Tag: AARP

Efforts for Advancing Nursing Education

Creating larger, more extremely trained medical employees will improve access to higher-quality, more patient-centered and more cost-effective care. That is especially important now: Demand for medical care is growing as the population ages and millions more individuals are entering the medical care program under the Affordable Care Act. Nurses, the largest segment of the medical care work force, provide critical care to our members, many of whom are aging and managing multiple chronic health issues.

That is why AARP, the AARP Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) jointly released the Center to Champion Nursing in America six years ago, to help the medical career better serve consumers. When a subsequent, groundbreaking Institute of Medicine (IOM) review called for transformation of the nursing career, AARP teamed up with RWJF to launch a nationwide strategy to implement the report’s recommendations. These focus on nursing education, practice, leadership, diversity, data, inter-professional collaboration and more. Since its creation three years ago, the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action has organized action coalitions, groups of nurses and health professional champions comprising business, government, academia, consumer groups, philanthropy and other sectors in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The coalitions have so far jointly raised more than $6 million and released projects to advance nursing education, build the nursing workforce and expand access to nursing professionals and other advanced practice nurses. Seven states have removed major barriers to advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) practice and proper care, and one state has given gave APRNs full practice authority and expanded prescriptive power. Nine action coalitions, meanwhile, have been funded to test models to increase the number of baccalaureate-prepared nurses, a key IOM review recommendation. And leaders of national organizations comprising nursing education and community colleges have come together in support of nurses’ advancing the training and learning.

Senior Care Hybrid Model

The variety of elderly living options are growing as the years go by, reviews the New York Times, as new models of senior care are designed in reaction to demand for solutions to conventional ones. “As millions of middle-agers reach retirement age (and in many cases care for seniors parents), families and the pension industry have modified old lifestyle types and designed hybrids,” says the content. In addition to conventional pension areas, the aging population can also choose from family-style group homes, “villages” that connect individual houses with neighborly assistance, or aging in place-specific house renovating.

“We used to think that a person lived in their own house, and if they got weak, they moved in with a relative or to a seniors care facility,” Jon Pynoos, a lecturer of gerontology, policy and planning at the University of Southern California, told the New York Times. “People need more choices.” Most individuals prefer to age in place, according to an AARP study where almost 90% of individuals said they recommended staying in their current residence as they got older.

While house renovating is not always genuine and can be costly, the content points out, there are a lot more ways seniors people can live at home, whether it’s with the help of a home health aide, through the use of programs such as Meals on Wheels, or with remote tracking devices. Long-term care insurance, Medical health insurance, State Medicaid programs and Veterans Affairs benefits cover only some of these charges. Beyond price and their wellness needs, individuals should consider the weather, the location, how much socializing they want, the accessibility to close relatives and transport, experts say.

Aging with Dignity and Assisted Living Centers

Recent studies suggest that more elderly people are hoping to forgo assisted living centers and assisted-living facilities in favor of living out their days in the comfort of their own home. A 2010 AARP survey found that nearly 90 percent of elderly people older than 65 want to “age in place,” or to live in their own home and community safely, independently and comfortably. While aging in place may be more achievable for healthy, active elderly people, elderly people with health issues are just as deserving of the independence and dignity that residing at home provides.

That’s where home health care comes into play. In-home health care solutions can serve as a less expensive and more personalized alternative to residential care features for elderly people. Learning about home health care solutions can help in making the decision if in-home solutions are suitable for you or a loved one. When people think of in-home care for elderly people, they are often thinking of two different kinds. True home health care involves the administration of healthcare services by trained doctors, said Timothy J. Colling, vice chairman of the San Marcos-based A Servant’s Heart Care Solutions. “Strictly speaking, ‘home health care’ is a term that is reserved in the law for the provision of healthcare solutions in a home setting,” Colling said. “What that comes down to (are) factors that a doctor, typically a health professional or a physician or physiotherapist, provides something invasive or technically tricky, like changing a sterile wound.”

“Home care” differs from “home health care” in that the caregiver’s focus is on helping their client with “activities and everyday living,” or ADLs. Because the home caregiver serves as more of a companion than an in-home health professional, he or she is not required to have the same training and certifications as a home health care counterpart. Many home proper care agencies provide both kinds of senior care, while others provide one of the other. But, it still stands that for elderly people with serious conditions, assisted living centers are still the go-to place for them.