Facility-based care?

Alberta Health is conducting a review that focuses on supportive living and long-term care in Alberta. The goal of this initiative is to improve “the lives of continuing care residents and their families, resident care outcomes, the satisfaction and quality of work environment of staff, and the cost effectiveness of facility-based continuing care service delivery.” Included as part of the review are the thoughts and input of Albertans regarding the future of facility-based continuing care in the province. Click here to share your ideas about this important issue.

Keeping Senior Safe – Webinar

Challenging Assumptions

Seniors are often seen as individuals who are slowing down physically and mentally and cognitively.  However, as a bank manager recently discovered, assumptions can be misguided, inaccurate and downright wrong. Below is a portion of the letter that an 86-year old woman wrote the bank manager after a cheque she had written  bounced.

“Dear Sir: I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, 3 nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it..
I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire pension, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only 8 years.
You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.
My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally answer your telephone calls and letters, — when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become….”

Click here to continue reading.

Paramedic and Seniors on the Move

When an on-duty paramedic walks into a building, it is typically to provide medical care and services to someone. However, when the paramedic is Adam Loria and the facility is the Whitehorn Village, something else may be occurring.

Click here to read the full story.

Restraints as a Last Resort

“There’s a new provincial policy soon to be released in Alberta, ‘Restraint as a Last Resort,’ that will limit use of restraints to the least restrictive, as a last resort. There is a belief that lap belts in chairs keeps people safe (they fasten from behind), but the experience of being restrained is distressing – and can actually lead to more injurious falls and increased antipsychotic use. In addition, the restrained person can’t get to the bathroom, and may experience skin breakdown, loss of muscle strength, loss of independence and delirium (an acute brain injury).” Verdeen Bueckert, Practice Lead with the Seniors Health Clinical Network

Click here to read how an orthopedic team in Alberta reduced the use of restraints by 84%!

As a Senior, Do You Want to Live Alone?

For many individuals, living alone is their preference.  However, while such a living arrangement can be easy to do when one is young, this may not be the case as one ages. As Jacki Andre points out in her recent article, there are many factors that must be taken into consideration if one wants to live alone as a senior. These include such things as undertaking home renovations and adaptations to accommodate mobility issues and establishing living arrangements that meet one’s desire to be independent but at the same time ensure personal safety and security. Just as Andre asks herself the following questions:  “What kind of options would allow me to live alone as a senior? What sort of things should I be thinking about now, to transition from middle-aged employee to retirement living to senior citizen?” we may wish to do the same.  Click here to read Andre’s article.

Call For Participants

Call for participants
If you are or know of someone who is:

  • Over the age of 65;
  • Live in Alberta;
  • Have an annual household income of less than $50,000;
  • Have a high risk of a cardiovascular event based on having ONE of the following:Previous heart attack or stroke, chronic kidney disease, heart failure OR Any TWO of the following:Diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, current cigarette smoking (greater than half a pack a day)

this may be of interest to you.

Researchers at the University of Calgary are looking for 5000 low-income seniors to participate in a study that will focus on managing chronic disease. To find out more and how you can get involved, click here.