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
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
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
This article from McKnights.com suggests that a key factor in reducing staff stress and injuries during transfer is understanding each resident with dementia and tailoring your approach to the individual. http://www.mcknights.com/Communication-problems-stress-caregivers-of-patients-with-Alzheimers/article/148941/?DCMP=EMC-MCK_Daily
Today I learned of an Indianapolis-based volunteer organization with a mission “to make the dreams of elderly and terminally ill adults come true.” How cool is that? Never Too Late has helped an 88-year old man race around the Indy 500 track, an 83-year old woman go sailing, and a 70-year old man learn to … 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
I saw this great idea posted on McKnights this morning. My suggestion is, if needed, the residents address it in their Resident Council Meetings to see if they want to raise the funds themselves. http://www.mcknights.com/Turning-on-the-lights-for-nursing-home-residents/article/146809/ Turning on the lights for nursing home residents Eric Smith August 19, 2009 In 2004 I accepted a position at … 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
The best nursing home staff dining room I’ve ever seen was a large bright room with a wall of windows and plenty of welcoming seating. Staff members purchased discounted food, which was tasty enough to entice those outside the nursing home community to come in and pay full fare. A salad and sandwich bar was … 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