Life Done Right™

Employers have to make tough choices these days. Hire here or abroad? Pay a fixed pension or not? Contribute to health insurance or not? Now throw in whether they need to grant a leave of absence to an employee who is faced with caring for an aging relative. Is it the employer’s problem that so [...]

© New England Journal of Medicine
This is just the kind of story that people absolutely 100% want to believe is true: a cat that has special powers to divine when a nursing home patient is about to die. Whether there’s any truth to it doesn’t matter. The idea of a cat jumping on a patient’s [...]

Ready for some depressing news: “A bout of depression may raise the risks of developing dementia later in life.” That’s right. Researchers have found a link between the chemistry produced by depression and its effect on our brains later in life. It’s astounding that the mind remembers what the memory forgets. Keep moving, man, otherwise [...]

When a private equity firm like the Carlyle Group buys a nursing home chain like Manor Home, you know there must a set of financials that make Niagara Falls look like a piker when it comes to earning money on the investment. The motive for this deal comes from your beloved government; you know, the [...]

Ask yourself a question: If your child was disabled at an early age and required help with daily living activities, where would you expect to find that care? Try your local nursing home — on a full time basis. That’s the state of Medicaid, which pays the bills. Is it fair that a 15-year-old kid [...]

It’s always nice to see scientists reach that ah-ha moment and make a significant discovery that changes all of humankind. A new Alzheimer’s Disease drug dubbed CAD106 is being touted as a real breakthrough drug that just might stop the disease. Great news that can’t come soon enough!
A jab to halt Alzheimer’s could be available [...]

The burden of caring for older parents takes its toll one way or another, but usually on the caregiver’s own health for sure. Companies have started to pay attention to the fact that all that caregiving leads to a loss of productivity. It’s a serious issue. One tidbit from the article: “The stresses of caregiving [...]

There’s a new drug in town to battle Alzheimer’s Disease. It goes by the name, Dimebon, an old antihistamine drug that has shown promising results in treating the symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease. Wyeth must be envious of Medivation for scooping their research thunder. This is a rare instance where the rush to find a drug [...]

Caring for seniors as the reach the age of dependence usually falls on nursing homes or hospitals. The cost of this care is expensive. Evercare, a health insurance company, thinks nurse practitioners may be one answer to reducing this cost. Of course, you have to pay Evercare a premium for this service. Remember our motto: [...]

Kids these days rarely live near their parents or grandparents. The whole notion of an extended family pretty much disappeared when corporations became global players, with offices all over the world. The old mom and pop businesses gave way to the “vertically-integrated” chains like Staples, Toys R Us, and Boston Market. The downside: nobody’s home [...]

The National Family Caregiver Support Program provides states with Federal Grants to help caregivers in their daily chores of looking after seniors who are no longer capable of living on their own. This grant was awarded to programs in North Carolina. Nice to see some of that taxpayer ching providing a real service instead [...]

A couple of grim reapers from MadTV made an appearance at a retirement home. Watch as they give a demonstration of “krumping, a style of dancing consisting of various chest pops, stomps, and arm swings.” Let me know when you stopped laughing…or never did.
Source: Urban Dictionary

A cell phone camera may be responsible for several nude photos of some nursing home residents that arrived in care of a sister. No word on whether the photos were emailed or mailed. The shenanigans that go in nursing homes never ceases to amaze me, especially when you consider how damn expensive they are; all [...]

© Gilles Barbier, L’Hospice (2002)
Where do superheros go when they retire? Gilles Barbier imagines them in a nursing home. Check out Superman with his walker and Wonderwoman standing beside Captain America on a gurney. C’est tragique, non?
Click here to view the full image

Meet Geri, a geriatric patient mannequin that “over 35 nursing and medical procedures, such as catheterization and prostate examination can be demonstrated and practiced on” in the comfort of your classroom. If you study the image above, you’ll appreciate one commenter who noted, “I didn’t know that old people had TWO penises?”
Purchase Geri (he’s on [...]

With the help of a friend, Paul Gordon, 92, videotaped his performance playing a jazz piece on his homemade piano. If you have grandkids, get them to record your stories and special talents before you check out. History no longer needs to be silent. Pass your wisdom and mistakes on to the next generation in [...]

Away From Her offers an unusual glimpse into Alzheimer’s Disease. It portrays a couple that have lived their whole lives together for forty years. The wife suffers from Alzheimer’s Disease and ends up in a nursing home after being “lost” yet again.
Here’s the kicker, while she’s in the nursing home, she begins to turn [...]

This is one delicious fact: “A survey of 100 people aged 99 years and older released earlier this month by U.S. health care co-ordinator Evercare found four percent of respondents had listened to music on an iPod.” The iPod revolution is bringing new life to those stuck in a nursing home. With little or no [...]

Caregiving is one of those altruistic behaviors that defy human logic, at least from the point of view of how best to spend your limited time on the planet. Honestly, who, by choice, would find it enjoyable to take care of someone dying when they could be involved with people who are out having a [...]

Announcement:
Alzheimer Day was established to showcase Alzheimer’s research conducted at Northwestern and bring this information to the community. The day begins with a lecture by an outstanding researcher followed by 45-50 poster presentations by Northwestern clinicians and scientists who are conducting basic science, clinical and social science research in addition to developing new programs and [...]