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Vial of L.I.F.E.

Emergency medical workers called to a home where a victim is alone can lose precious minutes trying to gather information about the person’s medications, allergies and illnesses. “Vial of LIFE” kits can help.

In 2008 the Medic One Foundation teamed up with Bartell Drugs to implement the Vial of L.I.F.E. program in King and Snohomish Counties. This program is designed to provide vital information to first responders in emergency situations. Thus, the acronym L.I.F.E. stands for “Lifesaving Information for Emergencies.”

Use of the Vial can benefit seniors and disabled individuals and is invaluable in medical emergencies when no one is able to communicate with the responders.

Each Vial of L.I.F.E. kit includes:

• A medical information form, on which you fill out such information as medical conditions, current medications, emergency contacts, insurance, and hospital preference. (It is important to keep the form up to date.)
• A five inch plastic vial. You place the completed medical form in the vial and then place it on the top shelf inside your refrigerator door. The vial is large enough to hold a copy of your durable power of attorney for health care and/or pre-hospital do-not-resuscitate form.
• A Wallet Card.
• A Vial of L.I.F.E. sticker, to be placed on the front door of your home or an adjacent window.
• A Vial of L.I.F.E. magnet to be placed on the outside of your refrigerator. The sticker and magnet inform emergency responders that you have a completed Vial of L.I.F.E.
• Instructions regarding use of the Vial.

The Vial of L.I.F.E. is available for purchase for $1.00 at Bartell Drug stores in King and Snohomish counties, generally in the pharmacy department. Persons with questions about the Vial of L.I.F.E. or non-residents of King and Snohomish counties who desire to obtain a vial should contact the Medic One Foundation through their web site or by phone at (206) 744-9425.

Projects similar to the Vial of L.I.F.E. are in existence in communities throughout the nation. The Bellevue Network on Aging and the Kirkland Senior Council have helped with the distribution of vials and publicity for the program in Bellevue and Kirkland. If you are interested in starting a program in your community, contact the Medic One Foundation at 206-744-9425.

Source: AARP.org

Contact Pure Home Care Services at (586) 293-2457 today!  If you live in Sterling Heights or the surrounding area, we can help you care for your loved ones.

Study Says Stroke Victims Taking Longer to Get to Hospital

Prompt medical care needed for drugs to work

There’s only about a four-hour window for getting a clot-busting drug that can effectively treat a stroke, but a new study shows that many stroke victims are still not getting to the hospital fast enough to take advantage of the drug.

In fact, an analysis of 114,420 stroke patients by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that patients are getting to theemergency room even slower than they did in 2005.

The CDC researchers found that almost 44 percent of patients who had strokes between 2005 and 2010 took more than 4.5 hours to get to the emergency room after their first symptoms. That’s up from the almost 40 percent who hesitated before going to the hospital in 2005.

At the same time, the percentage of stroke victims who got to the hospital within two hours also decreased — from 40 percent in 2005 to 35 percent in 2010 — another sign that people may not understand the need to get prompt medical care.

About 795,000 Americans suffer a stroke each year, according to the CDC. The most common type (87 percent of all strokes) is ischemic stroke, caused by a blockage in the blood flow to the brain.

Study lead author Mary G. George, medical officer in the CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, said the new findings indicate that people need to learn the warning signs of stroke and the importance of calling 911. The longer people wait, the more brain damage a stroke can cause.

The study findings also indicated a slight drop in the number of people calling for an ambulance to take them to the hospital, possibly because not all insurance plans cover EMS.

“This is a perennial problem,” says Larry B. Goldstein, director of the Duke Stroke Center, who was not involved in the study. “Someone has to recognize a stroke is occurring and that they need to call 911.”

Goldstein says that “a number of studies” show that people who use EMS get to the hospital quicker and get better care than other patients “usually because the 911 system contacts the hospital while the patient is en route,” allowing the emergency room to prepare for that patient.

Stroke symptoms, according to the National Stroke Association, include sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body; confusion, trouble speaking or understanding; trouble seeing from one or both eyes; trouble walking, dizziness or loss of balance; and a sudden severe headache with no known cause.

Goldstein says stroke education should also target younger people, who often are with the older, higher-risk patients when a stroke occurs. “With brain injury, the patient may not even be able to recognize the symptoms,” he notes.

The study was presented last month at the American Stroke Association annual meeting in New Orleans.

Source: AARP.org

Contact Pure Home Care Services at (586) 293-2457 today!  If you live in Sterling Heights or the surrounding area, we can help you care for your loved ones.

6 Fabulous Foods to Fight High Blood Pressure

The good news: They’re some of your favorites

New science is changing the way people 50 and older judge their blood pressure, and a slew of new studies on foods and hypertension suggest it may be easier than you thought to reduce high blood pressure.

Pain medications can ease suffering — but they can also be deadly. Here’s how to be safe.

In May 2008, Mable Mosley, then 68, arrived in the emergency room of west Florida’s Brandon Region ­ al Hospital, complaining of neck and shoulder pain. Her husband, Alvie, a retired construction worker, stayed by his wife’s side as a doctor examined her.

On a scale of 0 to 10, Mable’s pain reached a level 8, so the ER doctor prescribed three pain medications: Toradol, morphine sulfate, and Dilaudid. Mable’s pain dropped to a 1, but later that day she was admitted to the hospital by her primary care physician, who ordered a 50-microgram Duragesic fentanyl patch, a powerful, extended-release narcotic absorbed through the skin. This was followed the next day by a higher, 75-microgram fentanyl patch, and then the next day by a 100-microgram patch and Neurontin, a nonnarcotic drug used to treat pain caused by nerve injury. “I’m not saying she wasn’t hurting real bad. She was,” recalls Alvie. “But after getting the first medications in the ER, she felt much better.”

At midnight on her third day in the hospital, Mable Mosley stopped breathing; she was resuscitated but died several days later. To a grief-stricken Alvie, the cause of his wife’s death seemed obvious: An overdose of pain medications killed her. A year and a half after her death, he filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the hospital, the pharmacists, and the doctors who had treated her.

From 1999 through 2007, the number of unintentional overdose deaths from prescription opioid painkillers — such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, methadone, and the fentanyl patch — more than tripled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, these painkillers have now surpassed heroin and cocaine as the leading cause of fatal overdoses.

That’s not to say every prescription painkiller is bad; quite the opposite. “When prescribed appropriately and taken as directed, these drugs ease great suffering in patients with other ­ wise severe chronic and postoperative pain,” says Robert J. Friedman, M.D., a neurologist and pain specialist at the Palm Beach–based Headache & Pain Center. But take too many painkillers, or combine them with potent sedatives — as actor Heath Ledger did in 2008 — and they can be fatal.

Source: AARP.org

Contact Pure Home Care Services at (586) 293-2457 today!  If you live in Sterling Heights or the surrounding area, we can help you care for your loved ones.

There’s mounting evidence that regular use is risky for older people

Most of us don’t think twice about taking a nonprescription pain reliever to ease a headache or soreness that might follow a game of tennis, but there is growing evidence that commonly used painkillers such as Advil can trigger heart attacks or strokes in some people.

These nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), a diverse group that also includes Motrin and prescription varieties like Celebrex and Voltaren, have been used for decades.

Common NSAIDs

Brand name / Generic

• Advil / ibuprofen
• Celebrex / celecoxib
• Voltaren / diclofenac
• Aleve / naproxen*

* In the recent Danish study, naproxen (Aleve) was found to be safer than the others.

Now there is strong evidence that many of them raise risks of heart problems, says Elliott Antman, M.D., a cardiologist and professor at Harvard Medical School.

Several new studies underscore a growing awareness of the problem.

In Denmark, a team led by Anne-Marie Schjerning Olsen, M.D., a research cardiologist at Copenhagen University Hospital, reviewed medical records for nearly 84,000 heart attack survivors, 42 percent of whom reported using NSAIDs.

According to a paper published last May in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association, the team found more cases of second heart attacks and strokes among the NSAID users — except for those taking naproxen (Aleve) after as little as a week. Researchers reported last year that NSAIDs raised the general risk for heart attacks even in apparently healthy people. The painkillers have also been linked with stomach bleeding and kidney failure.

Although many doctors endorse the short-term use of the common painkillers when there are no other pain-relief alternatives, the study authors decided there is no safe amount of time to take NSAIDs, according to Olsen.

In July, American and other Danish researchers reported in the British Medical Journal that new NSAID users faced an increased risk of a dangerous heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation. The risk was higher among older patients, those usingcelecoxib (Celebrex) and people with chronic kidney problems.

At the University of Florida College of Medicine, doctors who studied the records of older patients enrolled in a trial of competing blood pressure drugs found that longtime regular NSAID users faced a nearly 50 percent higher chance of death, heart attack or stroke.

Source: AARP.org

Contact Pure Home Care Services at (586) 293-2457 today!  If you live in Macomb County or the surrounding area, we can help you care for your loved ones.

A Talk with An Elder Driver

In the next 20 years, the population of people age 65 and older is expected to reach 70 million. Many of these will be drivers. In fact, right now, there are about 30 million licensed drivers age 65 or older.

People under age 75 have relatively low crash involvement. However, after age 75, this changes because these drivers may have health conditions or take medications that negatively affect their driving abilities, and this can put them and other road users at risk.

These drivers may not be aware of these changes, or they may not be willing to admit them – to themselves or to others – including family members. Or in the case of people with cognitive impairments like dementia; they don’t necessarily have the insight to recognize poor performance.

Many family members or caregivers wonder what they should do if they think a loved one’s driving skills have diminished. And that’s the dilemma. Family members don’t know how to assess their loved one’s driving abilities. They dread approaching an older loved one to discuss whether he or she needs to modify his or her driving habits or even stop driving.

However, older drivers and their loved ones and caregivers need to take a realistic, ongoing inventory of the older driver’s skills and openly discuss them. Family members need to remember one very important thing: many older drivers look at driving as a form of independence. Bringing up the subject of their driving abilities can make some drivers defensive, angry, hurt, or withdrawn. Be prepared with observations and questions, listen with an open mind, and be prepared to offer possible transportation alternatives.

If you answer “yes” to any of the following questions, you might need to talk about driving with an older driver:

• Does he or she get lost on routes that should be familiar?
• Have you noticed new dents, scratches, or other damage to his or her vehicle?
• Has he or she been warned by a police officer, about poor driving performance, or received a ticket for a driving violation
• Has he or she experienced a near miss or crash recently?
• Has his or her doctor advised him or her to limit or stop driving due to a health reason?
• Is he or she overwhelmed by signs, signals, road markings, and everything else he or she needs to focus on when driving?
• Does he or she take any medication that might affect his or her capacity to drive safely?
• Does he or she stop inappropriately and/or drive too slowly, preventing the safe flow of traffic?
• Does he or she suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, glaucoma, cataracts, arthritis, Parkinson’s disease,diabetes, or other illnesses that may affect his or her driving skills?

If you answered “yes” to any of the previous questions about an older driver, it is important to have caring, respectful, and non-confrontational conversations about his or her safety, as well as the safety of others on the road. Show genuine concern and understanding, and offer viable alternatives that will not injure the older driver’s self-respect and sense of independence. You might also consider taking a ride with an older driver to observe his or her driving skills, or encourage him or her to get a vision and hearing evaluation, or to enroll in a older driver safety class. You can also discuss your concerns with your loved one’s physician, and ask for recommendations.

The good news is that depending on the severity of the problem, older drivers may be able to adjust their driving habits to increase their safety. For example, they may limit driving to daylight hours and good weather, or avoid highways and high traffic areas.

Information from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Source: Eldercare.gov

Contact Pure Home Care Services at (586) 293-2457 today!  If you live in Sterling Heights or the surrounding area, we can help you care for your loved ones.

As parents grow older, they face challenges that their adult children may not know how to address. The children may support their parents’ desire to continue living independently, but have concerns about their safety and well-being. One way to help resolve these conflicting emotions, and determine if the parents need assistance, is through an assessment.

What Is an Assessment?
An assessment is a comprehensive review of a person’s mental, physical, environmental and financial condition. This helps to establish his or her ability to remain safely independent and identifies risks and ways to reduce them.

The Goal of Assessment
A thorough assessment should yield a plan for meeting needs and addressing problems. The findings may help your parents decide a change —- like moving or getting in-home assistance — is necessary for their safety and well-being. An assessment also may lead to resolutions that allow a parent to remain independent longer. A good plan can mean fewer accidents and illnesses, a longer life, improved quality of life and greater independence. It is important to include your parents in the discussion and decision-making about their options once the assessment is complete; involving them in the process should help them feel more comfortable with the outcome.

How to Assess
Families can conduct assessments on their own but may want to hire an experienced professional to lead them through this process. Some hospitals and clinics offer geriatric assessment centers or evaluation units in which a medical/social work team looks at all aspects of an older person’s health and life. The center will counsel your parents and you about the results, and offer practical assistance, such as linking them with local services and housing options. Individual geriatric care managers, also called case managers, provide similar services. Also check with your local agency on aging for information about locating professionals who can help you.

What to Assess
Professional assessments can take a few hours to several days and vary depending on the level of care needed. All assessments should include a thorough review of your loved one’s physical and mental health; medication use; daily routine; home and community safety; support system; appearance and hygiene; finances and personal interests.

After your parent has been evaluated and you decide that home care is necessary, call Pure Home Care Services in Sterling Heights…we’re ready to lend a helping hand! Our number is (586) 293-2457.

Source:  AARP.org

When you are contemplating hiring a home care agency, you should check their background thoroughly.  Consider the following:

• Business license and necessary state licensure (if required by the state where the agency is located)
• Caregivers are “Employees” (this means the Agency is responsible for paying all employee payroll taxes, as required by law: Unemployment Insurance tax, Social Security tax, Medicare tax and State and Federal with-holdings)
• Worker’s Compensation Insurance
• Professional Liability Insurance
• Fidelity Bond Insurance (this is sometimes referred to as “theft” insurance)
• Active Management of the Caregiver through a direct Supervisor or Manager
• Plan of Care
• Criminal Background Check performed on all Employees
• Training for Caregivers
• 24-Hour On-Call Service
• Satisfactory Caregiverlist Survey Results

These Checklist requirements are especially valuable when seniors are being cared for in their own home and no family members live close enough to monitor the care. By having these standards in place, if the Caregiver suffers an accident while working in the senior’s home, their injuries and care are covered by Worker’s Compensation Insurance. Active supervision of Caregivers allows the agency to professionally work through any performance issues. A 24-hour On-Call service allows for last-minute schedule changes and back-up Caregivers to be scheduled, when necessary. Training programs provide Caregivers with guidelines to follow for performing quality care duties.

There are numerous home care agencies nationwide. Many times the term “Home Health Agency” is used and can be confusing because it may include both Medicare and Medicaid approved Home Care Agencies and Non-medical Senior Home Care Agencies. Non-medical Agencies hire both Companion Caregivers and Certified Nursing Aides, who assist with hands-on care for all Activities of Daily Living. Medicare-approved Home Health Agencies provide intermittent visits by a R.N., Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, and Speech Therapist, with pre-approval of these services by a Medical Doctor. These are considered “skilled” care services.

The Private Duty Home Care Association of America (PDHCA) is a trade association of home care providers and works towards home care agencies with all business matters to assist clients to age in place.

If you are looking for an excellent home care agency in the Sterling Heights area, contact the helpful staff at Pure Home Care Services today! Our number is (586) 293-2457.

Source:  Home Care Daily

Study Finds Flu Vaccines For Nursing Home Workers Effective In Reducing Outbreaks

Higher flu vaccination rates for health care personnel can dramatically reduce the threat of flu outbreak among nursing home residents, according to a study published in the October issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

The study, which focused on nursing homes in New Mexico, found that when a facility had between 51 and 75 percent of its health care personnel with direct patient care vaccinated, the chances of a flu outbreak in that facility went down by 87 percent.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have long recommended that health care personnel in nursing homes get vaccinated against the flu, but we didn’t know just how much help these recommendations might be in reducing flu outbreaks among residents,” said Aaron Wendelboe of the University of Oklahoma, the lead author of the study. “We found strong evidence to support the CDC’s recommendation that to protect residents of nursing homes, health care personnel should be vaccinated annually.”

In association with the New Mexico Department of Health, Wendelboe and his team surveyedinfluenza rates at the state’s 75 long-term care facilities during the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 flu seasons. They then looked for correlations between vaccination rates at each facility and whether there was an influenza outbreak.

While increased vaccination of direct care healthcare workers was associated with fewer flu outbreaks, the study found that vaccination rates among residents did not discourage outbreaks. In fact, higher resident vaccination was correlated with a higher probability of an outbreak. That result was unexpected and hard to explain, the researchers say. “While the explanation is likely multi-factorial, we suspect a large factor is that facilities with high resident vaccination rates may over-rely on the direct protection bestowed by vaccinating the residents and under-value the indirect protection bestowed by vaccinating employees,” Wendelboe and his team write.

Despite recommendations by the CDC and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, vaccination rates among U.S. healthcare workers still hover under 65 percent.

“That vaccinating health care personnel provided more protection to residents than vaccinating residents themselves underscores the importance of these recommendations,” Wendelboe said.

Source: MedicalNewsToday.com

If you or a loved one would like more information about home care services in Sterling Heights, MI, and surrounding areas, please contact Pure Home Care Services at (586) 293-2457 today!

New Video Gaming Technology Helps To Detect Illness, Prevent Falls In Older Adults

Many older adults lose their independence as their health declines and they are compelled to move into assisted care facilities. Researchers at the University of Missouri and TigerPlace, an independent living community, have been using motion-sensing technology to monitor changes in residents’ health for several years. Now, researchers have found that two devices commonly used for video gaming and security systems are effective in detecting the early onset of illness and fall risk in seniors.

Marjorie Skubic, professor of electrical and computer engineering in the MU College of Engineering, is working with doctoral student, Erik Stone, to use the Microsoft Kinect, a new motion-sensing camera generally used as a video gaming device, to monitor behavior and routine changes in patients at TigerPlace. These changes can indicate increased risk for falls or early symptoms of illnesses.

“The Kinect uses infrared light to create a depth image that produces data in the form of a silhouette, instead of a video or photograph,” said Stone. “This alleviates many seniors’ concerns about privacy when traditional web camera-based monitoring systems are used.”

Another doctoral student, Liang Liu, is collaborating with Mihail Popescu, assistant professor in the College of Engineering and the Department of Health Management and Informatics in the MU School of Medicine, to develop a fall detection system that uses Doppler radar to recognize changes in walking, bending and other movements that may indicate a heightened risk for falls. Different human body parts create unique images, or “signatures,” on Doppler radar. Since falls combine a series of body part motions, the radar system can recognize a fall based on its distinct “signature.”

“Falls are especially dangerous for older adults and if they don’t get help immediately, the chances of serious injury or death are increased,” said Liu. “If emergency personnel are informed about a fall right away, it can significantly improve the outcome for the injured patient.”

Both motion-sensing systems provide automated data that alert care providers when patients need assistance or a medical intervention. The systems currently are used for monitoring residents at TigerPlace in Columbia. Skubic says the system allows residents to maintain their independence and take comfort in knowing that illnesses or falls may be detected early.

Stone’s study, “Evaluation of an Inexpensive Depth Camera for Passive In-Home Fall Risk Assessment,” won the best paper award at the Pervasive Health Conference, in Dublin, Ireland in May. Liu’s study, “Automatic Fall Detection Based on Doppler Radar Motion,” received the best poster award at the conference. Liu’s paper was a collaboration with GE Global Research and co-authored by Tarik Yardibi and Paul Cuddihy. TigerPlace is a joint project of the Sinclair School of Nursing and AmErikare, a long-term care company.

The research is part of Mizzou Advantage, the five unique areas that set MU apart from other universities. The project contributes to the “Managing Innovation: Navigating Disruptive and Transformational Technologies” initiative that will touch on virtually every part of the university to explore areas in which existing technologies are changing rapidly.

Source: MedicalNewsToday.com

If you or a loved one would like more information about home care services in Sterling Heights, MI, and surrounding areas, please contact Pure Home Care Services at (586) 293-2457 today!