Tai Chi-- The Mental Benefits

As we mentioned on Monday, the physical benefits of Tai Chi are extensive–helping to improve balance, increase bone density, and speed up recovery from strokes and heart failure.

As a low-impact exercise, Tai Chi requires very little commitment in terms of physical endurance and strength, making it a great choice for seniors looking to stay active.

The health benefits of Tai Chi actually go far beyond physical health. Because it requires so much mental concentration, it’s a great challenge for both the body and the mind.

According to Bill Douglas, Tai Chi instructor, founder of World Tai Chi & Qigong Day, and author of Stalking the Yang Lu-Chan: Finding Your Tai Chi Body, “Tai chi (and qigong) demonstrate how inextricably interwoven the mental and physical body is… Your mood, your emotional states, and your physical states are all beginning to improve at the same time.

Tai Chi, then, can do much more than improve your (or your loved one’s) physical health. Today, we’re going to round off our introduction to Tai Chi by talking about a few of the mental benefits.

Stress Reduction

Stress is a major factor when it comes to aggravating some health conditions. Because Tai Chi promotes deep breathing and awareness of your body, it helps to relax the mind and body and may even ease depression, something that is very difficult to treat among the elderly.

Lack of sleep can also raise our stress levels. A study published in the July 2008 issue of Sleep found that among 112 healthy older adults with modern sleep complaints, those who enrolled in a 16 week program of Tai Chi reported that their quality and duration of sleep improved significantly more than among those who practiced standard sleep education.

A reduction in stress may also lead to making healthier food choices, in turn helping ease weight gain. Douglas notes that ”A lot of our dietary choices are based on our state of stress and anxiety After a stressful day, we’re hardly ever drawn to steamed broccoli. We crave greasy, salty food that helps us forget about the stress of the day.”

Therefore, as a major stress reducer, Tai Chi can improve your aging loved one’s life significantly.

Exercise for the Brain

According to some studies, Tai Chi can also help to improve cognitive performance and memory.

One study found that among people with early dementia or mild cognitive impairment, Tai Chi had positive effects on their cognitive performance and memory.

A study in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that Tai Chi helped slow the loss of mobility and cognitive function among early-stage Parkinsons patients. The study also noted that the benefits persisted three months after the trial ended.

Tai Chi can do wonders to improve your health, both mentally and physically. And, as a low-impact exercise, it can be practiced by almost anyone. If you’re looking for fun, engaging ways to exercise with your aging parents, Tai Chi is definitely a good place to start.

If you have any questions or concerns about any of the information here, let us know in the comments below or on Twitter. We’re always happy to help!

Physicians’ Choice Private Duty Assisted Living currently serving Omaha, Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa provides seniors and their families a complete understanding of geriatric care options and helps families maneuver through the challenges of the system. Get your free Cost Comparison guide by clicking here. Or contact us for a free consultation or just to say hello!

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An Overview of Tai Chi

One of the exercises we mentioned in our series last week was Tai Chi.

Tai Chi is an internal Chinese martial art designed to exercise the mind and body through a series of gentle, flowing postures that create a kind of synchronized dance.

Practiced for centuries, Tai Chi focuses on mental concentration, integrated with slow, controlled movements to focus the mind that challenge the body.

The meditative aspects of Tai Chi are said to improve the flow of what the Chinese call ”qi” (also spelled ”chi”)–the life energy thought to sustain health and quiet the mind.

The health benefits of Tai Chi are extensive. And because it requires very little commitment in terms of physical endurance and strength, it’s considered to be a great exercise for seniors looking for a low-impact exercise that will keep them active.

Below, we’ve compiled a few of the health benefits Tai Chi offers:

  • Tai Chi is easy: As we mentioned above, Tai Chi is considered a low-impact exercise, which makes it great for people carrying extra weight, or people with joint discomfort and hip limitations.
  • Tai Chi can be done almost anywhere: Unlike many exercises, Tai Chi doesn’t require any equipment or furniture. The only investment you need to make is in your body, which means that you can do it when visiting family or out in public. Sometimes, communities even offer classes free of charge.
  • Tai Chi increases balance: One of the major benefits of Tai Chi is that it improves lower body and leg strength. Tai Chi requires you to be conscious of how you shift your weight, making it a great exercise to improve balance and reduce the risks of falling.
  • Tai Chi promotes faster recovery from strokes and heart attacks: It has also been shown that Tai Chi helps improve the balance of individuals who have suffered a stroke. For individuals who have suffered from heart failure, Tai Chi has been shown to improve their ability to walk, as well as reduce blood levels of B-type natriuretic protein, an indicator of heart failure.
  • Tai Chi increases bone density: Research has also shown that Tai Chi can help maintain bone density in postmenopausal women.

These are just a handful of the many benefits of Tai Chi. In our next post, we w’ll discuss the mental benefits associated with practicing Tai Chi. Until then, if you have any questions, feel free to let us know in the comments below or by connecting with us on Twitter!

Physicians’ Choice Private Duty Assisted Living currently serving Omaha, Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa provides seniors and their families a complete understanding of geriatric care options and helps families maneuver through the challenges of the system. Get your free Cost Comparison guide by clicking here. Or contact us for a free consultation or just to say hello!

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This past week, we’ve given you several health tips–from how to improve your posture, to the benefits of exercise, and the health risks associated with inactivity. To round off the week, we’re going to talk about four areas of fitness that will help you maintain (or even increase) the quality of your life.

Before you begin

 

Before starting any kind of regular exercise routine, make sure that you are taking the proper steps to stay safe in order to maximize the benefits of exercise.

  • Ask your doctor if you are fit enough to commit to a regular routine and ask if there are any activities you should avoid.
  • Think about any pre-existing conditions such as diabetes or heart problems and factor those into your routine.
  • Take small steps to make sure you are easing yourself into your routine. Overworking yourself won’t make you healthier faster. If anything, it can harm you.
  • Make up a routine and set up short-term goals to help you gauge your progress, as well as help boost your self-esteem and help you feel like you accomplishing something.
  • Most importantly, pay attention to your body. If you experience any pain, shortness of breath, or feel dizzy, stop what you are doing and consult your doctor to help you re-evaluate your routine.

Endurance (Aerobic) exercises

 

Cardio exercises help to increase your breathing and heart rate, which in turn helps to lessen fatigue and improve the health of your heart, lungs, and circulatory system. Overall, cardio helps promote independence and improves endurance for ADLs.

 

Exercises include: walking, dancing, swimming, stair climbing, cycling, and tennis.

 

Strength exercises

 

Strength training helps to increase/maintain muscle and bone mass. It also improves balance, which helps to prevent falls. Its benefits include a reduction in body fat, better stability, and helps with daily activities such as lifting objects and other household chores (e.g. getting groceries, opening jars, getting in and out of cars).

 

Exercises include: lifting weights (free weights or machine), and using a resistance band.

Flexibility exercises

 

Flexibility exercises increase your range of movement, allowing you to perform everyday activities such as bending over to tie your shoes, getting into a bathtub, playing with your grandchildren, and looking back while driving.

 

Exercises include: stretching and yoga.

 

Balance exercises

 

Balance exercises are important because they help maintain your stability and improve balance, posture, and proper weight shifting (very important for preventing falls), which in turn makes it easier for you to walk.

 

Exercises include: Tai Chi, as well as the exercise tips we mentioned here.

 

It’s never too late to start exercising. Regardless of how old you (or your parents) are, staying active and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is essential to improving all facets of your life–mental and physical–and keeping you independent and happy.

If you don’t know where to start, try giving Encompass a call. We are always happy to help.

Physicians’ Choice Private Duty Assisted Living currently serving Omaha, Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa provides seniors and their families a complete understanding of geriatric care options and helps families maneuver through the challenges of the system. Get your free Cost Comparison guide by clicking here. Or contact us for a free consultation or just to say hello!

 

 

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Health Tips The Benefits of Exercise (and the Risks of Inactivity)On Monday, we discussed the benefits of improving posture through exercise, and how doing so can help you maintain balance and decrease the risk of falling.

But the benefits of exercise go much further than improving your posture and decreasing the risk of falling. So today, we’re going to talk a little bit more about the benefits of exercising, as well as the health risks associated with inactivity.

The Risks of Inactivity

According to an infographic put out by Evergreen Rehabilitation, only 22% of 39 million people aged 65 or older reported engaging in regular physical activity:

  • It was reported that the average time spent doing physical activity was about .29 hours (17 minutes), whereas the average time spent watching TV was 4.3 hours
  • Studies show that physical inactivity and poor diet are two of the major causes of an epidemic of obesity that is affecting the elderly“contributing to high rates of heart disease and diabetes with 18% of the elderly population being obese, 40% overweight, and 42% at a healthy weight.
  • The infographic also shows that the estimated social cost of obesity is around $117 billion
  • 4 out of 10 reported having difficulty completing at least one basic activity of daily living such as walking long distances, bending over or carrying groceries.

The risk of inactivity, then, goes far beyond falling and can affect a number of areas in your life.

The Benefits of Exercise 

As we mentioned above, exercise can do a lot to help improve the quality of life of the elderly. And, according to the American Council on Exercise, staying active is critical when it comes to aging.

Here are just a few of the benefits of exercise:

  • Exercise prevents Osteoporosis: Currently, Osteoporosis affects around 20 million women and 5 million men, leading to more than 250,000 hip fractures each year. Staying active helps to increase bone density, in turn delaying the onset of Osteoporosis.
  • Exercise improves self-efficiency: As the ACE notes, one of the main concerns of the elderly is becoming dependent and putting unnecessary stress on their loved ones. Exercising helps you maintain independence by allowing you to take on the activities of daily living.
  • Exercise increases metabolism: Through strength training you can increase your muscle mass and along with it, your metabolism. This in turn leads to a reduction in overall body fat percentage.
  • Exercise reduces the incidence of depression: Not only does exercise affect physical health, but mental health as well. Exercising improves self-esteem and the feeling of accomplishment.
  • Exercise helps maintain a healthy heart: Cardiovascular exercise helps to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Exercising can do a lot to increase/maintain the quality of life for the elderly. Though full-on commitment to exercise is best, you’ll start seeing the benefits of exercise even with just a slight increase in activity.

Physicians’ Choice Private Duty Assisted Living currently serving Omaha, Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa provides seniors and their families a complete understanding of geriatric care options and helps families maneuver through the challenges of the system. Get your free Cost Comparison guide by clicking here. Or contact us for a free consultation or just to say hello!

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Health Tips- Why Improving Your Posture Is a Good Idea

Last week, we talked a lot about falls and outlined some research about how we maintain our balance.

And while that research will be very helpful in the future, it doesn’t do much now in helping us prevent falls, which is why today, we’re going to talk about one step you can take to help prevent these kinds of accidents from occurring: improving your posture.

Posture, according to some studies, has a lot to do with how we maintain our balance. One of the main causes of falling“accounting for 41% of total incidents, according to one report is incorrect weight shifting, a result of bad posture.

Recently, the Huffington Post had a great article in its Post50s section that discussed 3 Ways To Improve Your Posture–And Why You Should.

Here are some of the key points taken from the article:

  • The risks associated with weak posture don’t only have to do with falls, but with breathing and joint pain as well. Here is what the article had to say:
  • People with weak posture are more likely to have incidents of cardiovascular and pulmonary issues.
  • Women with bad posture were 1.4 times more likely to die than those whose posture was aligned correctly due to the heart having to pump harder to get blood out of a collapsed chest
  • According to the article, improving your posture can be easy with these various exercises.

Note: It’s always best to consult your doctor before beginning any exercise program.

Other Posture Exercises

Here are two other posture exercises taken from Eldergym.com. For more, visit their site here.

Good Sitting Posture

Before we begin exercising in a chair, we must adjust our posture for proper alignment.

  • Place your feet flat on the floor, sit back in the chair, lift your ribs and place your spine in a neutral position.
  • You can do this by tilting your hips forward and backward until a comfortable position is found.
  • Then, move the middle of your back (including the ribs) forward and back until you feel comfortable.
  • Finally bring your chin forward and back, making sure your head feels balanced and pain free.

Good Standing Posture

Before beginning the standing elderly posture exercise, we must first make sure our spine is comfortably in a neutral position.

  • Begin by standing with your feet shoulder width apart, knees soft and arms held loosely at your sides.
  • Draw your attention to your pelvis. Tilt your pelvis forward and backward until a comfortable position is reached.
  • Next ,bring your attention to your back.
  • Try alternating arching your back with rounding your back until a comfortable “middle ground” is reached and you feel comfortable.
  • Then, bring your chin forward and backward until you reach a happy medium and your head is well balanced on your shoulders.

It probably goes without saying that exercise can do a lot to improve your health, but please make sure you consult a professional to ensure that you are fit enough to do any of these exercises. And as always, if you have any questions for us, let us know in the comments or by connecting with us on Twitter.

Physicians’ Choice Private Duty Assisted Living currently serving Omaha, Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa provides seniors and their families a complete understanding of geriatric care options and helps families maneuver through the challenges of the system. Get your free Cost Comparison guide by clicking here. Or contact us for a free consultation or just to say hello!

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What to Do If You Fall (or See Someone Else Fall)

This past week, we’ve given you a lot of information regarding the research on how we maintain our balance and how the fear of falling may actually increase the risk of falling.

While we’ve given you these facts in hopes of preventing the worst, there’s still the possibility that you or a loved one could fall, which is why it is extremely important to know what to do in such a situation.

In the event that a fall does occur, the Public Health Agency of Canada has compiled scenarios and steps to be taken in each. These are outlined below.

Scenario 1: You have fallen, but believe you can get up

Before you attempt to get up, you should collect your thoughts and take a moment to check and see if you are injured.

If you believe you can get up, here is what the PHAC suggests:

  • Lie on your side, bend the leg that is on top and lift yourself onto your elbows or hands.
  • Pull yourself toward an armchair or other sturdy object, then kneel while placing both hands on the chair or object.
  • Place your stronger leg in front, holding on to the chair or object.
  • Stand up.
  • Very carefully, turn and sit down.

Scenario 2: You have fallen, but believe you cannot get up.

 

If you feel any discomfort or believe you cannot get up, here is what the PHAC suggests:

  • Call out for help if you think you can be heard.
  • If you have an emergency call device or telephone at hand, use it.
  • If you don’t, try to slide yourself towards a telephone or a place where you will be heard.
  • Make noise with your cane or another object to attract attention.
  • Wait for help in the most comfortable position for you.
  • If you can, place a pillow under your head and cover yourself with a piece of clothing or a blanket to stay warm.
  • Try to move your joints to ease circulation and prevent stiffness.

Scenario 3: You’ve witnessed a fall and the individual believes they cannot get up

When you have witnessed a fall, it’s important that you assess the situation before helping. Do not try to get the person up immediately.

If the individual believes they cannot get up, here is what the PHAC suggests:

Call for help and administer first aid if you are able to do so. Help the person find a comfortable position and keep him or her warm using an item of clothing or blanket.

Scenario 4: You’ve witnessed a fall and the individual believes they can get up

Here is what the PHAC suggests:

  • Bring a chair close by, help the person turn onto their side and bend the upper leg, and then help the person into a semi-seated position.
  • Placing yourself behind the person and getting a firm grip on the hips, help the person to a kneeling position with both hands on the chair.
  • Holding on to the chair, the person should then place the stronger leg in front. You may help by guiding his or her leg.
  • With a firm grip on the hips, help the person to stand, then turn and sit on the chair.

A key thing to remember in all of these situations is to stay calm in order to prevent any more injury.

For more information about falls and fall prevention, including visuals, see our brochure here or check out our falls section here. And as always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact us in the comments or on Twitter.

Physicians’ Choice Private Duty Assisted Living currently serving Omaha, Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa provides seniors and their families a complete understanding of geriatric care options and helps families maneuver through the challenges of the system. Get your free Cost Comparison guide by clicking here. Or contact us for a free consultation or just to say hello!

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Studies Show that Fear of Falling is a Risk to the Elderly

Falling has proven to be a very serious risk among the elderly.

With one out of three adults aged 65 and older falling each year–and falls accounting for the number one cause of death and injury among them–it’s no surprise that many seniors have developed a fear of falling.

But what may come as a surprise to many is that the fear of falling may actually increase the risk of falling, along with other consequences affecting the mental and physical health of the elderly.

Here’s what some studies have found regarding fear of falling:

1. Fear of falling leads to increases in social isolation

According to one study, approximately 10% of older adults living independently in the community, including more than 5% of those who have never fallen, experience moderate to severe fear of falling. As a result, the study found that many seniors avoided multiple activities, leading an increase in social isolation.

2. Fear of falling actually boosts the risk of falling

Another study in the British Medical Journal found that 43% (214) out of 500 seniors they surveyed reported one or more falls. The researchers then split the sample into four groups based on the disparity between their actual and perceived risk. This is what they found:

  • While the anxious group had a low risk of falling, the group perceived their risk as high. As a result, among 40% of this group had several falls over the year of the study. Researchers believed that this outlook was linked to an increased likelihood of depressive symptoms, neurotic personality traits and poor physical health.
  • On the other hand, the stoic group had a high risk of falling but did not think they did. Yet, only one in three experienced one or more falls. What researchers found was that this outlook offered some protection against falling and was linked to a positive outlook on life, physical activity, and community participation.

Fear of falling, then, is more than just mental–it can actually influence the fall rate among the elderly.

3. Fear of falling puts seniors at risk for disability

As mentioned in the study above, the fear of falling can be linked to an increase in mental health problems, but beyond depression and anxiety, studies have shown an increased risk in disability, too.

In a study taken among older adults with eye disease, researchers found that seniors who limited their activity due to fear of falling had greater comorbidity. In turn, the study suggested that older adults should stay as mobile as safely possible to help prevent morbidity associated with a sedentary lifestyle, mobility disability and mortality.

While the fear of falling is a very real and serious concern, keeping in mind the consequences and risk of such fears is equally as important.

At Encompass, we provide the knowledge and services that ensure the proper steps are being taken to reduce risks associated with aging. If you’d like to know more about falls among the elderly, you should see our falls section here. And as always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact us in the comments or on Twitter.

Physicians’ Choice Private Duty Assisted Living currently serving Omaha, Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa provides seniors and their families a complete understanding of geriatric care options and helps families maneuver through the challenges of the system. Get your free Cost Comparison guide by clicking here. Or contact us for a free consultation or just to say hello!

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Learning How We Maintain Balance May Help Prevent Falls Among the Elderly

According to an article published by the Wall Street Journal, scientists are currently conducting research as to how we maintain our balance and stability.

Insights into the issue may help doctors better predict peoples risk of falling, leading to improvements in prevention and rehabilitation strategies.

The news should come as a relief to the elderly and their family/caregivers. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, falls are the number one cause of death and injury among people age 65 and older–in 2010 alone, more than two million older people went to an emergency room because of a fall.

Below, we’ve compiled some facts taken from the article to help you better understand the research being conducted.

The body has three main systems that help us stay balanced:

  • The visual system, the proprioceptive system (which helps us sense our body parts), and the vestibular system (which focuses primarily on how the head moves).
  • If at least two of these systems are impaired, people tend to have trouble with balance.
  • As people age, the vestibular system becomes less sensitive and people begin to rely more on their vision, making it harder for the elderly to process information that allows them to correct their missteps.

Researchers are also measuring variations in step–based on stride and how we shift our weight–in order to see how such variations can affect our balance. What they’ve discovered is this:

  • Greater variability in steps, typical among the elderly, could indicate a higher risk of falling.
  • Along with greater variability in steps, researchers have also noticed that older individuals are more at risk from small variations in steps than younger people.

Researchers have also been studying how big of a role the brain plays in balance. What they discovered were neurons in a small region of the cerebellum that respond to the unexpected motion and alert the body to react. Because this is a relatively new discovery, more research needs to be conducted in order to better identify exactly what the brain does in such a situation.

When explaining why an accident occurs, older people often say they tripped or slipped. In order to pinpoint the exact cause(s), researchers placed video cameras throughout a long-term care facility to see what they could find. In the span of three years they recorded 227 falls from 130 individuals.

This is what they discovered:

  • Tripping caused just 1 out of 5 of the incidents.
  • Falls due to incorrect weight shifting, like leaning over too far, made up about 41% of the total.
  • Other reasons included loss of support of an object (guard rail, cane, walker) or bumping into something.

We may still be in the early stages of this research, but it’s great to see what scientists are doing to help improve the lives of the elderly.

If you’d like to know more about falls among the elderly, you should see our falls section here. And as always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact us in the comments or on Twitter.

Physicians’ Choice Private Duty Assisted Living currently serving Omaha, Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa provides seniors and their families a complete understanding of geriatric care options and helps families maneuver through the challenges of the system. Get your free Cost Comparison guide by clicking here. Or contact us for a free consultation or just to say hello!

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SEIU Healthcare Lobby Day 20100324

This past week, we’ve given you a lot of information regarding the rising number of people suffering from dementia and the need to make policy changes in order to ensure quality long-term care.

While we’ve given you those facts, as well as the recommendations put forth by the 2013 World Alzheimer’s Report, we haven’t really talked about the many organizations that are currently putting in a lot of effort to implement those changes.

As an individual, having the time to advocate policy change can be hard, especially when you’re already working hard to improve a loved ones life. And that’s why these organizations are specifically dedicated to addressing such issues on behalf of those affected by the policies.

To learn more about what they are doing to make a change, take a look below:

Eldercare Workforce Alliance

The Eldercare Workforce Alliance represents 28 national organizations looking to address the ongoing workforce crisis affecting eldercare. Through research and proposed practical solutions, the alliance concentrates primarily on ways to strengthen and solve problems affecting the eldercare workforce, which in turn improves the quality of care for the elderly.

Their e-newsletters are particularly helpful in keeping you up to date on what they are doing.

The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care

The Consumer Voice works to ensure that families and individuals seeking long-term care are properly heard by those representing them at a national level, often speaking on their behalf when it comes to advocating public policies.

The National Long-Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center

A part of the Consumer Voice, the National LTC Ombudsman Resource Center works to ensure long-term care seekers are heard, but does so by providing an expansive network of Ombudsmen from around the nation.

In the event that an individual you know feels mistreated, the center gives you the necessary information you need to contact your areas appointed ombudsman.

Long Term Care Community Coalition

The LTCCC is a network of organizations and individuals from around the nation looking to implement policy changes to long-term care on the federal and state level.

Their Publications page and News Room page provide a wealth of information when it comes to understanding the laws behind the long-term care system.

The Commonwealth Fund

According to their mission statement, the Commonwealth Fund “aims to promote a high performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society’s most vulnerable.

While the foundation works on a variety of health issues and policies, it has done quite a bit to improve long-term care. See their publications for more.

Altarum Institute

Similar to the Commonwealth Fund, the Altarum Institute also works to provide solutions to the issues faced by health systems by providing research and consulting.

This list is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many organizations some even at the state and local level looking to create a better environment for the elderly and their family, so even with all of the eye-opening numbers we given you this week, it is good to know that there are people who care to make a change.

Are there any organizations you think we should have mentioned? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter.

Physicians’ Choice Private Duty Assisted Living currently serving Omaha, Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa provides seniors and their families a complete understanding of geriatric care options and helps families maneuver through the challenges of the system. Get your free Cost Comparison guide by clicking here. Or contact us for a free consultation or just to say hello!

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More Must-Know Information from 2013 Report on Alzheimer's

On Monday, we outlined some key points taken from the 2013 World Alzheimer Report. Two of those emphasized the importance of placing higher value on the caregiver.

As a refresher, here those key points:

  • Caregivers should be valued more i.e., governments should offer payments directly to family caregivers. Likewise, caregiving professionals should be paid more.
  • To reduce stress and ensure better care, family caregivers should receive more education, training, support, and respite.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, the single most important determinant of quality dementia care across all care settings is direct care staff. Yet, as their 2013 report notes, caregivers have come across quite a few obstacles preventing them from improving and maintaining quality care.

Because of the significant role that caregivers play in determining quality dementia care, we thought that we would tell you some of the facts behind those key points, in order to provide some context behind those recommendations.

Here are some more facts taken from the 2013 report:

Lack of proper training:

  • Currently, the federal minimum for training nursing aides is at 75 hours. That requirement has not changed since it was mandated in 1987, despite the growing complexities in care giving. Although, the report does note that many states have higher numbers of required hours.
  • While 73% of social workers have clients age 55 and older and around 8% of social workers are directly employed in long-term care settings, only 4% percent have formal certification in geriatric social work.
  • While 77% of those surveyed received training with refreshers and 38% had a National Vocational Qualification in dementia care, more than a fifth felt that they needed a lot more training.

Lack of adequate wages:

According to the report, the median hourly wages for caregivers were as follows:

  • $11.06 for hospital aides
  • $9.13 for nursing home aides
  • $8.50 for home health aides.
  • 22% of direct care workers relied on public health insurance, lacking private sector or employer insurance.

Lack of adequate wages for caregivers can result in workers taking on multiple jobs in order to provide a sufficient living wage. In turn, this leaves caregivers with less time to commit to elder care.

High turnover rates:

  • According to the report, the most direct consequence of the low profile, status and valuation of direct care work is a high turnover of staff.
  • In a 2002 national survey, 37 of 43 states reported serious shortages of direct care workers, and studies of turnover report annual rates ranging from 25% to well over 100%.
  • In turn, an analysis taken from 87 studies between 1975-2003 showed that there was a relationship between high staff turnover and an increase in health problems among residents such as a lower functional ability, a higher incidence of pressure ulcers, and greater weight loss.

Placing higher value on the caregiver is extremely important when it comes to ensuring better care for people with dementia.

Coupled with the looming shortage of caregivers–something we’ve mentioned in previous posts (see here and here)–it’s essential that we try to retain the caregivers we have.

Do you think that we’re all taking the right steps towards valuing our caregivers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter.

Physicians’ Choice Private Duty Assisted Living–currently serving Omaha, Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa–provides seniors and their families a complete understanding of geriatric care options and helps families maneuver through the challenges of the system. Get your free Cost Comparison guide by clicking here. Or contact us for a free consultation or just to say hello!

Photo credit: Alzheimer’s Disease International

“Physicians’ Choice Private Duty Assisted Living solves the challenges families face in caring for aging parents, with a focus on strategies that keep them in their homes. To learn more about our solutions, visit http://www.private-duty.pchhc.com.”