Alzheimer's Report Addresses Action Steps for National Alzheimer's Plan

Alzheimer’s from the Frontlines: Challenges a National Alzheimer’s Plan Must Address is a collective effort to share the real and unrelenting struggles that must be addressed in the National Alzheimer’s Plan now being created through the implementation of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA). 

The Alzheimer’s Association and its more than 70 Chapters nationwide hosted over 130 public input sessions, a NAPA web site, and a national Telephone Town Hall to learn what Americans need in a bold and transformational plan. From their input, 10 major challenges emerged. The following is excerpted from the report.

1. A lack of public awareness.
   
   This includes a lack of knowledge and widespread misunderstanding about Alzheimer’s; significant stigma and negative experiences that affect personal and professional relationships; and a poor understanding of the scope of the disease.
2. Insufficient research funding.
   
   Because there’s no way to prevent, stop or slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, many expressed feelings of powerlessness to help themselves or future generations and called for bold action to secure a brighter future.
3. Difficulties with diagnosis.
   
   Challenges lead to delayed diagnosis, poor experiences in the diagnostic process, missed opportunities to immediately connect families with available support and alack of documentation in a patient’s primary medical record.
4. Poor dementia care.
   
   Communication barriers with health care providers and allied health professionals, care coordination issues with providers, and a lack of knowledgeable personnel equipped to meet the unique needs posed by Alzheimer’s and other dementias results in poor quality of care.
5. Inadequate treatments.
   
   Effectiveness of available drugs varies across the population, but none of the treatments available today alter the underlying course of this terminal disease.
6. Specific challenges facing diverse communities.
   
   Given the disproportionate impact of Alzheimer’s on ethnic and minority populations, efforts must be implemented to eliminate disparities in these communities.Specific challenges facing those with younger-onset Alzheimer’s. Preconceived notions of Alzheimer’s and age can delay diagnosis, act as a barrier to participation in research or government programs and make it difficult to find long-term care appropriate for younger populations.
7. Unprepared caregivers.
   
   Caregivers need critical support to provide in-home care but have trouble finding affordable services and education to care for a loved one, and to alleviate the emotional and physical burden of caregiving.
8. Ill-equipped communities.
   
   Many places are unprepared to address the individualized needs of people living with Alzheimer’s, especially those in rural areas.
9. Mounting costs.
   
   The costs to treat and care for Alzheimer’s can be tremendously high and unaffordable over time and even more difficult to bear when encountering barriers to qualifying for insurance or government support.

The report outline solutions too. Read the full post on my about.com site. 

90+ Population Growing (VIDEO)

90+ Population Growing

That's Philomena, my mom, 90!

According to an Associated Press report, nearly 2 million people are now are 90 or over, nearly triple their numbers of just three decades ago. Count my mom in there.

Unfortunately they are more likely than the merely elderly to live in poverty and to have disabilities. My mother is lucky in that regard.

The oldest old are projected to increase from 1.9 million to 8.7 million by midcentury — making up 2 percent of the total U.S. population and one in 10 older Americans.

An Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll in June found that more than one in four adults expect to live to at least 90, including nearly half of those currently 65 or older. A majority of adults also said they expected people in their generation to live longer than those in their parents’ generation, with about 46 percent saying they expected a better quality of life in later years as well.

According to the report:

• the share of people 90-94 who report having some kind of impairment such as inability to do errands, visit a doctor’s office, climb stairs or bathe is 13 percentage points higher than those 85-89 — 82 percent versus 69 percent.
   
• Among those 95 and older, the disability rate climbs to 91 percent.
   
• Census figures show that smaller states had the highest shares of their older Americans who were at least 90. North Dakota led the list, with about 7 percent of its 65-plus population over 90. It was followed by Connecticut, Iowa and South Dakota. In absolute numbers, California, Florida and Texas led the nation in the 90-plus population, each with more than 130,000.
  
• Among the 90-plus population, women outnumber men by a ratio of nearly 3 to 1.
   
• Non-Hispanic whites made up the vast majority of the 90-plus population, at 88.1 percent. That’s compared to 7.6 percent who were black, 4 percent Hispanic and 2.2 percent Asian.
   
• Most people who were 90 or older lived in households alone, about 37.3 percent.
   
• Some 37.1 percent lived in households with family or others, while about 23 percent stayed in nursing homes.
   
• About 3 percent lived in assisted living or other informal care facilities.
   
• Those who were 90 or older had median income of $14,760, about half of it from Social Security.
   
• About 14.5 percent of the age group lived in poverty, compared to 9.6 percent for Americans who are 65-89.

The older people get, the more resources they consume because of health care, and disability rates significantly increase. This creates demands for daily care, and for families the care burden increases dramatically, said researchers.

What struck me most was the amount of 90+ living alone. We need to keep an eye on these folks. Programs like Lotsa Helping Hands can help.

Brain Strengthening iPhone Games for Techie Grandmas and Grandpa (VIDEO)s

Brain Strengthening iPhone Games for Techie Grandmas and Grandpas

@Comstock Images, Getty Images

The following is a guest post from Mariana Ashley.

Just because you're a senior doesn't mean that you aren't hip—you have a shiny iPhone, you know what's "in." But while it's great that your sense of style as remained fresh throughout the years, it's important that you also work to keep your mind fresh as well. 

No, an iPhone isn't just a fashion accessory, you can actually download specific apps that if used on a daily basis, can help strengthen your mind and perhaps battle dementia—after all, health experts say the cognitive exercises stimulate blood flow to the brain, making it stronger and healthier. That said, below are 4 iPhone app games that can if played on a regular basis, may just be able to keep your mind sharp throughout the years.

1. Who Has the Biggest Brain

Similar to the successful Nintendo DS game Brain Age, Who Has the Biggest Brain is a cheaper, more simplified way of giving the brain a good daily workout. What it does is give you 12 different mini games, all of which are designed to test and challenge four different parts of your brain: calculation, visual, logic, and memory. The results should be able to give you a peek into the strongest areas of your brain, as well as the areas you need to improve on.  The game also promises to give you some insight into your rationale of thinking—for example, do you tend to think more like a scientist or an extraterrestrial? No matter what the case you can choose to play with friends or stimulate your brain solo.  Price: 99 cents

2. Sudoku

Sudoku, the popular logic-based numerical puzzle that can typically be found in every Sunday's national paper, comes in an "on-demand" digital form for iPhone users (no more waiting for the paper boy). It comes in various skill levels and does not repeat puzzles. Price: Free

3. Words With Friends

Similar to Scrabble, Words With Friends is a fun way to test your vocabulary and spelling. You are given a set of letters and must formulate a variety of words using only the letters given. If you've laid out an incorrect word, the game will immediately notify you and you must either come up with a correct spelled-word or pass your turn and lose an opportunity at earning points. You can play with people in your iPhone contact list like your son or daughter (granted they'll need to download the app as well) or play with strangers. Price: Free

4. NYTimes CrossWords

Lastly, with NYTimes CrossWords you can further improve word recognition by solving the daily crossword puzzles that are featured in the renowned New York Times. Price: Free

Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031@gmail.com.

Nursing Home Patients Face Higher Surgical Risk

Beware the surgical knife!
@TS Photography, Getty Images

Nursing home residents' frailty puts them at a higher risk for dying after surgery a new study reports. Well no kidding. did they need a study for that? About a year ago we were about to go through surgery - neurosurgery no less - for my 90-year-old mother. Essentially for two weeks they prepared us for her dying on the table. She didn't. Separate story but that says more about her attitude and desire to live plus some really great genes than anything else.

I digress.

Elderly nursing home residents experience more surgical complications than other elders their age. Residents typically have other advanced medical problems and may often be too frail for many ordered procedures, researchers said.

Physicians might be far too aggressive when ordering surgeries for nursing home residents, according to researchers from the University of California in San Francisco. They studied data from 70,000 nursing home residents and one million non-institutionalized Medicare beneficiaries over age 65. 

They found that mortality rates after surgeries such as gall bladder, appendix or colon removals, as well as bleeding ulcers, were consistently higher in nursing home residents than other seniors.

Bottom line - be educated on the risk. Question your physician and the surgeons. Remember we are still under a reimbursement system that awards more procedures. And there are unscrupulous physicians who are simply out to make as much money as they possibly can. Not all. But some. 

So be cynical and question everything.

Guides to Care Choices Available