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Chronic fatigue patients ‘neglected by NHS’
Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are still suffering from neglect within the NHS despite initiatives aimed at improving services for those with the condition, according to a new report.
A survey of services for the estimated 250,000 people in the UK with ME - myalgic encephalomyelitis - or CFS - has shown more than a quarter of primary care trusts (PCTs) do not commission specialist secondary care for people with the condition.
Less than a quarter of the trusts said they provided home visits for ME patients who are too disabled to travel.
The statistics were compiled by the charity Action for ME using Freedom of Information requests to 151 PCTs in England, 14 health boards in Scotland, seven health boards in Wales and five local commissioning groups in Northern Ireland.
Full story of chronic fatigue at Nursing Times
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Bedsores May Be a Sign of More Serious Problems
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as many as 1 out of every 10 nursing home residents suffer from bedsores. Also known as pressure sores, decubitus ulcers, and pressure ulcers, bedsores may be symptomatic of a greater problem of nursing home neglect.
Bedsores a leading cause of iatrogenic death in the U.S. according to numerous reports. An iatrogenic death is an unexpected death caused by medical treatment. Bedsores are caused by constant unrelieved pressure and poor circulation. They are more likely to occur in areas where bone and skin are in close contact--like the back of the head, lower back, hip, elbow, and ankle areas. People with limited mobility are more prone to acquiring pressure sores.
Bedsores are divided into four stages depending on severity; from stage I, where the site is painful but the skin is intact, to stage IV, where there is large-scale loss of tissue. Pressure sores are treatable if discovered early, but they may be fatal in some cases if not properly detected and treated. Unfortunately, the treatment of bedsores is slow and painful.
Many seniors lack long-term care plans and risk seeing their Golden Years tarnished
By Deborah L. Shelton
CHICAGO — Living at home is no longer a safe option for Anna Vitko, who has been in and out of the hospital at least six times since June.
She’s unsteady on her feet and has battled numerous health problems, including diabetes, congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Her son shares a home with her in Cicero, Ill., but even with his help and the assistance of a part-time caregiver, she has not been able to manage.
Like many seniors, she cannot afford to pay for long-term care on her own. Medicare covered her care in a skilled nursing facility for 100 days only, and her Medicare supplementary insurance has run out.
Vitko, 83, knows she is better off in the nursing facility and would like to stay there.
Puzzles, bowls and singing ‘can halt dementia’
By Stephen Adams
Those who do so maintain their ability to do everyday tasks better than people simply given anti-dementia drugs, found German researchers.
They believe the approach could help transform treatment for those in care homes living with mild to moderate dementia.
The academics came to the conclusions after studying the effects of their specially designed programme on residents with varying levels dementia in five Bavarian nursing homes.
Participants in each home were randomly split into two groups, each with 10 people.
In the first set of groups, residents continued with their normal treatment, which included taking anti-dementia drugs and participating in normal nursing home activities.
Family Discussion: Who will take care of you in the future?
By Mariko Yamada
November is Alzheimer's Disease and Awareness Month, National Home Care and Hospice Month, and Family Caregiver Month. It also marks the beginning of the traditional season of thanksgiving, taking stock of our blessings, sharing with those less fortunate and caring for those who are unable to care for themselves.
As families come together this holiday season, I urge you to take an opportunity to discuss future long-term health needs with your loved ones.
The increase in our senior population, along with the reduction in community-based care programs, requires greater attention to the services needed for those with terminal illnesses and those, both paid and unpaid, who provide care.
In the past two years, the state has retreated from its support for older and disabled adults, their families and their caregivers. With assistance decreasing, the need for in-home caregiving is increasing.
An estimated one in four California families is currently involved in caring for a loved one with a disability. Caring for a family member who has dementia or who has multiple chronic health conditions can be quite complex, yet most families receive little or no training, assistance or appreciation for their caregiving tasks.
Abuses in assisted-living facilities come under Senate panel’s spotlight
By Erika Bolstad
WASHINGTON -- It was an early-morning awakening that Alfredo Navas said he'll never forget: His sister on the phone, telling him that their 85-year-old mother had drowned in a shallow drainage pond behind the facility that was caring for her.
But the safeguards his family had assumed were in place to monitor an elderly woman with dementia - cameras, door locks and vigilant caretakers - failed his mother in 2008, Navas told the Senate's Special Committee on Aging on Wednesday.
Those abuses and others were chronicled in a Miami Herald series "Neglected to Death," which focused this spring on critical breakdowns in Florida's enforcement system, including failures by the state's Agency on Health Care Administration to fully investigate deaths or to shut down some of the worst offenders among Florida's 2,850 assisted-living facilities.
MetLife: Long-Term Care Costs Continue to Escalate
By Alyssa Gerace
As retirement savings run dry, the costs of long-term care keep rising, especially for assisted living facilities, reports a MetLife Mature Market Institute survey.
National average rates for a private nursing home room increased 4.4% to $87,235 a year in 2011, while assisted living base rates rose by 5.6% to $3,477 monthly or $41,724 annually, found MetLife’s 2011 report on the cost of long-term care. Adult day services went up to $70 a day, a 4.5% increase, but home health aides and homemaker/companion service rates were unchanged at $21 and $19 per hour, respectively.
“This year’s increases are greater than previous years. The state of the economy, combined with rising health care and energy costs, are having a significant impact on long-term care rates. In fact, long-term care rates continue to outpace the medical inflation rate,” said Sandra Timmermann, Ed.D., director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute, in a statement.
Obama administration shelves long-term care plan
By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration has shelved a financially troubled long-term care insurance plan. Officials said Thursday the staff has been cut and it's an "open question" if the program will be implemented.
Known as CLASS, the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program was created under President Barack Obama's health care law as a voluntary long-term care insurance program for workers. Doubts about its financial viability were raised early on and it has since languished in bureaucratic limbo, with Republicans in Congress pushing for repeal or defunding.
In an interview Thursday, a top technical expert working on a financial plan for CLASS said the eight people on the program staff were told last week they would be reassigned.