For seniors — and for those with seniors in their lives…

I just had an encounter with hospital bait and switch practice again. I went to the ER and was impressed with the attention I received — getting a scan within 1-1/2 hrs and diagnosis within 3 hours!

I was moved to a room and I specifically asked if this meant I was admitted. I got a firm yes.

Two nights in, a front office woman came in with papers for me to sign. I surprised her by asking what was I signing. She said it was to tell Medicare that I was on for observation and checking out. 

I asked did she want me to fib as I had been told I was an admitted status patient.

Shocked, she said it was not really a fib, but a way to work the payment system!

I had had speedy response time when I was in the ER which had actually expedited push out the door. Had I been told that upfront, I would have been a willing party since I am a full time caretaker for my husband.

Turns out later that day my doc would not allow me to leave because I was still too sick!


Bottom line of this rant is that hospitals are not up front with patients — only interest is the bottom line.

More later perhaps...



mtierney said:
I just had an encounter with hospital bait and switch practice again. I went to the ER and was impressed with the attention I received — getting a scan within 1-1/2 hrs and diagnosis within 3 hours!
I was moved to a room and I specifically asked if this meant I was admitted. I got a firm yes.
Two nights in, a front office woman


came in with papers for me to sign. I surprised her by asking what was I signing. She said it was to tell Medicare that I was on for observation and checking out. 
I asked did she want me to fib as I had been told I was an admitted status patient.
Shocked, she said it was not really a fib, but a way to work the payment system!
I had had speedy response time when I was in the ER which had actually expedited push out the door. Had I been told that upfront, I would have been a willing party since I am a full time caretaker for my husband.
Turns out later that day my doc would not allow me to leave because I was still too sick!


Bottom line of this rant is that hospitals are not up front with patients — only interest is the bottom line.
More later perhaps...this article which I posted earlier describing the scenario I posted above.

https://t.co/HdPxvGksXF?ssr=true

 


It is good to learn that my families’ experiences with hospitalization are not unique to my area. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/03/health/post-hospital-syndrome-elderly.html?rref=collection%2Fissuecollection%2Ftodays-new-york-times

I can confirm the taking of blood round the clock, often ruining the chance to get even a couple of hours sleep. Also, during my experience in May,  I was struck by the manical pursuit of a vein by nurses who seemed less adept than you might expect. I asked who was calling for all these tests? What doctor? As I came in through ER, I had not been in contact with my own physician. The answer was always the same: I don’t know, or “the lab”.

This article does provide me much comfort with the decision to keep my husband at home under hospice care. He died June 10th, comfortably in his own bed, surrounded by loved ones,  as was his choice. He had always returned home after hospitalizations with more health issues than before.


mtierney said:
I
This article does provide me much comfort with the decision to keep my husband at home under hospice care. He died June 10th, comfortably in his own bed, surrounded by loved ones,  as was his choice. He had always returned home after hospitalizations with more health issues than before.

 Oh, I am so sorry to read this.  Please accept my deepest condolences.


Anyone who has visited loved ones, with or without dementia, in a long term care facility can relate to the conditions mentioned in this article —isolation, memory loss, loneliness, etc — even in facilities rated highly. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/22/world/europe/dementia-care-treatment-symptoms-signs.html?rref=collection%2Fissuecollection%2Ftodays-new-york-times


This article highlights a new program welcoming visitors to the Queensland State Archives. 

It's thoughtfully designed, and makes wonderful use of the Archives' resources. D and I have previously visited special exhibitions the Archives have installed in the State Library based on the theme of Home and particular decades; the rooms were spectacularly evocative of place and time. 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-16/memory-lounge-dementia/11162950

This might be a program idea that can be trialled in your area, or nearby.


This article highlights the need for older people to be assisted with technology while continuing to live on their own, in their own home. In this case, why didn't the carbon mono oxide detector activate. I lived with my niece( I was not able to live alone at that time) and the oven set off the detector. The fire dept came and took charge of the situation. There are a lot of safety features/devices that are important to maintain and monitor. Living alone now, I do get support from family and friends around this issue.



I live alone in a house with an attached garage , so I understand the issue — I really don’t know how this tragedy happened. Perhaps there will be some follow up — I will post any new info here.


meadesmith said:
This article highlights the need for older people to be assisted with technology while continuing to live on their own, in their own home. In this case, why didn't the carbon mono oxide detector activate. I lived with my niece( I was not able to live alone at that time) and the oven set off the detector. The fire dept came and took charge of the situation. There are a lot of safety features/devices that are important to maintain and monitor. Living alone now, I do get support from family and friends around this issue.

 The usable life of a CO2detector is a few years.  After that it will beep a warning that it needs to be replaced.  Since CO2 is an inert gas......the detector can actually be placed on a table or any object waist high and not necessarily a ceiling.


What you say is true but it is because CO2 is heavier than air, not because it is inert (practically speaking). 


Klinker said:
What you say is true but it is because CO2 is heavier than air, not because it is inert (practically speaking). 

 Just using the terminology handed to us by our building maintenance group.  I barely squeaked through high school chemistry and fled in terror at the thought of physics.  Had to find a friendly Doctor who wrote me a note so I could avoid the class because of my bone spurs


Klinker said:
What you say is true but it is because CO2 is heavier than air, not because it is inert (practically speaking). 

 https://images.app.goo.gl/BtBwsJZSz29Mc4EH6


No worries.  I have a tendency to be overly pedantic.


Part of the trouble with such beeping reminders for alarms is that people with hearing loss either might not hear the sound or might not understand what/where this sound is. My parents-in-law had a smoke detector that needed replacing but to them it sounded like crickets had nested in the roof or wall.  And recently a client complained to me of a cicada 'driving her nuts'. 


Klinker said:
No worries.  I have a tendency to be overly pedantic.

 Pedantic doesn’t come to mind....


mtierney said:


Klinker said:
No worries.  I have a tendency to be overly pedantic.
 Pedantic doesn’t come to mind....

 This is what you reply to????


LOL!


Klinker said:


mtierney said:

Klinker said:
No worries.  I have a tendency to be overly pedantic.
 Pedantic doesn’t come to mind....
 This is what you reply to????


LOL!

 cheese Different thread!


Noted this article from a personal view   confused I have an iPhone, Uber app, and am reluctant to use it!

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/16/health/uber-lyft-elderly.html


Based on personal experience -- 

If you care for a person in rehab or other facility where person is dependent on attendants, leave a clipboard and note paper with instructions for attendants/staff to list items that need to be purchased for the resident.

Common sense would dictate that the staff would call you with requests for supplies and items of clothing. Common sense doesn't always live in these facilities.


The importance of this article convinced me to edit this thread’s title..

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/29/opinion/sunday/dementia-assisted-living.html


So, I got to read two lines, which were an opening question. Then the paywall/subscription invitation endless pop ups got in the way. 

Perhaps we can have some idea of the content of articles, when links are posted? Summaries, or abstracts would be appreciated.  I try not to repeat the article, but I also try not to link to articles behind paywalls. I'll work on doing better, myself.


  • Joanne, this is the gist...


  • Published Aug. 30, 2019Updated Sept. 3, 2019, 1:18 a.m. 

To what extent, the researchers asked middle-aged adults, do your parents ignore suggestions or advice that would make their lives easier or safer?

Ignore instructions from their doctors?

Insist on doing things their own way, even if that makes their own or others’ lives more difficult, inconvenient or unsafe?

That’s how several studies directed by Allison Heid, a gerontologist consulting at Penn State and Rowan University, measured adult children’s perceptions of stubbornness among their aging parents.

It proved a widespread complaint.

In an initial study of 189 adult children and their parents, Dr. Heid and her colleagues found that 77 percent of children (average age: 55) reported stubborn behavior by their parents, at least sometimes.

But two-thirds of the parents (average age: 80) described themselves as stubborn, too.

In a later study, the researchers asked 192 middle-aged children to keep a seven-day diary of parental interactions. Of those who had contact with their parents that week, 31 percent reported “insistent” behaviors and 17 percent reported “risky” behaviors; 11 percent said they encountered both.

“The stories are endless,” said Dr. Heid, whose interest in the subject was sparked by a grandmother determined to shovel snow, despite her children’s protests, into her 80s.

Lori Kayne, a geriatric social worker in Bridgewater, N.J., can tell such stories. Her late father, whose poor balance had caused multiple falls but no serious injuries, resisted her pleas to use his walker. “We had a lot of screaming matches,” she recalled — but she never prevailed.

Then last year, her father fell and fractured several vertebrae. “He was in terrible agony for months,” Ms. Kayne said — but at least he was finally relying on the walker. She figured that at 87, he’d grown more reasonable.




To me, as someone working in this sector and with people who demonstrate such ‘behaviours’, may I ask (politely) what about 

*independence?

*dignity of risk?

*informed choice?

Does the article cover a person’s right to exercise these, without being badgered (even though everyone else may be concerned -but it’s not their life or their choice to make)? I know we’re always debating these questions on MOL, but if an individual has legal capacity (that is, they can make their own decisions legally and financially), it really is their own final choice how to live their life. As long as they understand the risks. 

Wouldn’t you agree? 

Edited to correct stupid autocorrect errors


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