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Internship
at AARP
AARP
is offering a variety of internship opportunities for undergraduate
and graduate students. Internships are available at AARP headquarters
in Washington, DC, and in many of AARP’s 53 state offices.
Internships
may be in such areas as: Research, Public Policy, Consumer Education
and Programs, Financial Management, Publications, Event Management.
Students
interested in internship opportunities should contact Bonnie Kinkead,
Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, (319) 335-7084,
Room 490 NB, with a résumé and a brief statement
about the kind of internship that is desired. Flyer
Alzheimers
Association Nine Key Principles on Diagnosing and Caring for Patients
with Dementia
Since 1995, ten
Alzheimer's Association chapters have worked with the Kaiser Permanente
health care system in their community to test ways to improve
care for Kaiser members with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.
Kaiser Permanente Dementia Care Program includes guidelines and
recommendations on how dementia care should be provided.
Depression
Recognition and Assessment in Older Homecare Patients
| Depression
Recognition and Assessment in Older Homecare Patients
is an evidence- based, clinically tested program developed
by the Weill Cornell Homecare Research Partnership. This program
allows clinicians to increase their knowledge and skills in
depression screening. The training was designed using Medicare's
mandatory OASIS as a framework for screening and documenting
depressive symptoms. For that reason, implementing the training
does not require adding new assessment tools or paperwork
to routine care. The training provides an understanding of
depression diagnoses, syndromes, and factors that commonly
complicate depression assessment in older home healthcare
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(e.g.,
medical illness, disability, cognitive impairment). Additionally
the training focuses on depressed mood and anhedonia ("gateway"
symptoms for DSM-IV depression) as well as suicidal ideation.
Most importantly, the training uses real-world questions and clinical
probes (e.g., symptom duration and persistence) for use in assessing
the required OASIS depression items (M0590 and optional item M0600)
in a clinically effective manner consistent with The Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). Nurses can
earn 1.8 CE credits through this training.
Resident and facility characteristics
affect the amount of direct care time received by elders in
supportive housing.
A growing number of elders are
dodging nursing homes to reside in assisted living facilities,
board and care homes, continuing care retirement communities,
and other types of supportive housing. Physical and cognitive
functioning have the greatest impact on the amount direct care
time received by people in supportive housing. However, the
amount of dementia-oriented care received is more strongly affected
by the type of supportive housing facility, according to a study
supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality…
Click
here for more.
-- Related reading --
“Care provision in housing with supportive services:
The importance of care type, individual characteristics, and
care site,” by Drs. Phillips and Hawes, February 2005
Journal of Applied Gerontology 24(1), pp. 55-67
Nurses tend to use individual behavioral and visual
cues to assess pain in nursing home residents.
On-fourth of nursing home residents who suffer
from daily moderate-to-serve pain receive no pain-relieving medication.
Nursing home staff rarely incorporate formalized pain assessment
protocols in their assessment of residents’ pain, which
they consider regulatory in nature and ill-suited to the nursing
home population… Click
here for more.
-- Related reading --
“Pain
assessment practices with nursing home residents,” by
Lauren Clark, Jones, and Pennington, November 2004 Western Journal
of Nursing Research 26(7), pp. 733-750
Nursing home complaints, taken together with other
measures, can be used to assess nursing home quality of care.
Nursing home consumer complaints can be used
along with other data to assess nursing home quality of care,
and complaints can be a source of valuable information for prospective
residents and families when they are choosing a nursing home...
Click
here for more.
Nursing homes vary widely in their hospitalization
of residents, particularly those with Alzheimer's disease
Nursing homes vary more in their nonpsychiatric
discretionary hospital admission rates for Alzheimer's disease
(AD) than non-AD residents, according to a recent study supported
by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (HS07585). Nursing
home factors clearly influence decisions to hospitalize nursing
home residents in general. However, this is particularly true
for more vulnerable AD residents, such as those with behavioral
problems, in the poorest health, and with the greatest daily nursing
care needs, note Frank W. Porell, Ph.D., of the University of
Massachusetts, and Mary Carter, Ph.D., of West Virginia University…
Click
here for more.
-- Related reading --
"Discretionary hospitalization of nursing home residents
with and without Alzheimer's disease: A multilevel analysis,"
by Drs. Porell and Carter, in the April 2005 Journal of Aging
and Health 17(2), pp. 207-238.
Participation in a physically active lifestyle
during mid-life helps to maintain high physical function in later
years.
A recent study of British civil servants shows
that a physically active lifestyle around age 50, regardless of
long-standing illness, is associated with maintenance of high
physical function in early old age. Those who were physically
active at recommended levels were nearly twice as likely as their
sedentary counterparts to report high physical function nearly
9 years later. Overall, 51 percent of the men and 72 percent of
women were not sufficiently active (that is, 30 minutes or more
of moderate physical activity on 5 or more days of the week) at
baseline… Click
here for more.
-- Related reading --
"Prospective study of physical activity and physical function
in early old age," by Melvyn M. Hillsdon, Ph.D., Eric J.
Brunner, Ph.D., Jack M. Guralnik, Ph.D., and Dr. Marmot, in
the April 2005 American Journal of Preventive Medicine 28(3),
pp. 245-250.
Older people in HMOs and PPOs use more outpatient
and preventive services than those in fee-for-service plans.
Although the market share of managed care plans
such as health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and preferred
provider organizations (PPOs) continues to rise, many believe
that these plans reduce costs by cutting back on the health care
services they provide to patients. Yet, results from a new study
of near-elderly individuals (those aged 55 to 64) should help
calm concerns that managed care necessarily restricts use of health
care services… Click
here for more.
Dr. Howard Butcher,
University of Iowa Assistant Professor of Nursing and Hartford
Foundation Post-Doctoral Scholar, is conducting a study on the
effects that writing about caregiving experiences may have on
the caregiver's health. Dr. Butcher is seeking referrals for possible
subjects and/or information about groups and community organizations
where subjects might be recruited. Cick here
to view a flyer describing the study, which can also be distributed
to individuals who may be eligible for the study. For more information,
please contact Dr. Butcher.
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