During the day, we wondered what we could do to keep her busy and also to keep her safe. We found out about The Friendship House in Alexandria, Louisiana. This is an adult daycare center for the elderly. The Friendship House truly made it possible for grandma to live with us, yet have appropriate care while we were working. We would drop her off after the smallest child had been delivered to daycare, and then we would pick her up as soon as we collected the last child in the afternoon. The Friendship House had activities designed for people like her. She could paint, bowl, sing, watch TV, knit, and they even had a walking track. She really enjoyed the time she spent with her contemporaries during the day, and she looked forward to going home with her family in the afternoons.

She was very active and spritely for a 90 year-old. We took her on vacations and camping; we took her shopping and to the beauty shop; we took her to the lake and to church. She always dressed up and everyone loved talking with her. She was interested in everyone.

Besides giving the children a chance to know their great grandmother, having her in our home taught our children so many things. We had three generations living under one roof at the same time, and it gave our children a chance to see and hear about a different kind of life. This woman who was born at the beginning of the century was a history lesson in the flesh. She entertained them with stories of her early life, explaining how people lived and worked and played in a different era. And while we as working parents were sometimes too busy to hear about the kids’ daily adventures, grandma was always an available and willing listener.

But she also taught them something else, something more intrinsic and important. She taught them gentleness and complete acceptance. She taught them the joy of having someone’s complete attention. And by loving them so wholeheartedly and unselfishly, she taught them how to willingly, even eagerly, make sacrifices to accommodate her frailties. And finally, her passing taught them about letting go and looking forward to a heavenly reunion. Having her in our home blessed us far more than it did her.

Sometimes there is an alternative to nursing home care, and I encourage anyone to look into it as the reward can substantially outweigh any inconvenience to the household.

In my ongoing research, I recently found a dependable tool that can help you to narrow your search for an appropriate nursing home within the parameters you have deemed most important to you and your family. It is an official United States government website put out by the United States Department of Health and Human Services to assist individuals in finding and comparing appropriate nursing home care in their area. This website rates nursing homes based on health inspections, staffing, and quality measures. It also provides an overall rating to each nursing home, provides the address and telephone number for nursing homes, and gives travel directions. The website lists whether the nursing home accepts Medicare and/or Medicaid, the number of certified beds in the facility, the type of ownership, and whether the nursing home is a corporation, individually owned, for profit, or nonprofit.

The website is very easy to use and has detailed information about every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home in the country. You can find nursing homes within your state, county, or city. You can also locate a home by using their name or you simply use a certain distance within your zip code.

This site allows you to make preliminary decisions by comparing issues that you as an individual are not normally privy to. Once choices have been narrowed using this website, I encourage people to get personally involved in the selection process: Discuss the issue with your doctor or healthcare provider; ask family and friends; inspect the facility; and last, but not least, make impromptu visits to the nursing homes under consideration, perhaps speaking with current residents or family of residents. This website is a great tool that can help you decide what is best for your loved one when they are no longer capable of independent living.

The newspaper analysis found the lowest rated homes had an average of 14 deficiencies per facility, including quality of life measures and safety violations. Larry Minnix also stated

 “If homes are not motivated to get better, chances are they won’t, and you’ll end up in homes in poor quality purgatory”. “There should be two types of homes: the excellent and the non-existent”.

 Before putting a love one in a nursing home, request a copy of their ratings and refuse to put them in homes with one or two star ratings. Corporate America only understands the almighty dollar and if people demand quality care or they will go elsewhere, things will change.

Falls account for the majority of the injuries in nursing homes. The smart system is designed to help prevent falls and if a patient does exit a bed when they should not be doing so then the patient can be reminded to stay in bed by a nurse through the room television. The new technology will not eliminate all falls but should greatly reduce them. The system can also be used to monitor nursing home abuse.

All long term facilities should have this type of smart system as our population is getting older and more people are relying on nursing homes and long term care facilities. If you have a love one in a nursing home or a long term care facility be sure to ask the administration if they have a system in place to help with fall prevention.

To me, it all starts with a common sense approach. Typically, I to go to the scene of the accident to get a feel or visual of what the potential client is claiming caused the accident. This could be an intersection in a private parking lot where there are no signs or marking to show who has the right-of-way, it could be parking stops that are not painted, or it could be a failure by an individual or a company to provide adequate warning on products, etc.

I put myself in the shoes of the injured party and go to the scene of the accident and question whether it was reasonable for the person to be injured in the way they claim. I have to firmly believe in a case before I take the case and invest time, energy, and money.

By preventing accidents, individuals avoid needless pain and suffering, medical bills, and a loss of enjoyment of life. It is certainly gratifying to see that as a result of your efforts, changes are being made that will prevent future accidents to someone ranging from small children to elderly patients in a nursing home.

According to a report supplied to the Associated Press, which was compiled by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, nearly 125,000 young and middle-aged adults with serious mental illness lived in nursing homes last year.

This is an increase of 41% from 2002. Younger mentally ill people now make up 9% of all nursing home residents. This is up from 6% in 2002. This is a recipe for disaster.

Every year, there are numerous attacks by younger mentally ill residents on frail elderly residents often resulting in serious injury and death. While the staff at nursing homes are trained to care for the sick and frail they are often not trained to deal with the mentally ill. As a result, elderly residents are often left unsupervised with younger mentally ill residents.

Elderly patients often live in fear with no place to go except to escape to the privacy of their own rooms. They are afraid to mingle with the other residents especially if there are individuals screaming and yelling day and night. The lack of hospital psychiatric beds and the nursing homes’ desire to fill empty beds are part of the reason for the increase of mentally ill individuals in nursing homes. This is no excuse.

If these are the primary reasons for commingling the two, then we need more funding for the mentally ill. Both the mentally ill and the elderly need our protection. Our lawmakers need to ensure both have respect and dignity and receive the best possible care. Each have their special and unique needs.

Contact your lawmakers and let them know about your concerns and ask them to enact laws to protect the elderly and the mentally ill.

Due to loss revenues from the economic downturn, the state has $1.3 billion dollars less to start the new fiscal year that begins July 1st. As a consequence, Governor Jindal is proposing a budget cut to the Department of Health and Hospitals from $8.17 billion dollars to $7.76 billion dollars.

These cuts will greatly affect the state’s elderly, poor and uninsured citizens. These individuals rely heavily on the state’s Medicaid health insurance program, which will take the biggest cuts.

At a time when the state needs to beef up its health care system, Louisiana lawmakers do what they normally do – make cuts that effect it’s most vulnerable citizens.

Wake up, Louisiana! Look at our health care and educational ratings. If we really want a place to live with a decent quality of life, then we must have basic services such as health care and a decent school system! It’s time to look at other areas to tighten the belt and leave health care and education alone.

According to Gary Curtis , head of the Louisiana Health Care Review, in Louisiana 2 out of every 10 chronically ill patients are back in the hospital within 30 days of their release. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the re-admission and subsequent treatment add an additional $12 billion annually  in Medicare cost on a nationwide basis.

Louisiana Health Care Review will be the entity leading the project. They will provide, with the patient’s consent, a transition coach who will provide one-on-one contact with the patients. The patients learns what questions to ask the doctors, understand their medical conditions including their personal health records, learn their medications, learn what to eat upon discharge, what are acceptable activities and symptoms of relapse. The main focus is on pneumonia, heart attack and congestive heart failure patients.

It is good to see that there are groups out there that are trying to curb health care cost as well as attempting to keep people healthier. If successful, the program will likely be a model for the entire U.S.

Keep up the good work, Louisiana!

Power outages are common during storms such as Gustav, Rita and Katrina. Nursing homes residents and hospital patients generally have failing health, are frail and are medically needy. Most are evacuated if they are in the direct path of a storm. However, many end up in central Louisiana and north Louisiana, which can sustain severe wind and water damage.

Power outages can last days or even weeks. For a medically compromised person, 98 degree heat can be fatal. Currently, the Department of Health and Hospitals require these facilities to have small generators to operate refrigerators and medical equipment. Many of these facilities cannot afford large generators to operate air conditioners.

Having experienced four days without power during Gustav, I know the heat can be terrible and surely can be life threatening for sick or frail individuals.

I applaud the State’s effort to protects its citizens in their time of need.  The State is applying for the money through the Federal  Emergency  Management Agency’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Hopefully the generators can be in place for the 2009 hurricane season.

They generally start with a small red area and if not attended to can progress very rapidly into open sores. Once developed they can be staged according to their size and depth. The sores are usually found on the back, tail bone, hips, elbows and head. Patients in long term care facilities often have other medical conditions which further complicate recovery from bed sores and pressure ulcers. This is more the reason for prevention. Patients need to be turn and rotated on a regular basis to relieve pressure points. They should be observed and inspected to prevent red areas from becoming open sores. Neglect and improper nursing care are key reasons for development of bed sores. For some patients a special bed is needed to prevent them.

If you have a love one in a nursing home make sure they are receiving adequate care to prevent sores. If they do develop, be sure there is a qualified wound care specialist on staff. They are preventable and our love ones should not have to suffer with them.

Anyone who has knowledge of a resident of a nursing home being abused, neglected or denied care or treatment may make a complaint. In Louisiana, the agency responsible for investigating complaints is the Department of Health and Hospitals, Health Standards Section. A complaint is preferably made in writing but can be phoned in. Their toll free number is 1-888-810-1819. The mailing address is DHH, Health Standard Section, P. O. Box 3767 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821. A form is provided at the Department’s web site.

Once a complaint is made, the department reviews the complaint and if it is found reasonable, an investigation is commenced. The person who filed the complaint is then notified of the results. If the nursing home is found with any violations, corrective actions must then be taken or they are subject to fines and revocation of their license. The names of the complainant and the resident are not disclosed without their written consent Retaliatory action against complainant or resident is strictly prohibitive.

Help stop nursing home abuse and neglect. If you suspect abuse or neglect file your complaint. As an attorney for nearly 20 years, I have seen and provided legal representation for victims of nursing home abuse and neglect, and understand how important it is to take action!

Having nearly 20 years of handling claims for injured people including victims of nursing home abuse and neglect, I applaud Iberia Bank, the Housing Foundation and Crimestoppers for their work and support. Senior citizens are often the most vulnerable members of our society and as such need the support and respect they deserve.