December 27th, 2011 by Amy Sutton in Health Tips
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Seeking Shelter
The word hospice originated from the Latin hospitium, which means “to host or offer a place of shelter.” In 2009, an estimated 1.56 million patients, more than 40 percent of deaths, received hospice services in the United States. But many others who might have benefited from hospice care did not seek services, perhaps due to misconceptions, fears and the lack of information of patients, caregivers and even physicians.
“Hospice is a collection of services that are designed to support the patient and family through the course of a serious or terminal illness,” said Donald Schumacher, Psy.D, president and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). The aim of hospice is to provide physical and emotional care and comfort in the months, weeks and days before death.
It’s often hard for patients and their loved ones to acknowledge that the time to consider hospice care has come. People come to that realization differently and there are some that might never seem to face that the end of life is near. But through the ups and downs of emotions and physical status, hospice team members Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Prepared Patient Forum: What It Takes Blog*
November 24th, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in Research
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Sending dementia patients to the hospital could overwhelm the health care system and not offer them any better care at the end of life, researchers noted.
The researchers obtained data on all hospitalizations involving a dementia diagnosis for the 85 years and older group between years 2000 and 2008 from the nationally representative Nationwide Inpatient Sample database, a part of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Healthcare Costs and Utilization Project.
Annual hospitalization data came from the U.S. Census Bureau. They projected the future volume of hospitalizations involving a dementia diagnosis in the 85 years and older group two ways, Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
November 21st, 2011 by Carolyn Schatz in Health Tips
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No matter how sick my grandmother got or what her doctors said, she refused to go to the hospital because she thought it was a dangerous place. To some degree, she was right. Although hospitals can be places of healing, hospital stays can have serious downsides, too.
One that has been getting a lot of attention lately is the development of delirium in people who are hospitalized. Delirium is a sudden change in mental status characterized by confusion, disorientation, altered states of consciousness (from hyperalert to unrousable), an inability to focus, and sometimes hallucinations. It’s the most common complication of hospitalization among older people.
We wrote about treating and preventing hospital delirium earlier this year in the Harvard Women’s Health Watch. In the New York Times “The New Old Age” blog, author Susan Seliger vividly describes her 85-year-old mother’s rapid descent into hospital delirium, and tips for preventing it.
Although delirium often recedes, it may have long-lasting aftereffects. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*
November 12th, 2011 by JessicaBerthold in Research
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“Wow, Celexa?”
“Yeah, who knew?”
I overheard this conversation in the ladies’ room immediately after a session speaker advised treating agitation and aggression in dementia with citalopram. Indeed, there was a bit of a murmur in the audience when Dr. Aleta Borrud made the suggestion during her talk at the Mayo Update in Hospital Medicine 2011 course.
Part of the reason for the reaction may be– as a physician I spoke with noted– that Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Hospitalist*
October 18th, 2011 by Berci in Opinion
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The Alzheimer World Day only took place a few days ago and we received many suggestions about creating a selection focusing on this important topic. Webicina’s new Alzheimer’s Disease and Web 2.0 collection features relevant and quality social media resources from blogs and podcasts to community sites and Twitter users focusing on Alzheimer’s disease.
Here is my top 10 social media selection for Alzheimer’s disease: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*
