April 1, 2008 |

LTL Online

First baby boomer receives SS retirement benefit

Kathleen Casey-Kirschling made history as the first of her generation to receive a Social Security retirement benefit. Born at one second after midnight on January 1, 1946, Casey-Kirschling is leading what is often referred to as America’s silver tsunami. Over the next two decades, nearly 80 million Americans will become eligible for Social Security retirement benefits, more than 10,000 per day on average.

https://www.iadvanceseniorcare.com/BabyBoomerSS

Robo-fido eases loneliness in nursing home

Saint Louis University researchers compared how residents interacted with Sparky, a living, medium-sized gentle mutt, and Aibo, a doggie robot once manufactured by Sony. During visits, both pets interacted with residents—wagging their tails and responding to the people they visited.

“The most surprising thing is they worked almost equally well in terms of alleviating loneliness and causing residents to form attachments,” says William A. Banks, MD, professor of geriatric medicine.

https://www.iadvanceseniorcare.com/RoboDog

CMS releases more SFF names

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released more names of underperforming nursing homes across the country. On November 29, 2007, the agency began publishing the names of Special Focus Facility (SFF) nursing homes that had failed to improve significantly after being given the opportunity to do so.

Comprised of about 131 active facilities, the latest release includes a broader list of all nursing homes identified in the SFF initiative categorized by improvement level and graduation and termination status.

https://www.iadvanceseniorcare.com/SFFreleases

Which Presidential candidate do you think will do most for long-term care?

Reader comments:

Ron Paul will. By bringing home the troops we will decrease spending making the value of the dollar higher and will allow us to have more money to spend on retirement and healthcare facilities.

Any one of them would probably just give NH’s more regulations and then cut budgets!

Not sure if any of them have a clear picture of life in a nursing home.

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Collaborative model takes on the care gap

Michigan’s elderly population is expected to expand during the next 25 years by more than 52%—from 1.2 million to 1.8 million. Its traditional source of new caregivers (women age 25-44) is projected to shrink by more than 10%. Across the LTC industry, the annual turnover rate among entry-level direct-care workers is estimated to be as high as 70%.

In 2004, a number of Michigan caregivers convened to address their state’s looming care gap and formed the Kent County Health Field Collaborative (HFC). Its first project: a cooperative, flexible, and resourceful program that would directly address the barriers to sustained employment per the individual staffer.

The Opportunity Partnership & Empowerment Network (OPEN) program has been a success and continues to expand its role and coverage area outside of Kent County. During a two-year pilot program, more than 80% of employees utilizing the program maintained their employment. All of these employees were considered at risk of losing their jobs because of inabilities to successfully manage personal challenges and work expectations. Also, two of the five participating employers cut turnover rates in half, while another company reported a drop from an average of 36% to 22%. Among the employers who initially made up the HFC, turnover rates ran as high as 58% before the program.

Visit https://www.iadvanceseniorcare.com/OPEN to read a Q&A with the program’s cofounders, Carol Helsel and Doug Himmelein.