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Congratulations are in order to SVMH, which was awarded Magnet recognition by the American Nurses Credentialing Center this month. The award is for meeting rigorous standards of nursing excellence and is given to only 8% of hospitals in the U.S. There are now 34 hospitals in California identified as Magnet hospitals. “Achieving Magnet recognition, especially in the face of COVID-19, is a testament to our staff and high standard,†SVMH President & CEO Pete Delgado said in a statement.
Google parent Alphabet Inc. and hospital chain HCA Healthcare struck a deal this week to develop algorithms using patient records which could help physicians make more informed decisions about patient care. They aren’t the only ones to jump into the rapidly growing healthcare space. JPMorgan Chase is investing $250 million in startups and technologies which are meant to make healthcare more efficient and effective. Amazon.com and Walmart have also partnered on primary care which will enable them to push their prescription pharmaceuticals business. The U.S. is projected to spend about $4 trillion on healthcare this year (according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services). That’s roughly 20% of GDP so it’s no big surprise that these big companies are jumping into this fast growing sector.
There was an interesting article in the May 31 issue of The New Yorker (page 24) about Virginia Kellner, who got her cat, which she named Jennie, for her ninety-second birthday. The catch—it’s not real. The Department of the Aging started offering robotic dogs and cats to seniors as part of a New York state loneliness intervention project. A Meals on Wheels driver delivered the pet to her, and was as curious as Virginia to open the box. Virginia pulled the cat’s tail, and it let out a tinny meow: one of more than thirty sounds and gestures like eye closing, mouth opening and head turning which the Joy for All cats are designed to make. What a wonderful idea!
More and more seniors are turning to Telehealth programs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “When you’re not feeling well, having to get up, get dressed and drive all the way to the hospital and then get in line and then possibly get sick from someone else is not all that appealing,†Marla Jo Fisher, a writer, told AARP Bulletin (November 2020, page 44). Medicare is expanding coverage of telehealth visits during the pandemic, changes which hopefully will remain in place. The Department of Health and Human Services recently reported that less than 1% of primary care visits in February were via Telehealth, a number which jumped to 43.5% in April. California has a bill going into effect on January 1 requiring all insurers to pay for Telehealth visits. If your doctor isn’t using Telehealth, talk to Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, CHOMP, on suggestions.
This article is the fourth in a series of articles about myself, my past, and how I decided to start a home care agency on the Monterey Peninsula. In the first, I talked about a wonderful experience I had with a bedridden woman who eventually got up, went out and about and even on a tour. It shows that with enough encouragement, a lot can be accomplished.
https://familyinhomecaregiving.com/the-history-of-family-inhome-caregiving-part-1-the-rocking-chair/
In the second part of the series, I wrote about how my colleagues and myself had to come up with interesting activities for the residents to keep their minds and their bodies engaged. Read here about the wheelchair races we held:
https://familyinhomecaregiving.com/the-history-of-family-inhome-caregiving-part-2-the-race-is-on/
In the third, I discussed my prior experiencing working on the Alzheimer’s wing in a skilled nursing home. It can be quite a challenge!
https://familyinhomecaregiving.com/the-history-of-family-inhome-caregiving-part-3-alzheimers/
In my most recent blog, I will talk about my experience doing food service in a large skilled nursing facility, which can be quite a challenge. Working in a skilled nursing home is hard work and a lot of it. Not only are there caregivers, housekeeping and medical staff, but you also have nutrition staff that helps prepare the food and serve the meals to patients in their rooms and in the dining room. I remember one time I was asked to help out in the kitchen because they were low on staff, and it was an eye-opening experience. Not only do you need to know a variety of diets, like low carb, low salt, etc., but you need to know how to combine them and make them taste good as well. They asked me to peel some potatoes (more than two hundred!) and 90 minutes later, I finished. My hands sure hurt (have you ever peeled two hundred potatoes?). After the potatoes, I moved on to cleaning lettuce, and a lot of it! That day they would make meatloaf and fish, and I was surprised at how much meat was used. It was needed because we had around 200 patients in the facility. Mixing all the ingredients was easy, as they had a big professional mixing bowl. Once dinner was made, the employees that delivered the meals to the rooms came in to pick up the preloaded meal carts. Each tray had the room number and name of the patient that the meal was for. This was done so that special diet patients received the correct meal. We also had the patients that came into the dining area to eat their meal with others, a very social time of day. They pre- ordered their meal, so we had them lined up on a metal shelving unit with, again, their name and room number so the correct person received their proper meal. Sometimes the meals were mixed up, so one person would get the fish when they ordered the meatloaf and vice versa, but believe me when I say that the patient would let us know in no uncertain terms when there was a mix up. During that evening I was serving a meal to a person that had mild dementia and she thought she had ordered fish, but the card read meatloaf. There was a big commotion and the floor supervisor and the kitchen supervisor had to come in to calm the patient down and figure out what had happened. It turned out that the person writing the cards out mixed this lady’s order up with another lady in the same room. Once we found that out I went to the other lady (who stayed in her room to eat) to see if she received the correct meal. Well, of course she had not so I received another ear full before I could explain what had happened. Once I brought the correct meal in she was all smiles and happy to see that I personally brought her meal. She had forgotten what had happened just a few minutes earlier. Patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s are extremely difficult to work with. You need a lot of experience to know how to deal with them. It takes patience, kindness, understanding and compassion. I would hope that in today’s world the meal preparation and delivery around Monterey, Carmel, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach and Salinas have new technologies that can make the process easier and make for a great experience for patients. I have seen Park Lane’s restaurant and it is genuinely nice. You can order your food like a regular restaurant so you can have a bigger variety of meals to choose from. Technology has been a friend during this time of Covid-19 and has helped to make some things easier and safer. I hope your next meal is a great meal! Bon Appetit
A study which was published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring found a correlation between gum disease and Alzheimer’s disease. The study’s author explained that the mouth is home to both harmful bacteria that promote inflammation and healthy proactive bacterial. Researchers found that people who have more harmful than healthy gum bacteria were more likely to also have a protein market for Alzheimer’s disease, known as amyloid beta, in their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). About 70% of seniors aged 65 and older have gum disease.
Lou Gehrig’s disease, or ALS, seems similar to Alzheimer’s disease but attacking the body rather than the brain. There is no cure for either disease, and the ailment just continues to progress and leave you more and more debilitated. However, USA Today recently ran an article about three promising themes:
Many are hopeful that Amylyx’s AMX0035 which got a $2.2 million grant from the $111 million Ice Bucket Challenge, will be approved by the FDA. Findings for AMX0035’s Phase 2 trial were so promising that the ALS community is pushing the FDA to fast track approval. They have gone so far as to ask the FDA to skip a Phase 3 trial, the only time in history that the ALS Association has asked the FDA to do so. However, it’s a long-shot. If you or a loved one are struggling with ALS, contact the Monterey Chapter of ALS here:
http://web.alsa.org/site/TR?pg=entry&fr_id=14647&NONCE_TOKEN=D30086CF168CADF46857EB53C986C9EA
Lou Gehrig’s disease, or ALS, seems similar to Alzheimer’s disease but attacking the body rather the brain. There is no cure for either disease, and the ailment just continues to progress and leave you more and more debilitated. However, USA Today recently ran an article about three promising themes:
Many are hopeful that Amylyx’s AMX0035 which got a $2.2 million grant from the $111 million Ice Bucket Challenge, will be approved by the FDA. Findings for AMX0035’s Phase 2 trial were so promising that the ALS community is pushing the FDA to fast track approval. They have gone so far as to ask the FDA to skip a Phase 3 trial, the only time in history that the ALS Association has asked the FDA to do so. However, it’s a long-shot. If you or a loved one are struggling with ALS, contact the Monterey Chapter of ALS here:
http://web.alsa.org/site/TR?pg=entry&fr_id=14647&NONCE_TOKEN=D30086CF168CADF46857EB53C986C9EA
If you are feeling down and depressed, you should see a counselor and, in particular, one that specializes in treating seniors. Called a Geropsychologist, this specialty first arose in 2010, according to the American Psychological Association. There are few of them around, unfortunately, with only 3% of licensed psychologists cite this as their primary or secondary specialty. The nearest one is in Santa Cruz, Lily Rich, although she does do both in-home visits and video calls.
Medtronic’s GI Genius, which was recently cleared by the FDA in order to help doctors identify precancerous polyps. Although you will still need to have a colonoscopy, the AI tool should make doctors more accurate. “We’re all humans,†said gastroenterologist Michael Wallace. After back-to-back procedures, he admits, “We get tired.â€Â Wallace consulted with Medtronics on the new technology and told a reporter, “We really have the opportunity to completely wipe out colon cancer in anybody who gets screened.â€Â The tool, called GI Genius, has analyzed more than 13 million videos of colonoscopies in order to teach it how to recognize polyps.