Medical society head sees gaps in elder care

Sonja Puzic, Windsor Star

Published: Wednesday, December 03, 2008

As a busy family physician, Dr. Nick Krayacich is all too familiar with the growing challenges facing our health care system.

His patient load of about 2,400 includes many elderly people battling chronic illnesses and adults whose health problems are compounded by job losses and the economic crisis.

Krayacich knows what the community needs -- more health care dollars from the government, better communication among local and provincial agencies and a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to patient care. As the new president of the Essex County Medical Society, he's got several initiatives in mind.

"We are a very well-respected medical society in the province and one of the most active," said Krayacich, who will be formally installed as ECMS president tonight at the society's dinner gathering. "We need to be vocal and advocate for our membership."

One of the first items on Krayacich's agenda is putting together a medical advisory board to work with the Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network, which is responsible for allocating government funding for area health care facilities. The goal is to foster better communication with the LHIN, Krayacich said, "so that they can pick our brains before decisions are made and vice versa."

Krayacich said he will also focus his efforts on "connectedness and inclusion" within the medical community, making sure its members, especially those who were recruited from other parts of the country, feel welcome and get involved.

Krayacich said he is not worried about juggling his day-to-day schedule and new responsibilities as ECMS president. Having served on the medical society's executive, most recently as vice-president, Krayacich said he knows what to expect. He will replace outgoing president Dr. Anthony Glanz, chief of cardiology at Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital.

Krayacich has been practising medicine in the Windsor area since the early 1990s. He treats many geriatric patients who struggle with various chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. Caring for the aging and ailing population with stretched resources and a persistent shortage of family physicians is a complicated process across the province, Krayacich said.

"We definitely don't have enough nursing homes ... we don't have enough hospital beds," he said. "There are still 40 to 50 thousand people in the Windsor area who don't have a family doctor. We're definitely concerned about that."

The Medicare D shell game

One example of the labyrinth that is Medicare. Like it or not, we are all going to have to pay attention to the devilish details - on an annual basis.

It's a pain for seniors to pick from the myriad drug insurance programs, but it pays to do it - every year.

By Robert Strauss

For The Inquirer

Kim Andrews had just helped a woman save a couple of hundred dollars on her new Medicare drug plan.

"I asked her about her husband," said Andrews, the Delaware County coordinator for Apprise, the Pennsylvania health insurance counseling service. The woman said " 'Oh, my husband loves his plan. He won't change.' "

"Well, I checked his drugs anyway, and it turns out his plan was no longer going to cover two of his drugs," Andrews said. "I found him another plan that would save him $2,771. That's huge. People are just unaware, it seems."

Read entire 3-page report at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Coming Shortage of Health Care Providers

Trouble Ahead

As the work force dwindles, who will take care of our aging population?

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Our nation is woefully unprepared to meet the work force challenges posed by an aging population.

There aren't enough workers trained to care for older folks today, let alone 10 or 20 years from now when the elder population will reach record levels. Shortages in nursing, social work, physical therapy and other fields critical to senior care are likely to worsen unless a comprehensive strategy is developed and put into action.

Ironically, many of the baby-boomers who are about to retire over the next few years will leave those very same jobs. In 2000, about 13 percent of the work force was 55 and older. By 2015, that is expected to rise to 20 percent.

Complete Article

Discussing Care Options With Elderly Parents

By Beth Macy

The bank didn’t call until her father tried to draw his third cashier’s check. If he simply sent $98,000 to cover the taxes on a prize he’d won — to a post office box in Canada — the lottery would send him $1 million.

Or so the scam went. Barbara McVi cker rushed to the bank, only to learn that her father had already sent away $68,000 of his life savings. Then came the FBI investigation.

Then, more drastically, what McVicker calls “The Talk.”

She had tried before to initiate the conversation with her elderly parents. But like many, they were reluctant to discuss such an uncomfortable and role-reversing subject.

The elephant was definitely in the room, and he needed some answers:

Complete Article

GE Designing Products for People With Varied Abilities

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Aug 18, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Although each of us has a unique profile consisting of height, age, ability, strengths, weaknesses, and preferences, most homes are designed to fit a "standard" person. As a result, many of us struggle to reach or operate sink fixtures, cabinets, and appliances.

Universal Design is a design concept that meets the needs of people with varied abilities. It not only addresses the current difficulties people face, but also the possible physical challenges later in life.

"The time has come for kitchens and homes that fit the real needs of real people--needs that will change over time," observed Marc Hottenroth, Industrial Design Leader for GE Consumer & Industrial. "Our Industrial Design team will continue to take a leadership role in addressing these issues," he said.



Complete Article

Animal Companions for Seniors in California

Creatures comforting

Couple share their wide assortment of adopted exotic animals with seniors

By CHRIS SMITH
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Monday, August 18, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, August 18, 2008 at 6:05 a.m.

"It's a magical place."

Rob Lyon and his wife, Robin, help seniors feed some of the 70 animals on their Sonoma ranch. The pair also take their animals, including a camel, to nursing homes and retirement communities to visit with residents.

Robin and Rob Lyon have a ranch, E-I-E-I-O.
And on this most unusual ranch on a hill above Sonoma there is an emu, Doris, that the Lyons adopted after she was found injured and abandoned on the ninth hole of a Rohnert Park golf course.

There's also a locally renowned 1,750-pound camel, named Kazzy, who will duck into the bedroom of an ailing person and rest her great head on the bed, like a golden retriever.

And Chester, an African serval cat that struggled at birth at an Oklahoma zoo but now thrives with the Lyons. And a mellow, black-splotched white dog named Chester, whose master died in the 9/11 attacks. And, a dancing macaw parrot, Theo, that needed a home after its family broke up following a divorce.

In all there are 82 animals on Lyon Ranch, many quite exotic and most as hand tamed and cuddly as a kitten. Every one of the 82 has a story.

And so do the Lyons.

Complete Article

Book Review - "My Mother, Your Mother"

'My Mother, Your Mother' speaks to many baby boomers who find themselves caring for their parents

Date published: 4/27/2008

THIS BOOK will literal- ly speak volumes to many baby boomers who find themselves helping aging parents through their late-life journey. Geriatrician Dr. Dennis McCullough recommends a new approach to elder care, "Slow Medicine," and his thoughtful observations bring a glimmer of hope to an often bleak scenario.

He focuses on the fastest growing group of elders, those over 80, and notes that there is a "looming tsunami of elder care needs."

McCullough laments the fast, often aggressive pace of American medicine, and points out the incongruity of a diagnosis-based, cure-focused approach to someone who is dying simply because they are old and at the end of their life. He points out the difference between disease and illness. He questions the unlimited use of tests and procedures for elders, and advocates a gentle approach that assesses the patient's mental state, remaining abilities, family situation and quality of life.

Read Entire Review