A new study finds that use of antibiotics is quite common among terminal patients who are in hospice care. The researchers used data based on the electronic health records of adults patients discharged to hospice care from Oregon Health & Science University over a three-year period ending in 2013.
Fewer older Americans are having strokes and those who do suffer a stroke have a lower risk of dying from them, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
When expressionist painters like Pablo Picasso, Otto Dix and Barnett Newman waved their defiant brushes over blank canvases, they rebelled against the “logical minds” that had brought about one World War, then another. Art, they insisted, should free the mind from oppressive reality. So it’s not surprising that in the shadow of the Beat Generation and Sixties counterculture, a Bay Area arts program has gained prominence in helping older adults circumvent constrictive thought to free the artist within.
While the state Assembly has a committee dedicated to aging and long-term care, the State Senate hasn’t had one since it disappeared from the Committee on Health along with termed out sponsor Elaine Alquist at the end of 2012. That changed last week when the Senate publicly launched a new Select Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care at an informational hearing at the Glendale Central Library attended by 125 people.
More and more baby boomers start their senior years they are encountering an unwelcome side effect of aging – more falls and more fractures. At the same time, orthopedic surgeons in underserved areas are retiring to enjoy their golden years. Soon, advocates worry, there will be too few surgeons left to treat the growing number of elderly people who will require expert help with their broken bones.
After restaurateur Sam Stelletello opened Sunshine Care to offer high-quality assisted living to World War II’s “Greatest Generation,” nearly all of his aging residents succumbed to dementia – most frequently Alzheimer’s disease.
Sex scandals in the Catholic Church. Nativity scenes nixed during Christmas holidays. God kicked out of schools. In American culture, God is taking one hell of a beating. At the same time, the nation’s hunger for divine connection – especially among older adults – has never been higher. With advancing age, the soul’s gnawing desire for spiritual attachment often grows, and many older adults long to discuss both meaning and mortality.
California’s support systems for older adults, the disabled, and their family caregivers have improved in recent years and now rank among the top ten states in the nation, according to a scorecard released Thursday.
Marine veteran George Flynn, 74, sits in his wheelchair in front of a Mojave desert grocery store, playing his harmonica for spare change. Despite his many health woes – including an infected leg and cancer he says was caused by Agent Orange in Vietnam – Flynn takes the bus here most mornings to play for eight hours in hopes of making $15 or $20 a day which he uses to pay for his spot in a remote campground where he can wash his clothes and shower. Although Flynn barely scrapes by – somewhere along the way he stopped getting his monthly government assistance – his struggles are surprisingly common.
Two goals drive health care reform and the dramatic changes now reshaping our health care system: cutting costs and improving care. Accountable Care Organizations are one cost-saving measure rolling out across the U.S., a change pushed by the Affordable Care Act. But how much they will save – and when savings will start – remains an open question.