Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: ‘Just a picture of her butt’ — an analysis In “A potential lawsuit in every worker’s pockets?”, McKnight’s Editorial Director John O’Connor describes two of many recent incidents of long-term care workers using their cell phones to record residents in embarrassing situations and post the photo … Read more
In To Reach Seniors, Tech Start-Ups Must First Relate to Them, Paula Span discusses the need to create “silvertech” based on what seniors really want, need and are able to use, rather than what younger people devise without consulting them. In my experience in nursing homes and rehabs, residents would appreciate devices that help them to … Read more
Mr. Johnson was in his 90s and had lost his vision many years ago. His great joy in life now was listening to the radio. When I first came to see him, he had many different types of radios in his room. There were several radio alarm clocks and complicated boom boxes with too many … Read more
I wrote about the White House Conference on Aging last October, noting that it was a “once-a-decade” national conference about the needs of our aging population.” (McKnight’s LTC News, October 2014) Below, LeadingAge summarizes the 2015 White House Conference on Aging, which took place on Monday: 10 Things that Happened at the White House Conference on … Read more
Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Telemental health: Who, what, when, where, why you should use it Since I now Skype regularly with my 94-year old father-in-law and his wife, the concept of telemental health doesn’t seem as futuristic to me as it used to seem. I was shocked to discover, however, … Read more
Once again, McKnight’s will host its annual online expo, which is a chance to attend a conference without leaving your desk. Register for the conference in advance, and then log in to hear the talks, visit the vendors, and chat with the reps and attendees. This year’s topics are: PAYMENT An MDS 3.0 Update March … Read more
Last weekend I was in Orlando, Florida for the American Psychological Association conference, where I spoke as part of a symposium on Social Media in Long-Term Care Settings. We discussed concerns around maintaining privacy and confidentiality, as well as the use of social media to improve care. Of course, I talked about my blog, how … Read more
Ms. Williams was humming a tune as I rolled her wheelchair toward her room for our session. “What’s that you’re singing?” I asked her. “I’m not singing, I’m humming. It’s a song I heard as a child. I can’t remember the words.” 84-year old Ms. Williams had been worryingly depressed for several weeks, and our … Read more
I recently read an article about how the aging of baby boomers is causing some technology companies to focus on products geared toward older adults, often with the goal of helping them remain independent and at home for longer periods of time. But what about those older adults already living in nursing homes? What would help them be more … Read more
The saying in 12-Step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is that alcoholism is a three-fold disease: physical, mental, and spiritual. The only-half-kidding joke is that alcoholism is a three-fold disease: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. The holidays can be a particularly stressful time for nursing home residents as their celebrations have often changed significantly … Read more