#ProAging: Celebrating The Senior Games As Winter Approaches
Doctors, teachers, and athletes encourage us all to get more exercise. For many of us, our springtime means the energy to start a program to get fit and overcome the initial discomforts. As we enter our summer months, the foundation of better health has been set, and we begin to push some of our boundaries. The shortening days of fall might dissuade some of us, but the weather remains warm enough to keep us moving. Besides, winter could prove a notable setback, so we better give an extra push now.
But what about the seasons of our lives? Are we building a solid foundation in our earlier decades to encourage an active and engaged senior life? Many seniors are even competing in an Olympic-style festival that can inspire us all.
Popularity: 5% | Category Aging, Boomers, Events, Fitness, Health, Independent Living, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Retirement Living, Seniors Life, Silent Generation, Storytelling, Video Interview | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Health: Study Shows Advantages Of Conversation No One Wants
Remember Obama’s Death Panels? No, they didn’t exist. But like ‘cooties,’ the scared and the immature just kept repeating that they were waiting to snatch us up. What the Healthcare Reform Bill wanted to institute was the opportunity – nay, the expectation – for families to have regular consultations with their doctors about end-of-life/palliative care that would per force be covered by insurance.
Healthcare Reform became law in the early days of 2010, and we have been litigating it ever since – and no one has found any mention of a death panel. But even requiring insurance companies to pay doctors for these end-of-life consultations has proven to be a political hot potato – even though evidence of their efficacy is mounting.
A report from a group of oncologists from Sweden is the latest study to show the benefits of having a frank discussion about what treatments are working, what are not working, and what options/opportunities the patient has. The abstract of the report, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, can be found here (a subscription to the Journal is required to read the full report).
Fortunately, Paula Span of The New York Times discusses the full report and talks with Dr. Gunilla Lundquist, a palliative care specialist at Umea University and lead author of the study. One of the hard truths of the report is that about 70% of people who have that tough conversation about their terminal conditions die at home and among loved ones, in contrast to under 40% who do not have that conversation yet do not die in a hospital.
Paula Span also steps into the cultural and political difficulties of getting such a study done in the US, or even discussing the Swedish report. Instead, we’ll invoke the Bogie Panel to ensure our freedom from everything, except fear.
Popularity: 6% | Category Aging, Community, Dementia Care, Health, Healthcare, Healthcare, National/International, Newspaper Article, Politics, Publications, Report, Seniors Life, Silent Generation | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#ProAging: Bringing Ballots To Nursing Homes Via The iPad
iPad as Ballot in Oregon (Not Voting Machine)
When the people of Oregon needed to replace Congressional Representative David Wu this week, the state Board of Elections used the opportunity to develop means to get ballots to older citizens in nursing homes. The traditional means to do so were to send absentee ballots out, but such ballots waste a great deal of payer, any way – and many do not get returned anyway. As we have noted on this blog, the iPad is a convenient and stimulative way for retired Americans to access information. And now it is being used as a way for retired Boomers and those of the GI Generation to cast their votes.
The iPad was used to present the ballot to the seniors, who could use the touch screen to enlarge sections if necessary and to mark their votes with a touch. When done, the iPad printed the ballot for the senior citizen to mail in or to stuff into a ballot box.
The idea came from local activists, and we see a rare moment of Apple contributing to a nonprofit’s efforts: Apple donated five iPads to the Congressional district, and $75,000 to help develop the software that presented and recorded the ballots.
As of now, the feedback on this small-scale election is largely positive. According to a report on CBS News, election officials stressed the fact that the iPad is not recording the vote, simply offering access to the ballot and assisting the elder Americans’ abilities to mark it appropriately. The question remains, nevertheless, as to how scalable the pilot program is. Oregon officials seem convinced it will work statewide, and they are investing in more iPads and printers: “At $500 each, the state could buy the iPads for about $36,000. Portable printers cost about $50 each, Trout said, or counties can use existing printers from their offices. The cost of software is still unknown. In the last two-year budget cycle, Oregon spent more than $325,000 to maintain accessible voting tools.”
The portability and touch-screen simplicity of the iPad makes it an idea technology to assist citizens cast votes. Perhaps as the technology rolls out to other districts and states, it will inspire greater electoral turnout among the rest of us.
Popularity: 8% | Category Aging, Civics, Events, GI Generation, Hardware Review, iDevice, Independent Living, Internet, iPad Apps, iPad/Tablet, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Newspaper Article, Nonprofit, Nursing Home, Politics, Retirement Living, Seniors Life, Silent Generation, Site Administration, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Aging | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#ProAging: Telestroke/Telemedicine Tests Show Excellent Cost & Health Benefits
In a wonderful synthesis of health care needs, patient choice, cost effectiveness, and beneficial outcomes, a recent report from The Mayo Clinic‘s ‘Telestroke’ program demonstrates the payoff of the pilot program. Telestroke provides the communications means for rural doctors and hospitals to have online connections with neurological and brain specialists in urban research hospitals. The technology saves vital minutes (if not critical hours) by bringing the specialist virtually to the on-side doctor and patient, rather than trying to move the patient to the requisite hospital.
The technology involves more than simple network communication for referral or consultation. According to the Mayo Clinic’s site, “Doctors communicate using digital video cameras, Internet telecommunications, robots, smart phones and other technology. Having a prompt neurological evaluation increases the possibility that you may receive clot-dissolving therapies (thrombolytics) or other clot-retrieving treatments in time to reduce disability resulting from stroke.”
And the first tests offer the statistics of success.
Popularity: 6% | Category Adult Kids, Aging, Assisted Living, Boomers, Communications, GI Generation, Grandparents, Healthcare, Independent Living, Retirement Living, Seniors Life, Silent Generation, Technology for Aging | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#ProAging: iPad Technology Can Draw Out Memories And Skills For Elderly
One stereotype of the elderly and long retired is that they fear new technology. Yet many of the GI Generation and Silent Generation were, in fact, the ones who started the phenomenal research and development in the middle of the twentieth century that give us our hybrid cars and smart phones today. A recent report from the McClatchy-Tribune Information Services demonstrates how the caregivers of these generations are discovering how quickly and happily their clients and patients are responding to the latest mobile technology, the iPad.
Popularity: 11% | Category Aging, Apple, Assisted Living, Communications, GI Generation, Health, Healthcare, iDevice, Independent Living, iPad Apps, iPhone Apps, Newspaper Article, Nonprofit, Nursing Home, Retirement Living, Seniors Life, Silent Generation, Technology, Technology for Aging, Wellness | | 5 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Tech: Pew Internet Project Breaks Down Use Of Communications Tech Across Generations
Click to enlarge (from the Pew Internet Project)
The contours of the findings of the Pew Internet and American Life Project report on ‘Generations and their Gadgets’ you probably already know: Younger Americans use more mobile devices than older Americans. Older Americans generally access the internet from a desktop computer, whereas those under 35 tend to do so with a laptop/netbook. Etc.
But within those contours the project’s latest study, this one by Kathryn Zickuhr, we see growth in mobile use across all generations, and we even see some reticence to own any device across all generations as well.
Popularity: 7% | Category Aging, Campaigns, Communications, Fundraising, GI Generation, iDevice, Internet, iPad/Tablet, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Media Review, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Public Media, Public Relations, Report, Research, Resource, Seniors Life, Silent Generation, Social Media, Technology, Technology for Aging, Web and Print, Web Design | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD