Eleanor Barbera, Ph.D. I’ve read Leslie Curtin’s story three times and it still makes me cry. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We had a man admitted status post CVA (after a stroke). He was never going to recover to the point where his wife could take him home since he was a 2 person assist to do anything and couldn’t … Read more
Today’s guest post is from Denise Tyler, PhD, of Brown University’s Center for Gerontology & Health Care Research. The LTCfocUS website she writes about contains an invaluable tool that allows the user to input variables such as resident demographics and facility staffing, and creates maps and tables of nursing homes in the US based on … Read more
The holidays can be a difficult time of year, especially for residents in nursing homes. Many residents once hosted family gatherings, or were regulars at a holiday event, but now their physical disability complicates their participation in familiar rituals. Last year I wrote a post on this topic from the residents’ point of view, ‘Twas … Read more
In Part One of the Family Council posts, Karlin Mbah of FRIA discusses the role of the Family Council in improving the nursing home environment. In today’s follow-up post, she addresses ways in which to organize families to create a Family Council. In addition to her suggestions, some of the tips I provided in my … Read more
In my post, What I Want My Nursing Home Room to Look Like, I mention I’d like to have family pictures in my room. Actually, I’d like everyone to have family photos in their nursing home rooms, in addition to photos of themselves when they were young. Before I started in long-term care (I was … Read more
Today, guest poster Karlin Mbah, of the New York-based organization Friends and Relatives of the Institutionalized Aged, explains what Family Councils are and how they can work with nursing homes to improve care for the residents. In a later post, she’ll discuss ways to create a successful family council. Background on FRIA and Karlin Mbah: … Read more
A recent study by the Phoenix Center looked at adults 55 and over, but not employed or in nursing homes, and found that Internet use decreased their level of depression by 20%. I’m not at all surprised by this, and I believe a similar decrease in depression levels would be observed in nursing home residents … Read more
One of our dear cats is very sick. This prompted a family discussion about how much care to provide him, and led to a talk about our own wishes should we become ill. I recently read a post on WiseHands, a massage therapy and hospice blog, about how working with people who are dying can … Read more
I peered into Ms. Alford’s room and saw a visitor sitting in the chair next to her bed, where she was sitting with a stack of photos on her lap. Ms. Alford noticed me and waved me into the room with a broad smile. “This here’s my son, Willie.” “And you are?” His worried eyes … Read more
This positive story about long term care is from the perspective of a nursing home administrator/president. If you’d like to add your own good news, please use the comments box at the bottom of the post, or for a possible featured blog post, send me an email using the Contact Me button on the top … Read more