Each week, the Alliance scours the blogospherefor the news affecting the home care industry. Here are highlights from this week:
Not All Procedures Are Created Equal: Top Five to Avoid
The Choosing Wisely campaign, an initiative by the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation in partnership with Consumer Reports… is an attempt to alert both doctors and patients to problematic and commonly overused medical tests, procedures and treatments.
It took an elegantly simple approach: By working through professional organizations representing medical specialties, Choosing Wisely asked doctors to identify “Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question.”
The idea was that doctors and their patients could agree on tests and treatments that are supported by evidence, that don’t duplicate what others do, that are “truly necessary” and “free from harm” — and avoid the rest.
Among the 18 new lists released last week are recommendations from geriatricians and palliative care specialists, which may be of particular interest to New Old Age readers. I’ve previously written about a number of these warnings, but it’s helpful to have them in single, strongly worded documents. — via, NYT New Old Age Blog
Are Video Games Therapeutic? Wii Think So!
Researchers asked 140 people aged 63 and older how often they played video games, if at all. The study participants then took a battery of tests to assess their emotional and social well-being. 61 percent of study participants played video games at least occasionally, with 35 percent of participants saying they played at least once per week.
The study found that participants who played video games, including those who only played occasionally, reported higher levels of well-being. Those who did not play video games reported more negative emotions and a tendency toward higher levels of depression. — via Medical News Today; original paper available for purchase here.
Skype Care: Families Prefer Check-ins By Video
For the study, 34 families were broken up into three groups: one receiving standard [pediatric] home healthcare, a web group receiving home healthcare supplemented with a web app; and a video group with home healthcare supplemented by Skype. Participating families and nursing staff completed questionnaires about the information and communication technology’s (ICT) usefulness.
The web application was easy to use, participants said, and Skype was useful for all surveyed, too. Nearly 90 percent said that video calls were better than regular phone calls. Meanwhile, 33 percent in the web group and 75 percent in the video group thought that home visits should be less frequent with the advent of Skype. Fifty percent in the web group and 100 percent in the video group said they felt more confident in caring for their child after using the technology. — via HCAF
Making Home Gardens Accessible For Seniors
It is now our turn as caregivers to share new, accessible gardens and the fulfillment of getting our hands dirty again with our senior loved ones as they age. Many seniors find that the effects of aging on joints, muscles and the freedom of movement have prohibited them from tending to their beloved gardens — via Senior Care Corner (includes a how-to video on making senior-friendly vertical planters).
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