|
|
Tough
Choices: Changing Lives with Shared Decision-Making
|
|
|
"Caregivers
and other trusted individuals close to the patient should be
considered as partners in the decision-making process, as
caregiver support is critical for LVAD patients. Our role as
caregivers is to fully understand what is at stake, and if we
accept our role, be an advocate, supporting our patient’s wishes
for the way they will live and the way they will die."
Wendy
Keller was a beloved sister, mother, and grandmother who was
diagnosed with heart failure of unknown cause. About a year after
her diagnosis, she suffered a cardiac arrest and had a left
ventricular assist device (LVAD) implanted. The device extended
her life by seven months but during that time she suffered
multiple complications.
Wendy,
her daughter Melinda, and her sister Ginny, all have devoted
their careers to improving the quality of healthcare. After
Wendy’s death, Melinda and Ginny vowed to use their background
and experience to help other patients with heart failure and their
families. In doing so, they’ve shared their perspectives as
stakeholders on the PCORI-funded DECIDE-LVAD trial, a project
that aims to promote uptake of its findings to improve shared
decision making about LVAD implantation.
From: Patient-Centered Outcomes
Research Institute | August 2, 2019
|
|
|
Getting a Parent with Dementia the Best
Long-Term Care for the Money
"Liz
Kozlowski and her staff at Brookdale Senior Living’s Westlake
Village, outside of Cleveland, knew that resident Ed Petrigac
and his wife Yvonne had started an auto parts business. But it
wasn’t until they read his life story that they
realized he also had a love of cars. That knowledge helped the
staff provide better, more patient-centered care for Petrigac,
a Korean War veteran who lived in the facility’s memory-care
unit.
And,
based on a recent independent study conducted through a grant
for my firm, MemoryWell, familiarizing professional caregivers
with residents’ life stories can be impactful for the people
with dementia in long-term care — and their
families."
From:
Next Avenue | AUGUST 16, 2019
|
|
|
|
|
Aging Baby Boomers Raise the Risk of a Long-Term
Care Crisis
"Taking
care of the aging population is a crisis in the making, and no
one — not families, not government programs, and not the
healthcare workforce — is prepared for it.
The
big picture: Providing healthcare to aging Baby Boomers
will strain Medicare's finances, but the problem is even bigger
than that.
Long-term
care— the kind of services typically performed in a nursing
home or by a home health aide — largely falls through the
cracks of both public and private health insurance, saddling
seniors and their families with financial and emotional burdens
they often didn't anticipate or plan for."
From:
Business Insider | August 19, 2019
|
|
|
|
|
|
Help
Re-authorize the Older Americans Act with n4a's
Advocacy
Toolkit!
|
|
|
The
Older Americans Act (OAA) connects older Americans and their
caregivers to services that help older adults age with health,
dignity, and independence in their homes and communities.
In 2019,
Congress must reauthorize this vital federal program that serves
every community in the country. With the rapid growth of
America’s aging population, it is essential that Congress hear
from local aging advocates, like you, about making wise
investments in critical OAA programs and services.
|
|
|
|
With
n4a’s advocacy tools and resources, you can ensure that your
voice is heard on OAA reauthorization! The Older Americans Act
expires on September 30, 2019, and securing a bipartisan
reauthorization is the top policy priority of n4a. As n4a's
campaign expands and advances, you can keep checking back on
their website for updates, resources, and ways you can help.
|
|
|
Caregivers: Expectations and Lifestyle
Sacrifices
I
Are
middle-income Baby Boomers prepared for the possibility of
providing care during their retirement? Bankers Life Center for
a Secure retirement has recently released new data as a
supplement to their initial study, A
Growing Urgency: Retirement Care Realities for Middle-Income
Boomers.
This
data new data highlights the urgency for individuals in the
Baby Boomer generation to plan on taking on caregiving duties
during their retirement.
"According
the U.S. Census, by 2035, older generations are projected to
outnumber children for the first time in U.S. history. Who will
take care of this aging population? What lifestyle changes are
to be expected? Do caregivers and care recipients see eye to
eye?"
|
|
|
|
|
Helping Employers Support and Retain Working
Caregivers
I
Did
you know more than 60% of America's 40 million family
caregivers balance work on top of their caregiving duties?
That's why AARP has partnered with Northeast Business Group to
offer a free toolkit for employers to better support the
caregivers in their workplace.
The
toolkit, Supporting Caregivers in the Workplace: A Practical
Guide for Employers, includes an overview of the challenges
faced by working caregivers, steps on how to create a caregiving-friendly
worklpace, and resources for employers and working caregivers.
AARP
also offers additonal programs to encourage caregiver frendly
workplaces across the country. Click HERE to
find out more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
UPCOMING WEBINAR!
"Extra Help" for Prescription Drug Costs
Under Medicare’s Low Income Subsidy (LIS)
|
|
August 27, 2019 | 2-3:30 PM ET
Online
|
|
|
Please
join this webinar for the launch of NAC's virtual toolkit on
applying for "Extra Help" with prescription drug costs
under Medicare's Low Income Subsidy (LIS). The webinar will
feature a guest presentation on the LIS program by the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Learn
more about "Extra Help" HERE.
|
|
|
FOLLOW US
TO STAY CURRENT ON CAREGIVING!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
