percent offer one all-inclusive rate vs. 22 percent in 2006. Ninety-one percent provide three meals as part of basic rates and 48 percent also include assistance with ADLs in the rate, while 52 percent charge extra for ADL assistance. Nearly all communities include wellness and social/recreational activities in the rate.
Assisted Living Occupancy
In 2006, median occupancy was 94.7 percent and average occupancy was 90.1 percent. Occupancy rates in 2009 are relatively consistent with where they were three years ago (about one percent lower).
Resident Demographics
The average age of residents at the time of the survey was 86.9 years, slightly higher than in 2006 when it was 85.3. Female residents outnumber male residents by almost 3 to 1. Residents' median annual income is $18,972 vs. $15,668 in 2006.
Resident Assessments
Virtually all communities (97 percent) conduct a formal functional/physical assessment prior to a resident move-in. Likewise, virtually all communities (94 percent) create a formal written service or care plan for residents.
Fire Safety
Virtually all communities have smoke detectors in resident rooms and all have smoke detectors in common areas. About 97 percent have sprinklers in resident rooms and common areas.
Criminal Background Checks
Nearly all communities (97 percent) conduct a criminal background check on every employee prior to hire.
# # #
About the Assisted Living Federation of America: ALFA is the largest national association exclusively dedicated to professionally operated senior living communities. ALFA serves as the voice for senior living and advocates for informed choice, quality care, and accessibility for all Americans needing assistance with long-term care. Go to www.alfa.org for more information.
The Senior Placement Division is the latest edition to the Eldercare Professionals of Ohio, LLC Geriatric Care Management Company. The new division is necessary for the adult children and older adults having to make new housing decisions in a challenging economy. The services are free and thus far over 40 senior living properties are participating in the division.
If you are interested in consulting opportunities within the new division, please contact Kelsey Loushin @ kdloushin@yahoo.com.
If you have older adults searching for housing options, contact Eldercare Professionals of Ohio, LLC and find out the comprehensive program available to support the search @ 440-212-4987.
Looking For Your Ideal Job? Thousands to choose from here!
Protecting the Elderly from Medication Misuse
As a person ages, proper health care can become increasingly complicated.
Take medications, for example. About half of us don't take them as directed. Medically speaking, such misuse is called noncompliance a potential risk to anyone's health.
For the elderly in particular, say many experts, the health risk posed by drug misuse can be great. First of all, older people take more medications than other age groups. Eighty percent of people 65 and older have at least one chronic condition, which often means an extended medication regimen--frequently with several drugs. Studies show that noncompliance tends to increase with long-term drug therapy. This also may increase the opportunity for drug-drug and drug-food interactions and subsequent adverse effects. Also, older people are more prone to have adverse reactions and, when they do, the reactions are likely to be more severe.
Here's a look at how drug misuse may occur, especially in older people, and what can be done to help prevent it.
Taking the drug exactly as prescribed is crucial to its safety and effectiveness. Drug misuse may cause a drug underdose or overdose in a number of ways and for a number of reasons. An antibiotic may be stopped prematurely, for example, because the patient feels better. But if all the illness-causing bacteria aren't killed, the infection could recur, and the bacteria may be drug-resistant and therefore harder to eradicate. Or a patient may mistakenly take a drug twice, at the wrong time, or at improper intervals. Or someone may forget or feel too ill to take a drug or not refill a needed prescription because of a lack of money or transportation to a pharmacy.
A patient may even decide to reduce the drug dosage--against the doctor's instructions--on a notion that it's greater than needed or because of fears about the drug. A patient may go on and off a drug as a "test" of whether the drug is still needed, or a person may increase a dose thinking that, if some is good, more is better.
To take medicine properly, patients need to know how it could interact with foods, beverages--especially alcohol--and other prescription and nonprescription drugs. For instance: The antibiotic tetracycline shouldn't be taken with milk or other dairy products because the drug binds with the calcium in the food and is rendered ineffective. Other drugs, including certain arthritis medications, may need to be taken with food to reduce stomach irritation. A number of drugs can be extremely hazardous if taken with alcohol.
A further problem can arise if several doctors treat the same patient. Incompatible drugs or ones with identical active ingredients may be prescribed, or a drug for one condition might adversely affect the patient's other condition. Meanwhile, the doctors--unaware that other drugs are being taken--believe the patient is properly medicated.
Also, a person should never take someone else's prescription drug: Drugs are prescribed for an individual for a specific medical condition and, even though symptoms may be the same, the underlying causes--and the proper treatments--may be very different.
Because self-medicating with prescription drugs without medical advice can be hazardous, joining the physician and pharmacist as an active partner in one's therapy can be beneficial. The physician is expected to explain the patient's condition and treatment in clear terms, and the pharmacist is expected to explain a drug's proper use, but the patient has a duty, too: giving feedback. This may help identify factors in the patient's lifestyle or environment that might interfere with treatment.
How can a patient become an active partner? There are a number of ways:
* Be sure the physician knows about any nonprescription drugs being taken and about any drugs prescribed by a dentist, another physician, or other practitioner.
* Call the physician, or other health professional, promptly if new symptoms appear. Though they may seem unimportant, the symptoms may, in fact, be adverse effects of a food or drug.
* A patient taking many drugs or taking a drug over many years should periodically ask the doctor for a reevaluation of drug therapy, particularly if some change occurs or if unusual symptoms are present.
* Before an appointment, write a list of questions to ask andlist medical visits elsewhere since the last appointment.
* When a new drug is prescribed, be sure to ask about storage requirements, possible interactions and how to counteract them, adverse reactions and what to do if any occur, changes to expect in such functions as activity level and sleep, and what to do if doses are missed. Ask for written directions if the regimen is confusing or if a current drug is to be taken differently.
* Don't hesitate to ask that instructions be repeated.
* Family and friends can provide important support to a patient's adherence to treatment, especially in long-term illnesses such as heart disease or diabetes. A patient might want someone to go along on a medical visit to take notes or even to help ask questions.
Sometimes, drug misuse occurs because a medicine is difficult to take. If arthritis or frailty make it hard to unwrap and insert suppositories or to adequately shake a suspension-type liquid, tablets might be more desirable. If a drug, such as potassium chloride, tastes too terrible to take, a different formulation might be more palatable. If pills look so alike as to be mistaken, another formulation or dosage form for one of the piils might help. Feel free to ask the pharmacist for container caps that are not child-proof (but keep these medicines out of a child's reach) and for labels printed in large type.
Even though some patients may find a tablet easier to take if it's crushed and then mixed with food, in his 1984 book, Medications & The Elderly, Dr. William Simonson of Oregon State University's School of Pharmacy urged patients to seek medical advice before they try this. Drug tablets, he wrote, may be coated to prevent an upset stomach or be designed as slow-release drugs. Crushing the tablet could interfere with the intended effect.
Some patients might want to ask the pharmacist to dispense their drugs in special "blister" cards, which can be useful as a dosage reminder or as a monitor to see if a dose is missed. These compliance aids add to the cost of therapy but, if really needed, the expense may be worthwhile. The cards should be properly labeled.
On one type of card, the numbered, blister compartments hold a month's supply of pills. Stickers tag the blisters as to days of the week so that each card becomes, in effect, a calendar. A patient receives up to four cards, each holding the dose for a certain time--morning, noon, afternoon or bedtime. For blind patients, holes in the corner signal the dosage time: one hole for morning, two for noon, and so on. Some cards have blisters big enough for several tablets so a pharmacist can preset all the patient's pills for the month--even doses taken only a few times a week.
The Vaughn Pharmacy in Forth Smith, Ark., offers blister-card drug dispensing in conjunction with its home health-care pharmacy--a service that was developed to reduce noncompliance. Pharmacist Dr. James Vaughn pointed out in the National Association of Retail Druggists Journal (June 1983), "About 25 percent of hospital admissions of the elderly are due to noncompliance. This is the area of preventive effort in which pharmacy should be involved."
Once a patient agrees to participate in the Vaughn program, an initial interview is scheduled. The pharmacist explains how the patient's medication works and why it's important to take it as prescribed. Attention is given to adapting the drug schedule to the patient's daily routine. The pharmacist reports to the patient's physician before the drugs are dispensed. Other aspects of the program include contacting the patient regularly by personal visit and telephone, maintaining a patient profile, and using a reminder, or "tickler," file to prompt a talk with the patient four days or so before a drug refill is due to see if any changes or problems occurred.
Some older people may never encounter problems taking their medications. Others may never be motivated to comply with a prescribed therapy despite the persistence of health practitioners, family and friends. And a number of individuals may face such social and economic turmoil that compliance is next to impossible. Still, many older people struggling with drug treatment may find that education, well-kept home records, and friendly support from family, friends, physician and pharmacist can make a healthy difference.
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