Tag: alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s Association Holding Training for Direct Care Staff

The Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association is hosting a series of educational seminars for direct care staff and the Home Care Alliance encourages those interested to participate.

The format is a train the trainer model created to prepare attendees, already familiar with Alzheimer’s and dementia care, to train direct care staff in a wide array of care settings, including home care.

Here are the details:

Caring for People with Alzheimer’s Disease: A Habilitation Training Curriculum Date of next Training:

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Alzheimer’s Association, 480 Pleasant Street, Watertown, MA 02472

The curriculum is a train the trainer model created to prepare attendees, already familiar with Alzheimer’s and dementia care, to train direct care staff in a wide array of care settings. The 7 hour training teaches attendees the 13 hour curriculum in best Habilitation Therapy practices. Modules include a PowerPoint presentation, discussion activities, lecture, and demonstration, role-play and group work. Continue reading “Alzheimer’s Association Holding Training for Direct Care Staff”

Best Around the (Home Care) Web III

Each week, the Alliance scours the blogosphere for the news affecting — and of interest to — the home care industry.  Here are highlights from this week:

Treating Older Veterans for PTSD and Dementia

Because post-traumatic stress syndrome can trouble veterans’ physical health, their emotional lives and their relationships (there is also a connection to dementia, researchers are finding), the Department of Veterans Affairs and veterans advocacy groups have made it their mission to inform service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan about their PTSD risk.

But older veterans tend to know less about the syndrome, even as it haunts many of them. Their generation had less experience with psychotherapy, which once carried a stigma. Even now, if they do seek help, they are likely to describe their problems as physical. — via the NYT’s New Old Age Blog

New Group to Advocate for Improved Interoperability Standards

Top executives from Allscripts, athenahealth, Cerner, Greenway and McKesson appeared on the same stage at HIMSS 2013 Monday to announce that they will collaborate to push for interoperability standards to enable advancements in patient data exchange. McKesson CEO John Hammergren and Cerner’s Neal Patterson joined colleagues Jonathan Bush, CEO athenahealth, and Tee Green, CEO Greenway, to introduce the CommonWell Health Alliance (commonwellalliance.org).

The organization will become operational early next year but wanted to announce its formation and publicize its mission statement during the March 3-7 HIMSS meeting. The five charter members expect that they will soon be joined by many others. “One of the key challenges we face is not just automated healthcare but connected and together care,” said McKesson’s Hammergren. “Data liquidity is necessary to make it happen.” —  Via, HomeHealth News Continue reading “Best Around the (Home Care) Web III”

Best Around the (Home Care) Web

As a new feature, the Alliance will scour the blogosphere each week for the news affecting the home care industry.  Here are highlights from this week:

Prevent Falls with a Nightlight

Are you looking for a device that can help your loved one lower his or her risk of falling in the home? How about one that fits in the palm of your hand? Surprisingly this post isn’t about the latest generation of smart phones, but the good old-fashioned nightlight.  — VNSNY

CDC: Most Recent Flu Vaccine Ineffective For Seniors

This season’s flu vaccine was almost completely ineffective in people 65 and older, which could explain why rates of hospitalization and death have been some of the highest ever recorded for that age group, according to early estimates released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For people under 65, getting vaccinated this season reduced the need to go to the doctor for the flu by one-half to two-thirds.   — USA Today, via CommonHealthBlog

Talking to Seniors About ID Theft & Financial Security

Identity theft may never happen to one of your senior loved ones – – and we hope it does not. It’s so much easier to take protective steps up front than it is to repair the mess it can become afterward, however, that we should help the seniors in our lives consider and implement those steps. — via Senior Care Corner

Report: Alzheimer’s Cases Could Triple By 2050

Doctors, researchers and public health experts are already bracing for an onslaught of new patients by developing drugs and preparing caregivers for the emotional and physical stress.

“This is an issue that’s going to touch each of us personally or someone that we know and care about,” said Lora Connolly, director of the California Department of Aging, which expects to be serving as many as 1.2 million patients with Alzheimer’s or dementia in the state by 2030. “It won’t happen overnight, but the pressure will continue to mount.” — LA Times, via CommonHealth

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

State Plan for Alzheimer’s Announced at Advocacy Event

The Home Care Alliance and member agencies supported the Alzheimer’s Association’s Advocacy Day on Tuesday at the Grand Staircase of the State House where Secretary of Elder Affairs Ann Hartstein announced the release of the “Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders State Plan.”https://i0.wp.com/www.caring.com/images/ribbons/300_medium-purple-act.gif

HCA Executive Director Pat Kelleher was a steering committee member and chaired a work group that focused on “access to services,” which was instrumental in forming recommendations in the plan. The state will use the recommendations as a guide for taking steps to improve care and access to Alzheimer’s care.

Other speakers at Alzheimer’s Advocacy Day included State Senator Patricia Jehlen, State Representative Alice Wolf, and Dr. Allen Krieger from MIT who has early stage Alzheimer’s. A video of Dr. Krieger’s speech about dealing with the condition is posted on HCA’s YouTube page.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.