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How well do you know your local
hospitals, or the ones in your parents' community?
Evidence shows that sometimes we don't know our
hospitals as well as we think we do. It's true that
pretty private rooms and a nice view are worth a lot,
but they aren't top of the list when it comes to
critical medical care.
In addition to the new Hospital Compare information, Medicare offers the following comparisons:
•
Nursing Homes While it might be overwhelming to try to use these sites as your single resource for making a selection, they do help greatly with weeding out the really poor performers. And that's really the whole idea.
We're often asked about ideas for senior activities. The notion of "activities" is just a little tricky, when you think about it. Older people who may just be a bit more frail than they used to be resent being presented with "activities" that would be more appropriate for a toddler. Most still have the interests they always had, though they may now watch golf or cooking on the television rather than actively participate. Most activity suggestion lists are targeted toward adults with dementia who live in group care. Pass the ball, name that tune, and sing-alongs do work to some degree in these environments. Talk to many of the residents, however, and you'll hear from the more alert that these activities are demeaning, degrading and juvenile. Many would give their eye teeth for something mentally challenging and novel to do, even only once a week or even monthly:
Notice that most of these things involve leaving the house. Our non-driving seniors are dying to get out to do something other than visit a doctor. Think about your elder's history. What did he or she enjoy doing back when "health" wasn't yet the determining factor? Is there a way to give him or her a taste of that again? We all know that sorting beads, folding the flat laundry and other such activities may be helpful busy work for the Alzheimer's patient. Yet the majority of our seniors have no dementia. They might need some physical help, but they are also dying to have a little bit of life, too. Even if you can only give them one afternoon a month, can you plan something "different" to do for a few hours? You may find that you have even more fun than your senior. If getting around outside is problematic, a travel wheelchair makes these kinds of excursions much more fun. We've talked about travel chairs before. These small wheelchairs are quite inexpensive for the freedom they offer. They are lightweight and a whole lot easier to manage than a full size chair. I highly recommend having one.
Until next time,
PS: New articles since we last spoke:
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some very welcome steps to open the curtains
that surround many of our medical "closed societies."
The latest is the addition of more comparative
information about U.S. hospitals that treat Medicare
patients.
A trip to the library... A real movie in a
real theater with a bag of popcorn, a drink,
and sticky stuff under the seat ... A jaunt to
the hardware store, especially if there is an
old-fashioned one in the area. Home Depot will
do in a pinch ... When it's warm enough, a sub
sandwich or an ice cream on a shady park bench
... A visit to the local farmers' market
before it gets too hot/cold ... An unhurried
hour in a hobby or fabric store (you might be
surprised to see what craft or kit excites
interest). 
