I recently saw a video showing a 99-year old woman reading and composing poetry on her new iPad, which brightened and enlarged the typeface enough that she could read again despite limited vision due to glaucoma. It got me thinking about apps our elders could use in the nursing home and upon discharge. Please add … Read more
Now that I know I’m not going against State regulations (see Dr. El Goes Undercover with the NYS Department of Health), I’ll confess I love to use my iPhone with the residents. In nursing homes that don’t yet have computer access, the iPhone and other web-enabled mobile devices bring the world right to the residents. … 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
Customer Service — Boomers will expect service more like a hotel than a hospital. For more on this, see my post Less Hospital, More Hospitality. Better food — They’ll want healthier food, with a greater selection, tastefully presented, in a pleasant atmosphere, and served by people who have the time and attitude to make meals … Read more
Here’s an interesting article on a brief nursing home stay by a medical student as part of her training. Experiencing Life, Briefly, Inside a Nursing Home By Katie Zezima Published: August 23, 2009 MAMARONECK, N.Y. — For 10 days in June, Kristen Murphy chose to live somewhere she and many others fear: a nursing home. … Read more
As Father Bart pointed out in his July 28, 2009 blog interview, one of the greatest challenges facing the residents of nursing homes is their dependence upon others to meet their needs. I often work with them on coming to terms with this unavoidable fact of life, and to find ways in which they can … Read more
Dale Carter, of Transition Aging Parents, sent me the following question after reading my last post about caregiving for family members in nursing homes. “Eleanor, when I went to check in to volunteer today at our local nursing home, I was chatting with a lady and she said the thing she missed most was not … Read more