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A new study published this week in the Sleep journal has discovered that sleep problem decreases with age; basically contradicting the common belief that sleep problem comes with age. A group of researchers from Center for Sleep of Pennsylvania University along with other organizations conducted a survey of 155,877 people from all ages who has previously reported sleep disturbances. Their study aims to find the answer on how sleep complaints alter as a person age. The study was conducted by asking participants how often within the past 2 weeks they had problems staying or falling asleep as well as the number of days they have felt tired. Their telephone survey has resulted in the conclusion that sleep quality, in fact, gets better as you get older. They found a general decline in sleep tiredness across higher age groups. Actually, women and men older than 80 are the least likely among the age groups to complain of sleep problems. According to the study, poor overall health conditions and depression are both connected with sleep problems as those who have mild depression appear more twice as likely to report sleep disorders. Basically, it shows that once you have control of mood and health, people dont necessarily have more sleep problems. Experts seem to be disputing the results of the study as the method of data collection done is generally subjective (participants were only asked about their physical symptoms) as opposed to previous researches done through objective data gathering (e.g. monitoring patients' sleep patterns in laboratory room) which could be the reason for the result difference. A single study cannot hope to change the health care implementation. But considering that the sample size of the study is large, it will be hard to discount the results. Besides, the question given was so general that it captures the entirety of sleep disorders. The results of this study is essentially contrad

Patients with sickle cell disease move from pediatric to adult health care because they now depend more on the emergency room, says researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Reported at the American Society of Hematology's annual meeting in Atlanta, more than 3,200 patients with sickle cell disease demonstrates that emergency room visits tripled from age 15 to age 24 this is according to the study of Medicaid data. According to hematologist Morey A. Blinder, MD, associate professor of medicine, "There seems to be a breakdown in medical care during the transition from childhood to adulthood. Not only emergency department usage, but hospitalizations go up during this time as well." Blinder further added that one possible explanation for the increased reliance on emergency care is the relative lack of adult health care providers with experience caring for sickle cell patients. Alarming similar issues are arising for other pediatric diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and hemophilia. The said illnesses were previously fatal. What is more sad about the problem is over the past few decades the number of children and teenagers are living into adulthood with these conditions increased. What makes the matters worse is there often aren't enough primary care physicians who can provide care for these adult patients. Many are not familiar to the understanding of the sickle cell disease. It refers to a number of inherited genetic conditions the "sickle" shape red blood cells aren't normal, they are suppose to be normally round, disk-like red blood cells. The problems with these malformed red blood cells are prone to clogging smaller blood vessels and they do not carry oxygen to the body as well as healthy cells. The condition often causes pain in places the cells block blood flow that sometimes causes more severe complications include blindness, strokes and pneumonia. Medical patients from five states including Florida, New Jersey

Springhill Home Care Group Korea Reviews Seoul Employs Elderly to Tackle Phone Waste http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2013/07/25/seoul-employs-Elderly-to-tackle-phone-waste/ South Koreans are among the world's most frequent phone upgraders, buying about 15 million new mobile phones each year, according to a recent report by market research firm DigiEco. One of the problems that creates is the handling of all the discarded older phones. To tackle the issue of electronics waste, or e-waste, the Seoul city government started a program called Eco City in 2009 to collect used electronics. It runs a waste handling facility called Seoul Resource Center in the northeast of the capital and employs Elderly or low-income people to break them down and process the parts. Eco City is unique in that it is an entirely government-funded and directed operation. In Tokyo, the municipal government invited private companies to set up recycling facilities, while China has struggled to deal with large amounts of e-waste both produced domestically and imported. Seoul's Eco City says each discarded mobile phone has between 2,500 won and 4,000 won (about US$2.23-$3.50) worth of metals in it, including rare earth metals such as neodymium. At intervals of six months or a year, companies can bid to purchase the waste that has been gathered and sorted by Eco City. Whatever can't be sold or reused is incinerated. http://springhillcaregroup.net/ http://news.springhillcaregroup.net/

http://springhillcaregroup.net/archives/255 According to a new study from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, seniors work hard to keep their marriages alive and well, even after one spouse falls ill and goes into a long-term care facility. Community-dwelling spouses were greatly drawn in the lives of their partners who are inside the institution, and that a lot of the couples remained active together may it be inside or outside the nursing home Researcher Robin Stadnyk was surprised to discover about this. Stadnyk is a post-doctoral researcher in the University of Alberta's Department of Human Ecology. She reviewed data from a qualitative study of 52 community-dwelling spouses in three Canadian provinces: Alberta, Manitoba and Nova Scotia, for her PhD research. According to her research, the participants were heavily involved in their spouses' lives, not only through caretaking duties like doing laundry and helping with personal hygiene, but also through nurturing activities that brought them closer together. "Most participants described close relationships with their spouses before the placement in a long-term care home. They simply found ways they could continue that closeness within the institutional walls," Stadnyk noted. Marriage-sustaining activities included watching TV together, studying travel brochures and reviewing diaries to relive old memories, even taking painting lessons together. For regular weekly and even daily visits, some spouses do is they bring their partners home. A loving story of an 82-year-old man in the study took weight-training just so he could lift his wife in and out of the car for the weekly trip home. "The findings defy the common assumption that the partnership of marriage effectively ends when one spouse enters a care facility," Stadnyk said. Changing roles as give-and take-partners to compassionate caretakers, husbands and wives of partners with dementia carry on with nurturing their marriages. One of the thi

http://springhillcaregroup.net/archives/251 Yoga is very much popular nowadays and we all know it benefits while others think that it is hard to do and much more to elderly. The question is; can seniors, above 65, do yoga asanas? And the answer is of course, it is actually can do good for them as much as it can do well for any age. All ages and from all walks of life to utilize the techniques of yoga for creating a harmonious and joyful existence.Older people can do asanas. Union of the various aspects of our existence like body, breath, mind etc is the basic premise in yoga. The word yoga comes from a Sanskrit root 'Yuj meaning 'to unite'. But they can only do so provided they keep some guidelines in mind. The kind of asanas one should do as age progresses are the following: * Substitute warm-ups with brisk walking and joint movements. * Standing Yoga Poses Triangle Pose (konasana series) and Standing Spinal Twist (Kati chakrasanas) * Sitting Yoga Poses Butterfly Pose, Cradling (if possible), body rotation, Cat stretch and Child pose (Shishu Asana). * Yoga Poses lying on the back or stomach Focus on repetitions rather than holding any posture such as the Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana), the Locust Pose (Shalabhasana) or the Knee to Chin Press (Pawanmuktasana). * Yoga nidra is by far the most essential part of any yoga practice, and as age progresses, it becomes even more essential to help assimilate the effect of the asana practice into our system. There is also some easier exercise for seniors like, Sukshma Yoga. This can be practiced independently or in a group to be a part of a larger yoga plan. All ages can do the exercise and can receive its benefits for only within 20-30 minutes. It consists of simple and gentle exercises for the eyes, tongue and jaws, neck, hands, feet, knees, ankles and hips. Seniors should practice yoga asanas by following some guidelines. The Patanjali Yoga Sutras identify asana as "sthira sukham asanam" that define as st

Getting older could sometimes be a bit frustrating that is why socialization is very important to have socialization for seniors. As much as it is important to everyone it is as important twofold for the elderly. These may come a bit hard to do when we were younger as we were too busy bringing home the bacon and at the same time taking care of the family. As we get older, as life is slowly taking paces as if everything is slowing down including time literally, seniors now has all the time to socialize but the thing now is there is no much of someone to socialize with. As this point in time many friends may have been lost along the way and are no longer part of your long-term friendships. It will be great if you have friends from the past that you still have contact with and remained friends up to the golden age. It will be best for both sides to keep in touch, calling once in a while is a good idea and meeting at least once a month will do great on both parts too. It will also help if you invite new people, it will be more exciting still having to meet new friends and don't worry if you think that you have nothing to do. There will always be lots to do, such as going to a museum, to a park, movies perhaps or stay home eat and talk about books you have read, share stories and experiences. Do not frustrate yourself because possibilities are endless and new relationships as well. If unfortunately this cannot be done anymore, don't worry, there are senior centers that offer socialization. Bingo may sound old and actually a traditional game to play but still fun and popular up to this day. Everyone can still enjoy it. Like earlier there are endless of possibilities, everyone at any age can still enjoy shopping maybe do it once in a while. To add excitement and feel like young again, maybe you can try to choose to make it a girls' night out or a boys' night out so you can plan an afternoon at your favorite restaurant, then shopping afterwards. M

Getting older could sometimes be a bit frustrating that is why socialization is very important to have socialization for seniors. As much as it is important to everyone it is as important twofold for the elderly. These may come a bit hard to do when we were younger as we were too busy bringing home the bacon and at the same time taking care of the family. As we get older, as life is slowly taking paces as if everything is slowing down including time literally, seniors now has all the time to socialize but the thing now is there is no much of someone to socialize with. As this point in time many friends may have been lost along the way and are no longer part of your long-term friendships. It will be great if you have friends from the past that you still have contact with and remained friends up to the golden age. It will be best for both sides to keep in touch, calling once in a while is a good idea and meeting at least once a month will do great on both parts too. It will also help if you invite new people, it will be more exciting still having to meet new friends and don't worry if you think that you have nothing to do. There will always be lots to do, such as going to a museum, to a park, movies perhaps or stay home eat and talk about books you have read, share stories and experiences. Do not frustrate yourself because possibilities are endless and new relationships as well. If unfortunately this cannot be done anymore, don't worry, there are senior centers that offer socialization. Bingo may sound old and actually a traditional game to play but still fun and popular up to this day. Everyone can still enjoy it. Like earlier there are endless of possibilities, everyone at any age can still enjoy shopping maybe do it once in a while. To add excitement and feel like young again, maybe you can try to choose to make it a girls' night out or a boys' night out so you can plan an afternoon at your favorite restaurant, then shopping afterwards. Maybe

http://news.springhillcaregroup.net/2013/03/20/news-springhill-care-group-effective-communication-with-the-elderly/ It is quite a challenge sometimes to talk or to communicate to elderly because you may need to consider and deal with differences in ages, ideals, priorities and perhaps even hearing or mental cognition issues on top. Don't close your mind and take it for consideration that your elderly friend or loved one may have been raised differently. Generation gap is another issue why it can be hard to communicate with the elderly but once understood, you will find many wonderful things to learn from one another if you just take the time to listen. http://news.springhillcaregroup.net/

http://news.springhillcaregroup.net/ It is quite a challenge sometimes to talk or to communicate to elderly because you may need to consider and deal with differences in ages, ideals, priorities and perhaps even hearing or mental cognition issues on top. Don't close your mind and take it for consideration that your elderly friend or loved one may have been raised differently. Generation gap is another issue why it can be hard to communicate with the elderly but once understood, you will find many wonderful things to learn from one another if you just take the time to listen. When talking to the elderly, look them in the eye. We all know that looking in the eye when talking to someone is a sign of respect. That is a general rule and that has always been and forever will be. An honest person will never be afraid to look you in the eye and it is also a sign of a genuine interest in the person you are conversing with. Do not use or maybe you could turn off you mobile devices, more often than not they do not understand these things and they will feel destructed by it and worse will feel like they are playing second fiddle to a piece of equipment that can lead to them to shut down and lose interest in talking to you. Always be respectful, this applies to everyone. You might confuse this with being sweet and condescending but these two are different from respect. Listen to them, or maybe if fitting you can place your hand on their hand or arm. Remember, they are your elderly and not your children so never call them names like, 'sweetie', 'honey', or 'darling', that will be rude! Never ever shout at them, if they have troubles hearing you or the surrounding get them hearing aide. They may pull away from communicating with anyone and even become bitter if this is taken for granted. And they may not admit this so it is up to you to notice if they cannot hear properly anymore or have them checked regularly. Never make them feel that being there for

Tech companies put into view their newest improvements in senior care. To help seniors age in place they provided gadgets to aid their needs from personal robots and virtual exercising, to remote-monitoring technology that tracks vitality and detects injuries yet companies are still developing new tools. Mobile App Provides Enterprise-Wide Analysis, Enables Competitor Comparisons Web-based staff scheduling and shift management software for the healthcare industry, OnShift announced its new app OnShift Mobile. The main focus of the app is for on-the-go executives in the senior care industry, it delivers top-down analysis into staffing and labor management. The intend of making prompt and well-versed decisions in improving operations, labor costs and resident care, OnShift Mobile expands the functionality of OnShift staff scheduling software with key workforce analytics so executives expand actionable insight across properties. There are different features included such as: tracking staffing levels; overtime and occupancy status against budgets; insight at the enterprise, region, division and facility/community-basis; the ability to compare their organization against other regions, divisions and properties with new peer analysis capabilities. Social Media Tool Recruits Client Leads, Provides Caregiver and Patient Updates "Social media and aging senior care don't seem to go hand-in-hand. But for Home Care Assistance, an in-home senior care company, social media has been an invaluable tool for growth, propelling the business to hit $63 million in revenue in 2012 and grow 25% year-over-year for nearly a decade," reports Fox Business. "The company uses social media as a recruiting tool for new client leads, provide updates on its caregivers and patients as well as to offer health tips for the elderly." "There are a lot of misnomers and myths propagated by our industry about social media," she says. "The primary health-care de

It is normal for aging people to have a physical and mental decline and it happens in varying rates and this varying case sometimes needs a higher level of support. Those elderly who chooses to stay at their own home for as long as possible need somebody to constantly assess whether they are actually coping. And their children should do so but if the children live in a very far place this cant be possible so they need to assign somebody who is in regular contact with them to do the monitoring. But how can you determine if they need to be transferred to home care? Forgetfulness about household matters, it is sometimes normal but if it can costs their lives it is about time.  Going out and leaving the house unlocked  Losing keys and valuables  Stoves and ovens not turned off  Failure to place trash cans out for collection  Newspapers lying uncollected on the front lawn  Uncollected mail spilling out of the letter box  Household chores not attended to  The yard not kept tidy  Inability to care for the needs of a pet Lack of attention to personal care, if they let go of this they already need help.  Clothes not laundered as frequently as necessary  Inability to match colors when dressing  Dressing in inappropriate clothing for the time of day  Failure to keep scheduled medical appointments  Medication not being taken  A refrigerator containing mostly contaminated and unusable food  Weight loss due to illness or lack of proper dietary intake  Outdoor safety, if they are being a risk to themselves and to others it is time to get help.  Driving ability likely to cause accidents  Wandering around the neighborhood aimlessly  Getting lost  Forgetting where they live Inability to manage personal affairs  Bills that are unpaid  Leaving cash lying around the home  Losing money  Not getting to the bank to obtain cash for necessary purchases  Losing checkbooks and other documents Decline

Prescriptions for psychotropic drugs, including those sometimes referred to as the "chemical cosh", soar amongst elderly people who are admitted to residential care homes, a new study shows. The study, in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, looks at the prescribing of drugs to calm anxiety and sedate, as well as the antipsychotics which are supposed to be prescribed for severe mental health conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and only for dementia as a last resort. The researchers, from Queen's University Belfast, carried out the study using information from the Northern Ireland prescribing database relating to over 250,000 people over the age of 65, but, they say, the pattern they found holds good for the whole of the UK. They discovered that only 1.1% of elderly people living in the community in their own homes or with relatives were taking an antipsychotic - the so-called "chemical cosh" drugs, which the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) warns are not appropriate for most people with dementia.

http://www.zimbio.com/Springhill+Care+Group/articles/OBWSq8l9gq3/Home+Care+Group+Springhill+Blog+Reviews+Technology?add=True There's no place like home - especially when it comes to helping older people and those with care needs to maintain their wellbeing and independence within their communities. This is why there's a growing drive to integrate housing provision with health and social care. But how exactly can housing providers ensure they deliver the right facilities and support for vulnerable people, to help build integrated and sustainable communities? I believe the housing sector's skills and resources will be key to helping social care and health providers sustain services while budgets are reducing, and provide a better experience for those with long-term needs. http://www.slideshare.net/allanbrooks03/home-care-group-springhill-blog-reviews-technology-helps-elderly-to-stay-at-home

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/as-senior-citizens-savour-care-homes/137658/ With increasing neglect by family and friends, coupled with the pressure of making ends meet, a growing number of elderly people are resorting to care homes to spend their final days on earth. Chiemelie Ezeobi writes The woman in the picture now lives at the Regina Mundi Home for the elderly in Mushin, a Lagos community. She was abandoned by her family. "Isolation, discrimination, neglect and poverty are forcing elderly people to live a dismal life in care homes across the country," says Olubunmi Owosho, a social psychologist. At Regina Mundi Home for the elderly, some of the people at the home were abandoned by their families in their old ages while some actually arrived there with the help of their family members who could no longer cope with caring for their needs. "It is important to make the elderly feel that they are still very relevant to the society. Some of them have worked for years and have contributed their quota to the society but were abandoned in their old age," says Anthonia Adebowale, a reverend sister. "Some have children whom we have to practically force to come and see them while others have irreconcilable differences with their relatives. "The elderly are often seen as the reservoirs of knowledge and the voice of wisdom whose fountain of experience are often needed to steer the ship of life. With the blessing of old age often comes the maturity to handle issues and therefore deserve to be supported and made happy and comfortable in the twilight of their ages," she explained. Reports suggest that there is evidence that the traditional practice of caring for parents began to erode under harsh economic conditions in urban areas across the country. For instance, there is absence of a social security system and only a minute percentage of the population older than 60 receives pensions before death. Analysts say, rapid urbanisation has displaced the

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9860430/Inheritance-stealth-tax-to-fund-care-for-the-elderly.html The Treasury is set to freeze the amount that people can inherit free of tax instead of increasing it in line with inflation. The allowance will be frozen at £325,000 despite George Osborne, the Chancellor, just eight weeks ago saying that he would increase the amount in two years. The rate will now not go up until at least 2019, according t The Sunday Times, meaning that thousands of families will be £95,000 worse off than if the allowance had risen. The measures would see 5,000 more people paying inheritance tax and are expected to contribute about £1 billion over the next five years towards the cost of care home bills for the elderly. Under those plans pensioners with savings of up to £123,000 are to receive state support with their care costs under Government plans. http://springhillcaregroup.net/

1. A Home Caregiver Can't Provide the Expertise and Level of Care a Senior Nursing Facility Can. A 24/7 care can be provided by a quality home care, this include round-the-clock check-ups of vital signs and caregivers monitoring medications of the elderly. A home health caregiver is able to pay all his attention to his patient because he is just responsible to a single patient. In turn he will always be present in any emergency and the best thing is that they are trained professionally in dementia care. Grooming and hygiene are never a problem since they practice one is to one caregiver-patient relationship, you are sure that your love one is well taken care of. Their nursing services also include grooming, bathing, transportation, housekeeping, diet management, and senior companionship.

THE future of the Home and Community Care Services (HACC) program in Bundaberg is up in the air with Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service (WBHHS) considering privatising the service. It could come as soon as March this year, with the final decision resting with the Federal Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA). WBHHS chief executive officer Adrian Pennington said transferring the delivery of HACC services to another provider was still a proposal but the change could affect about 800 clients in the Bundaberg region and 600 in the Fraser Coast. Mr Pennington said while clients could expect to receive similar or equal level of care under a new provider there were no guarantees the service would remain free. "While it would be our preference for our clients' sake to keep the service free, we are unable to speculate what fees, if any, would be applicable in future as this would be determined by the new provider," he said. "These clients will be notified of changes to the service via a letter this week." HACC provides many services including meals on wheels, transport and nursing care to support older people to stay at home and be more independent in the community. When the NewsMail asked how many jobs could be at risk Mr Pennington said: "As the consultation process with staff is ongoing, at this time I consider it premature and inconsiderate to discuss publicly staffing matters relating to HACC services." He said a meeting had been held with staff last week to provide help including contact details for organisations including the Employee Assistance Scheme. "We recognise this is a deeply unsettling time for people and I want to offer my assurance that we will support all staff and clients affected," he said. He said the details of the proposal were still to be finalised. "We are yet to properly liaise further with the Federal Department of Health and Ageing and the Queensland Department of Community Safety (DCS) as to what a transfer of

THE future of the Home and Community Care Services (HACC) program in Bundaberg is up in the air with Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service (WBHHS) considering privatising the service. It could come as soon as March this year, with the final decision resting with the Federal Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA). WBHHS chief executive officer Adrian Pennington said transferring the delivery of HACC services to another provider was still a proposal but the change could affect about 800 clients in the Bundaberg region and 600 in the Fraser Coast. Mr Pennington said while clients could expect to receive similar or equal level of care under a new provider there were no guarantees the service would remain free. "While it would be our preference for our clients' sake to keep the service free, we are unable to speculate what fees, if any, would be applicable in future as this would be determined by the new provider," he said. "These clients will be notified of changes to the service via a letter this week." HACC provides many services including meals on wheels, transport and nursing care to support older people to stay at home and be more independent in the community. When the NewsMail asked how many jobs could be at risk Mr Pennington said: "As the consultation process with staff is ongoing, at this time I consider it premature and inconsiderate to discuss publicly staffing matters relating to HACC services." He said a meeting had been held with staff last week to provide help including contact details for organisations including the Employee Assistance Scheme. "We recognise this is a deeply unsettling time for people and I want to offer my assurance that we will support all staff and clients affected," he said. He said the details of the proposal were still to be finalised. "We are yet to properly liaise further with the Federal Department of Health and Ageing and the Queensland Department of Community Safety (DCS) as to what a transfer of

Time is very essential to everybody. We will never know when were going to loose it. Today everyone seems to be very busy, everybody has to live and in order to live one must work for them. But we cannot work and take care of our parents or grandparents who's getting older and requires more care and attention. We became more concern about their safety at home. It's not an easy task caring for the elderly, especially if you are trying to do it alone. And aside from work, there comes a time when you will need a break, or just some time alone for yourself. With the constant worry that something may go wrong, the respites and personal time become nonexistent. Sometimes we are left with tough decision, whether or not an elderly family member should move into an assisted living facility is often one of the key questions. Home care for the elderly is an option for caregivers who need extra help while offering the elderly person a good quality of life for the rest of their years. To make your decision a lot easier, these advantages of letting elderly live in Home care might help you decide: 1. Seniors are getting more sensitive than usual. One advantage of leeting them stay in home care can give them the sense of freedom, and freedom for them could mean maintaining dignity, dignity which is something seniors feels like loosing as they age. This freedom would not be possible in an assisted living residence. This freedom could also mean that those who receive homecare can come and go as they please-for whatever reason. They can also choose their own meal times so they can eat whenever they are hungry unlike if meals are served to them, they might feel like prisoners. They are left with the feeling of they can decide for themselves. 2. It is proven that caring for pets can reduce stress levels and was also proven to have health benefits for seniors. Homes allow elderly to keep their pets and even beloved possessions with them for these possessions are tied