Hiring Comedians for Loved Ones with Dementia

Date: March 8, 2020
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
Hiring Comedians for Loved Ones with Dementia

When you think of comedians, you probably imagine them on stage with a single spotlight on them. While you aren’t wrong, there’s a new picture of comedians coming to light—as a source of joy for those with dementia. People have started to hire comedians for loved ones with dementia to visit weekly.

Hiring Comedians for Loved Ones with Dementia

Hiring Comedians for Loved Ones with Dementia

 

It makes sense in a way. While dementia can take away brain functions involving memory and logic, it doesn’t take away emotion. In fact, in some people, it enhances their range of emotion and sensitivity.

Dani Klein Modisett created Laughter on Call after seeing what a comedian did for her mother. Modisett moved her mother from Manhattan to Los Angeles when her mother developed dementia. Modisett did this so she could be close by.

The only problem was, her mother caved into herself and was no longer the person she used to be.

Enter the comedian. After one visit, her mother became more engaged, ate, and started laughing.

Laughter on Call pairs comedians with dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. It also puts on laughter workshops and live comedy shows in communities.

Fees are between $25 and $50 for an hour-long visit.

While Laughter on Call is mostly in California, other states have been looking into it. Some comedians have clients in other states, and Modisett gets inquiries from all around the country.

It’s not just the older adults who get benefits from these meetings. Many comedians say they’ve developed more empathy and feel fulfilled doing this.

Read more here.

Major Insurers are Trying to Lower Generic Drug Prices

Date: March 1, 2020
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
Usually antibiotics are a good thing, but right now older Americans are being prescribed too many antibiotics. People over 65 have the highest rate of outpatient prescribing out of any other age group. This is a huge problem.

A group of major insurers said they would invest 55 million to create cheaper versions of expensive generic drugs. This is another sign that the pharmaceutical industry pricing is angering the general population. Even an assumed ally, like insurance companies, are starting to stand against it and want to lower generic drug prices.

Major Insurers are Trying to Lower Generic Drug Prices

Major Insurers are Trying to Lower Generic Drug Prices

 

The decision was made by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and 18 of its member organizations. All of which covers around 40 million people. They also partnered with Civica Rx, a nonprofit already selling drugs used in hospitals to health systems around the nation.

While not announcing the specific drugs that would be targeted due to not wanting to alert potential rivals, they said they want to start with seven to ten products. Some of these projects could be out as early as 2022.

While generic drugs are usually less expensive than brand names, they can get costly when there is no other competition. No competition means that the price can go up and people have no other choice but to buy it.

Federal prosecutors have been investigating price-fixing schemes done by pharmaceutical companies. The only problem is that the process to catch and punish these companies is long.

CivicaRx says they can get lower prices because they can guarantee companies a market, so whatever they don’t make themselves, they are hoping to get lower prices for.

Read more here.

Patients Being Put at Risk Due to Chaos at Chain Pharmacies

Date: March 1, 2020
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
Patients Being Put at Risk Due to Chaos at Chain Pharmacies

A medication mix-up can have huge ramifications, especially for older adults who are more vulnerable health-wise. In extreme cases, it can even lead to death. How do medication mix-ups happen? Well, according to pharmacists that work at chains like CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens, it’s due to problems with being able to do their job correctly. They fear patients are being put at risk due to this.

Patients Being Put at Risk Due to Chaos at Chain Pharmacies

Patients Being Put at Risk Due to Chaos at Chain Pharmacies

 

The chaos that these pharmacists describe in letters to state regulatory boards and interviews are being understaffed, given too many tasks, and being expected to do everything quickly.

They have to fill prescriptions, give flu shots, take care of the drive-through, answer phones, work the register, counsel patients, call doctors and insurance companies while trying to meet performing metrics created by the companies. They say it’s unreasonable and unsafe.

One pharmacist goes as far as calling themself “a danger to the public working for CVS.”

State boards and associations have heard from these worried, overworked pharmacists in at least 24 different states.

Be Vigilant When Getting Medicine From CVS

 

The American Psychiatric Association is concerned about CVS. They say that the company regularly ignored doctors’ specific instructions to dispense limited amounts of medication to mental health patients. The pharmacy’s practice of giving three-month supplies can unintentionally lead to more suicide attempts through overdosing by these patients.

A spokesman for CVS says a system has been created to fix this problem, though the same complaints continue to come in.

Why Is This Happening?

 

By now, you must be wondering how can this be and why?

Regulating chains can be hard for state pharmacy boards. Why? Because while they oversee the industry, they sometimes have company representatives hold seats. For example, in Florida, the nine-member board has a lawyer for CVS and a director of pharmacy affairs at Walgreens.

It creates potential conflicts of interest, and their presence can make it hard to complain. Many people fear for their jobs if they speak up. Pharmacists, in particular, are worried and hope these boards will help them.

Officials from many different state boards say they have limited authority to control how companies run their businesses. A large number of state boards don’t make pharmacies report any errors or do in-depth investigations when they happen. Instead, any inquiries focus on pharmacists instead of the work environment.

While these companies say that patient safety is their number one concern, they also say that pharmacists don’t face extreme pressure or any retribution for speaking up.

It’s hard to calculate how many errors or their severity that happen because there are very relaxed reports and victims usually sign a confidentiality agreement to get their settlement.

The last comprehensive study of medication errors was in 2006. Back then, it was estimated that mistakes hurt 1.5 million Americans. It’s impossible to imagine how many happen now.

Read more here.

Could Beta-Amyloid Plaque Not Be the Cause of Alzheimer’s?

Date: February 23, 2020
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
Could Beta-Amyloid Plaque Not Be the Cause of Alzheimer's?

For the longest time, it was thought that beta-amyloid plaque buildup was the cause of Alzheimer’s. According to a new study from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, that may not be the case.  Instead, the study is saying that it does have an association of the disease, but may not be the cause.

Could Beta-Amyloid Plaque Not Be the Cause of Alzheimer's?

Could Beta-Amyloid Plaque Not Be the Cause of Alzheimer’s?

 

The study had 747 participants with different levels of cognitive health. They agreed to have neuropsychological assessments, PET, and MRIs.

305 participants were considered cognitively healthy, 289 had mild cognitive impairment, and 153 had Obj-SCD. This stands for “objectively-defined subtle cognitive difficulties.” Researchers define this as a measurement of experienced, subtle cognitive functioning problems that happen without any apparent brain damage.

Beta-amyloid did build up faster in those with Obj-SCD. They also had a thinning of brain matter in a region that has to do with memory.

Though while people with mild cognitive impairment had more beta-amyloids at the beginning of the study, the protein actually didn’t build up any faster than in those who are cognitively healthy.

What does this mean?

It means that changes in the brain could be happening before amyloid builds up in any significant way. It means that the focus of scientists should be on other treatment targets. Changing targets mean more studies can be done on less expensive biomarkers.

Read more here.

Eye-Tracking Tests Can Help Detect Alzheimer’s

Date: February 23, 2020
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
Eye Tracking Tests Can Help Detect Alzheimer's

It’s hard to detect Alzheimer’s early because, by the time someone notices something is wrong, the disease has already spread. While dementia or Alzheimer’s can come from having mild cognitive impairment (MCI), they aren’t always connected. Some people can live with just MCI without developing further cognitive impairments. Sometimes MCI can even be improved with a healthy lifestyle and medication.

Eye Tracking Tests Can Help Detect Alzheimer's

Eye Tracking Tests Can Help Detect Alzheimer’s

 

Experts have split MCI into two different types: amnesic (aMCI) and nonamnesic (naMCI). aMCI is connected more to memory loss, while naMCI affects cognitive skills. Detecting and figuring out which mild cognitive impairment a person has is key to treating them.

Researchers from the School of Sports, Exercise, and Health Sciences at Loughborough University wanted to see if eye-tracking technology can help. Previous research has shown that people with Alzheimer’s show eye movement issues before any cognitive symptoms are apparent.

The study had 42 people with a diagnosis of aMCI, 47 people with naMCI, and 68 people who had Alzheimer’s. There were also 92 people who were the same age and cognitively healthy. One test that the participants did was to avoiding distracting stimulus while doing computer tasks. The distracting stimulus could be a dot randomly appearing on part of the screen.

Using an eye tracker with a 500 Hertz sampling technology, researchers tallied the number of times that a person failed the task and looked at the distracting stimulus.

The numbers showed that it was possible to tell the difference between the people who had aMCI and those who had naMCI from the eye-tracking results. Also, people with aMCI had similar results to those who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

The results mean that using eye-tracking technology can help predict Alzheimer’s earlier and tell which MCI patients are at higher risk of developing it. Predicting it earlier allows for more treatment opportunities.

Read more here.

AARP is Taking on High Prescription Prices

Date: February 16, 2020
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
AARP is Taking on High Prescription Prices

It’s no secret that the cost of prescription drugs is ridiculously high. It seems like pharmaceutical companies are too powerful to take on. AARP has had enough and is going to use its huge membership and the power it has to take on high prescription prices. The organization wants answers as to why Americans are paying so much compared to the rest of the world.

AARP is Taking on High Prescription Prices

AARP is Taking on High Prescription Prices

 

No one has enough savings for retirement, and they end up relying on social security to survive. According to the State Director of AARP-NH, Todd Fahey, the average Social Security benefit in NH, is around $1,350 a month. The average older adult takes at least four or five pills a day. It seems impossible to be able to afford those medications and have enough money to live.

The average prescription price has increased by around 57.88 percent between 2012 and 2017. Social Security only increased by 13.2 percent during that same time.

Many people end up rationing their medications to try to save money.

There’s been a massive shift in how insurance works, and most of the time, the price falls on the patient. Even generic drugs are rising in price too.

Doctors and pharmacies are doing their best to help patients by negotiating with drug companies, getting grants, or manufacturer rebates.

AARP has had enough and has started their own program, StopRxGreed.

“AARP has three main goals to our program. We want to be able to explore the importation of drugs from other countries, and we want transparency to know why there has been such a tremendous increase in the cost of the drugs that people need. We need to understand the reasoning that makes these companies feel justified in charging such prices. ” Todd Fahey

The program wants to start with allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription prices.

Read more here.

Rise of the “Gray Gamers” and How Video Games Improve the Brain

Date: February 16, 2020
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
Rise of the "Gray Gamers" and How Video Games Improve the Brain

There are more older adults playing video games than ever. The rise of the “Gray Gamers,” as they’re known, are making video games part of their daily routine. What started out as a way to bond with grandchildren has opened up a whole new world for older adults. Video games can even improve the brain and make reaction speeds faster.

Rise of the "Gray Gamers" and How Video Games Improve the Brain

Rise of the “Gray Gamers”

 

Forty-four percent of adults fifty and older play video games at least once a month, and that number is growing. In 2016, there was only 38 percent. That means that the Gray Gamer population has grown from 40.2 million people to 50.6 million.

People between 50 and 59 are the biggest population of older gamers at 49 percent. It then slowly tapers downward from 60 and older.

Online gaming seems more popular than the traditional console gaming because most older gamers use their smartphones or other mobile devices.

Though there are many older gamers that buy games or accessories, overall spending on gaming has increased since 2016.

Gaming Improving the Brain

 

Playing video games improves older adults’ brains in a variety of ways. More than half of gamers say that playing video games relieves stress and anxiety. It’s a great way for those who can’t go out or struggle to move to have enjoyment every day.

Games also keep their minds engaged and sharp through different types of missions and reactions. A favorite genre of games for those fifty or older are puzzle/ logic and card/tile games. The least popular is education and sport-oriented games.

There are many types of games that promote physical and mental health as well.

Playing games online keeps seniors more social. Many online systems allow for chatting so that people can connect to friends all over the world.

Read more here

Illiteracy Could Increase Dementia Risk

Date: February 9, 2020
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
Illiteracy Could Increase Dementia Risk

The United States Department of Education says that one in five adults have low literacy abilities, meaning around 43 million adults. New research is suggesting that illiteracy could increase dementia risk in older adults.

Illiteracy Could Increase Dementia Risk

Illiteracy Could Increase Dementia Risk

 

Jennifer J. Manly, Ph.D. of Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, was in charge of the study. She explains the connection between reading and brain health.

“Being able to read and write allows people to engage in more activities that use the brain, like reading newspapers and helping children and grandchildren with homework.”

Using your brain in this way has been shown that it reduces the risk of dementia because it keeps the brain active and flexible.

In the study, Manly and her team surveyed and tested 983 people living in New York with low levels of formal education. Most of them had been born and raised in rural parts of the Dominican Republic. On average, the people were 77 years old and had gone to school for a maximum of four years.

Asking the participants if they ever learned to read or write, they discovered that 237 people were, illiterate and 746 were literate.

As a baseline for the study, participants had medical exams and took tests that focus on memory and reasoning. The participants then retook these tests every 18 months to two years for an average of four years.

At the start of the study, 83 out of the 237 (35%) people who could not read or write already had dementia. Compare that to the literate group, only 134 out of 746 (18%) people had dementia.

After adjusting for factors like socioeconomic status, age, and cardiovascular conditions, the study shows that people who are illiterate are twice as likely to develop dementia than those who can read and write. They also found that literacy was linked to higher scores on memory and thinking tests overall.

Even if a person was in school for only a few years, having the ability to read and write can make a huge difference.

Read more here.

360 SHS Featured in the Bedford Bulletin!

Date: February 9, 2020
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
360 SHS Featured in the Bedford Bulletin!

360 SHS was featured in the latest Bedford Bulletin! The article titled “Local Senior Care Owners Launch New Services to Benefit Aging Population” shares information about opening new offices.360 SHS Featured in the Bedford Bulletin!

360 SHS Featured in the Bedford Bulletin

 

Here is the article in full:

New Boston resident Judy Loubier was managing an outpatient physical therapy department when her mother had a stroke in Florida. Because her father was struggling with caring for her on his own, Loubier was flying back and forth from New Hampshire to Florida on a regular basis.

On one of these visits to Florida, Loubier’s mother had another medical emergency, and she had to choose whether to fly back to be with her son or stay home with her mother. Knowing that many other people are in this same position, Loubier was looking for a way to assist families and ensure that aging folks maintained a high quality of life.

When she boarded her plane home from that trip, she found an ad for Seniors Helping Seniors in the in-flight magazine. This serendipitous moment led to Loubier and her husband, Randy, opening a Seniors Helping Seniors location at 360 Route 101, Suite 3B, in Bedford, in May 2012.

After seven years of helping Bedford area families, the Loubiers saw a need for increased services to ensure all clients receive appropriate care for their specific needs.

On Aug. 1, with the addition of complex medical home care, medication administration, prescription management, pill minders, skilled nursing, hospital and rehabilitation discharge, the Loubiers officially rebranded as 360 SHS, now offering a full circle of care.

“We know from firsthand experience how difficult it can be to care for an aging loved one- and that no two people are the same,” said Loubier. We’ve expanded our service offerings to offer a holistic, all-encompassing experience, and to ensure that every client receives the appropriate services for their unique situation.”

The rollout of these new services comes at the same time that the Seniors Helping Seniors brand is announcing their 360 standards to re-emphasize its commitment to providing loving, compassionate care to seniors who want to age in place.

In addition to serving the aging community through 360 SHS, Loubier is a certified dementia practitioner, certified senior advisor, Alzheimer’s Association speaker, and volunteer, and author of a book called “Why We Care.”

She is a frequent keynote speaker in New Hampshire on senior care issues and will be speaking at Parkinson’s Education Day in Lebanon on May 2.

New Ultrasound Technology Could Help with Parkinson’s Symptoms

Date: February 2, 2020
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
How Ageism Hurts Seniors' Health

A new study has shown that a minimally invasive procedure may be able to help with Parkinson’s symptoms. Using magnetic resonance-guided focus ultrasound (MRgFUS), researchers can focus sound energy beams. The energy beams can target parts of the brain.

New Ultrasound Technology Could Help with Parkinson's Symptoms

New Ultrasound Technology Could Help with Parkinson’s Symptoms

 

Until now, deep brain stimulation has been the most commonly used procedure to help with Parkinson’s symptoms. It has been somewhat successful. The problem is that it can cause bleeding and infections. A surgeon has to put a small electrode into the brain. The implant connects with a pacemaker-like device in a person’s chest.

With this new procedure, MRgFUS, there doesn’t need to be any incision and has fewer risks.

But how does this work?

The machine is placed on the opposite side of the body where tremors are. So if you have tremors on your right side, the device goes on your left. The machine will then relieve the tremors using focused sound energy.

While this technique is a form of therapy, it’s not readily available. It’s only done in a few places around the world. As this study on MRgFUS spreads throughout the world, patients will be able to advocate for the therapy to be more readily available.

Read more about the study and the machine here.