Since Tide Pods hit the market in 2012, laundry detergent pods have quickly become popular. Unfortunately, they also resulted in reports of kids biting into these shiny, candy-colored packets of poison. New data shows that it’s not just children who are at risk of this potentially lethal confusion; several seniors with dementia have died after consuming detergent pods. [More]
elder care
IBM Working On Robotic Roommate That Helps Elderly Folks Stay Safe
By 12.28.16
While many people would love to live out the rest of their days happily ensconced in their home, living alone is not always the safest option for elderly folks. But because around-the-clock care — either in a nursing home, assisted living, or from a personal nurse — isn’t always feasible, IBM is working on a robot designed to keep an eye on senior citizens and help them stay safe. [More]
Nursing Home Industry Files Lawsuit To Keep Preventing Patients From Filing Lawsuits
By 10.18.16
Last month, the federal government issued new rules for nursing homes, barring most long-term care facilities from using forced arbitration agreements to stop new residents from filing lawsuits against the homes. Now nursing home operators and industry trade groups are challenging that rule by doing the one thing they want to prevent their patients from doing: going to court. [More]
New Rule Will Stop Many Nursing Homes From Stripping Residents Of Their Right To Sue
By 9.28.16
As we’ve written about previously, some nursing homes and other long-term care facilities use forced arbitration contracts to prevent their residents bringing a legal action against the home in a court of law. Today, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a new rule that will prohibit long-term care facilities that accept Medicare or Medicaid from forcing residents into arbitration. [More]
OnStar Ignores Elderly Man’s Request For Emergency Help Because He’s Not A Subscriber
By 12.21.15
It can be terrifying when an elderly relative vanishes. One New York man who recently went missing was fortunate to be in a car with an emergency device equipped, and to know how to reach help — but the help then chose not to help him at all, leaving his family mystified about the response. [More]
10 Reasons Why You Should Watch Tonight’s Frontline On Assisted Living
By 7.30.13
Once upon a time, assisted living facilities were created as a happy medium between simple retirement communities and skilled nursing homes. Elderly residents would live largely independent existences but would, as the name implies, receive largely non-medical assistance for things they could no longer do on their own. But that has all changed, as more Americans lived longer and assisted living operators realized they had a virtually unregulated goldmine on their hands. [More]
Maggots Found On Nursing Home Residents
By 11.1.11
The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs in Michigan has cited two nursing homes for violations after a survey found two elderly women in their care had maggots in their throat and pubic areas. Now a watchdog group is investigating. [More]
Make Sure The Nursing Home Isn't Dosing Grandma Into Submission
By 8.3.11
A pill is just so much easier. Drug ’em up and shut ’em up. Rather than deal with all the individual needs of elderly persons with dementia in their care, some nursing homes are dosing them with powerful antipsychotics. Not only have the folk not received a diagnosis that the medicine was designed to treat, not only does the drug turn them into zombies their families don’t recognize, but the FDA has warned that using antipsychotics on older patients with dementia nearly doubles their risk of death. [More]
This Is What Happens When A Life Alert Breeds With A Baby Monitor
By 1.5.11
For some people in the Baby Boomer generation, the answer to taking care of their elderly parents was to give them a Life Alert necklace to call for help when they’d fallen and couldn’t get up. The Boomers are also the generation that popularized the use of baby monitors to keep tabs on their out-of-sight tots. So, with that generation going gray gracefully, some are looking to combine these two ideas into one system for adults to keep tabs on their elderly parents. [More]
No Charges In Case Of Utility Freezing 93-Year-Old To Death
By 6.8.09
No charges will be filed in the case of a 93-year old Michigan man who froze to death after the utility company put a malfunctioning electricity limiter on his house.
What's Harder, Having "The Money Talk" With Your Kids, Or Your Parents?
By 3.25.09
For some reason, there’s little more difficult money-wise than talking to our loved ones about money. We’re not so sure why this is the case, but for some reason the financial conversations aren’t that easy between one generation and the next. The Wall Street Journal brings up the issues associated with family money discussions in a couple of recent articles…
Nearly 25% Of Nursing Homes 'Much Below Average'
By 12.22.08
Of all the unusual gifts you can give Mom or Dad this holiday season, none would be more surprising than a simple card saying, “We’re putting you in a home.” Just make sure you don’t pick a bad one, because nearly a quarter of nursing homes were rated “much below average” in a new monthly federal evaluation.
FTC Launches Older Patient Info Site
By 11.29.08
The FTC launched the strangely named “Who Cares” resource site for older patients and those who care for them. It’s a reliable source for knowledge about generics, hormone therapies, hiring caregivers, hearing aids, and alternative treatments, located at ftc.gov/whocares.
Premiere Bathrooms Swindles Parkinson's Afflicted Elderly For $15,000 Bathtub
By 10.3.07
“My grandmother informs them once they are done that she will not be paying them any more money, and that this has gone to the states attorney’s office. On hearing this, one of the installers gets on his cell phone and calls his boss. They talk, he hangs up and walks into the bathroom and proceeds to take off the tub door. He walks out of the bathroom with this door and my grandmother says what are you doing and grabs the door…”
Investment Firms Make Retirement Homes Profitable By Making Them Hell Holes
By 9.24.07
If you wanna make an omelet, you gotta break a few eggs—even if those eggs are old people who die from bedsores that have become infected. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services say that on average, patients at nursing homes that are bought by private investment firms do worse than those at other nursing homes, with higher rates of depression, increased loss of mobility, and less ability to dress and bathe themselves. The New York Times has a horror story on 48 Florida nursing homes where staff was reduced to levels below mandatory requirements and didn’t repair equipment or keep facilities sanitary. Even senior activities were reduced. And there are thousands of (now profitable) nursing homes across the country that are owned by private investment companies.
Checklist: 5 Ways To Rate A Retirement Home
By 9.14.07
SmartMoney is trying to spin it as a “take care of yourself” article, but we know that the real reason you’re in the market for a good retirement home is because Dad has gotten older and he’s nowhere near the madcap character Abe Simpson is on TV. Luckily for you (and your dad), they’ve put together a brief guide of 5 things you should look for when choosing a retirement home. You know, for “yourself.”
