In a companion piece in the Times, seniors give firsthand accounts of the health benefits they’ve received from therapy — from dealing with the death of a spouse to making new friends. We’ve gathered a few of their selected quotes below.

Therapy has unlocked a lot of things that I never thought would have unfolded for me at this time in my life. I have learned to be more open with myself and others about who I am and what I am, and I’ve learned that I’m a fabulous person, which I did not know till now. […] I was brought up in a very protected society and discussing things was not an option. So having someone that actually discussed things with me to death was extremely helpful. –Judita Grosz, 69

No individual doesn’t have problems. Some problems are monumental and some are very small, but aging is in itself a problem. You can’t do the things you used to do. You can’t go where you wanted. People look at you differently. What psychiatry does is help you go through the problems and adjust your thinking. –Marvin Tolkin, 86

The first time I went to a therapist was about, well I think it must have been 20 years ago. My husband was sick. I did not understand his illness. I needed to get some help. I had to understand what was happening so I went to a therapist. […] Should seniors consider therapy? Of course they should. They’re reluctant to go. They’re afraid of it. I don’t know why, but they’re afraid. –Miriam Zatinsky, 87

Physicians Choice Private Duty currently serving Omaha, Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa — provides seniors and their families a complete understanding of the available care options and helps families maneuver through the challenges of the system. All Encompass services are directed by registered nurses or social workers with no long-term contracts. Contact us today for help with your senior care needs.

Photo credit: SalFalko via photopin cc

“Physicians Choice Private Duty solves the challenges families face in caring for aging parents, with a focus on strategies that keep them in their homes. To learn more about our solutions, visit us today..”

As we mentioned in yesterday’s blog, 60 percent of older adults underestimate the cost of living in a nursing home. As such today we’ll look at the costs associated with three common types of long-term care — nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and in-home care.

According to a 2012 MetLife market survey, a private room at a nursing home now costs more than $90,000 a year on average in the U.S. — that breaks down to about $250 a day. The cost of an assisted living facilities averaged about half as much at $42,600 a year — still a staggering amount. (And for what’s it’s worth the survey found that the average cost for a private room was $184 a day in Nebraska and $171 a day in Iowa, respectively.)

At $170 day, around-the-clock care costs about $7 an hour with 65 percent of nursing care proceeds going to staff, elder care specialist Todd Bergstrom told a CBS news affiliate in Minnesota. Even with the majority of the cost going to wages, nursing home staff usually make significantly less per hour than the equivalent job at a hospital. Naturally, if staff salaries were raised facility costs would also go up. Other factors that also up the cost include insurance, food and building maintenance.

Assisted living facilities are a viable alternative for many who can’t cover the costs of a nursing home. Still, it’s worth noting that the level of care is less than that provided by a nursing home and family caregiving help may be required. The MetLife survey found that assisted living costs are also rising year to year, up 2 percent from 2011.

A slighter cheaper option — and one the senior needing care will likely prefer — is home care. A Genworth Cost of Care Survey found that the cost of in-home care is rising at a much slower pace than other options, reported CNN. Hiring a homemaker to assist an elderly parent or loved with daily tasks like cooking, cleaning and transportation costs around $41,000 per year, a 1 percent increases from last year and just a 4 percent increase in five years. Home health aids are a little more expensive as they provide more comprehensive care such as bathing, grooming, medication management and more. Home health aides average about $45,000 a year, up just 5 percent from five years ago.

With nursing home care costs currently so high, it makes sense why home health aides are in such high demand — according to the Department of Labor it’s currently the fast growing field in the U.S. Even so, it’s best to consult with a care professional to determine what type of care best suits your loved one.

Physicians Choice Private Duty  currently serving Omaha, Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa ” provides seniors and their families a complete understanding of the available care options and helps families maneuver through the challenges of the system. All Encompass services are directed by registered nurses or social workers with no long-term contracts. Contact us today for help with your senior care needs.

Photo credit: DIAC Images via photopin cc

“Physicians Choice Private Duty solves the challenges families face in caring for aging parents, with a focus on strategies that keep them in their homes. To learn more about our solutions, visit us today..”

A new study suggests that getting regular aerobic exercise, such as walking, may be one of the best ways to help prevent Alzheimer’s and other onset dementia in seniors. The findings from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences show that among more than 100 older adults, those who exercised several times a week benefitted from age-reversing effects beyond cardiovascular health, mainly in boosting their hippocampal volume and size. This is key because the hippocampus naturally shrinks in late adulthood which leads to memory problems and an increased risk of developing dementia.

Neuroscientist Art Kramer, an author of the study, took MRI scans the brains of 120 older adults. He found that those who participated in moderate aerobic exercise — just 45 minutes at a time three days a week, mostly walking — saw an average increase of 2 percent in the volume of their brains after a year, reported NPR. And those who didn’t exercise actually lost brain volume — about 1.5 percent on average.

In another article, neuroscientist Peter Snyder told NPR that evidence supports that moderate aerobic exercise is one of the best things older adults can do to maintain mental sharpness.

“What we’re finding is that of all of these noninvasive ways of intervening, it is exercise that seems to have the most efficacy at this point ” more so than nutritional supplements, vitamins and cognitive interventions,” Snyder told NPR. “What we find is that with exercise ” with aerobic exercise, a moderate amount on a regular basis ” there are chemical changes that occur in the brain that promote the growth of new neurons” in the hippocampus.

With a rapidly aging U.S. population and also taking into account that more than half of people over the age of 85 already have some form of dementia, boosting one’s workout regimen should be, well, a no-brainer.

Physicians Choice Private Duty  currently serving Omaha, Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa ” provides seniors and their families a complete understanding of the available care options and helps families maneuver through the challenges of the system. All Encompass services are directed by registered nurses or social workers with no long-term contracts. Contact us today for help with your senior care needs.

—

Photo credit: Yang and Yun’s Album via photopin cc

“Physicians Choice Private Duty solves the challenges families face in caring for aging parents, with a focus on strategies that keep them in their homes. To learn more about our solutions, visit us today..”

Hospice advocate Torrey DeVitto

All across the country, hospice providers are celebrating National Volunteer Week April 21-27, 2013. Each year, more than 1.65 million patients receive hospice care in the United States, which couldn’t happen without the support of dedicated individuals offering their time and helping hands to those facing a life-limiting illness.

The duties of hospice volunteers are many: serving patients and their families at the bedside, assisting with office duties, helping to raise awareness of issues pertinent to hospice care, helping with fundraising, contributing to educational programs and more. The vital role of volunteers is perhaps best reflected in the fact that it’s federally mandated under Medicare that 5 percent of all patient care hours be provided by trained volunteers, according to a press release from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO).

NHPCO president and CEO J. Donald Schumacher had this to day about the important role of hospice volunteers:

Hospice volunteers play an indispensable role in enabling hospice and palliative care organizations to offer the best care possible for patients living with life-limiting illness, their families and caregivers. By sharing their time, energy, and expertise, volunteers bring compassion and caring to the lives of those in need.

The National Hospice Foundation will present the Buschwald Spirit of Caring Award to actress and hospice advocate Torrey DeVitto on Friday, April 26. Besides serving as a hospice volunteer for six years, DeVitto has spent much of her time encouraging younger Americans to learn more about hospice and consider giving their time.

“As a hospice volunteer, I’ve seen firsthand the comfort, love and respect hospice brings to all the people they care for. I offer my thanks to all the hospice volunteers across the country who are doing so much for their communities,” DeVitto is quoted saying in the press release.

Physicians Choice Private Duty salutes the effort of the NHPCO, DeVitto and volunteers across the country. If you have any questions about local hospice providers, feel free to contact Encompass for help.

Physicians Choice Private Duty currently serving Omaha, Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa provides seniors and their families a complete understanding of the available care options and helps families maneuver through the challenges of the system. All Encompass services are directed by registered nurses or social workers with no long-term contracts. 

—

Image via Torrey-DeVitto.org

“Physicians Choice Private Duty solves the problems families face in finding home health care providers they can trust. Providers who will focus on strategies that keep parents in their homes. To learn more about our health care services, visit http://www.encompass-home-health-care.com.”

In a companion piece to U.S. News‘ e-book How to Live to 100, three experts from the publication recently provided advice on living a long and healthy life. As one might imagine, a good nourishing diet ranked high on their list (the Mediterranean diet in particular). Ranking low were mentally unhealthy behaviors such as social isolation.

In the video, e-book author Phillip Moeller talks to a panel of experts that includes Nancy L. Keating, associate professor of medicine and health care policy at Harvard Medical School and an associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Anna Medaris Miller, Washington, D.C., health writer and associate editor of Monitor on Psychology magazine; and Jay Olshansky, professor of public health at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=413i536DMN8&feature=player_embedded

Takeaways from the video

On the Mediterranean diet:

• • A recent study showed the participants who followed the diet — which is heavy in beans, legumes, fresh fruit, fish and “good fats” such as olive oil —  benefited from a 30% reduction of the risk of heart attack, stroke or death from cardiovascular causes.

• • Longterm, the diet is associated with lower caloric intake which is often associated with longevity.

• • No diet can guarantee you’ll live to 100, but it can help you live a happy and healthy life — a worthy aspiration.

Lifestyle behaviors likely to be linked with longer life in the near future:

• • Subgroups of the population that are highly educated and wealthy will add years of life over the next couple of decades. The opposite is expected to happen to those who are less-educated, not wealthy, have a poor diet and lack access to proper health care.

• • High intensity work outs aren’t as beneficial as we are led to believe. Rather, do whatever it takes to get up and move as often as possible, as a sedentary lifestyle is linked to many, many health problems.

The health effects of an active social life

• • Having strong social connections is linked to a full range of positive health effects like decreased risk of mortality, better pain tolerance and a stronger immune system.

• • This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective, as human survival is dependent upon other humans.

• • Even so, living alone isn’t necessarily a bad thing — especially with access to technology that easily connects people.

Are there any other keys to living to 100 the experts didn’t address? Let us know on Twitter or in the comments.

Physicians Choice Private Duty  currently serving Omaha, Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa ” provides seniors and their families a complete understanding of the available care options and helps families maneuver through the challenges of the system. All Encompass services are directed by registered nurses or social workers with no long-term contracts. Contact us today for help with your senior care needs.

“Physicians Choice Private Duty solves the challenges families face in caring for aging parents, with a focus on strategies that keep them in their homes. To learn more about our solutions, visit us today..”