Fall-induced traumatic brain injuries caused almost 8,000 deaths and 56,000 hospitalizations in 2005 among Americans 65 and older, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the June issue of the Journal of Safety Research. In 2005, TBIs were responsible for 50 percent of unintentional fall deaths and 8 percent of nonfatal ...

Acting under his authority in the Public Health Service Act, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today declared a public health emergency in the flood-stricken states of Iowa and Indiana. The action gives CMS Medicare beneficiaries and their health care providers greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs, according to an HHS news ...

The Washington Post puts an interesting spin on an article about the decision to move into a retirement community. Instead of telling the story from the oft-used angle of those who work in the retirement living industry, the article is written by a 79-year-old woman who recently made the move from her home into retirement living. She explores the ...

In the previous article, Problem Personalities can Lead to Workplace Turmoil, a few major personalities and their resultant issues were examined. This paper looks at personality problems, their behaviors, and how to address these issues in long-term care environments. However, before moving forth with this discussion, it must be stated that there ...

This week I would like to take a moment to say hello to some people who do not know me or the local legal professionals where they work. These are the thousands of facility operators, managers, administrators, nurses and clinicians who operate nursing facilities that not only comply with the law, but go beyond the minimum standards imposed by ...

A recent article in the Washington Post explores how certain games and other activities can help family members form more meaningful connections with loved ones who have dementia. Researchers conducted a study on 33 families, and found that satisfaction was higher after playing one of the new board games with a relative with dementia than after ...

  I recently heard a comment that when the Clintons tried to reform health care, it had an unforseen negative impact on nursing. Hospitals, my source noted, were laying off nurses because they did not think they were going to have enough money to pay them because of the cuts. Many nurses left the profession and others decided against ...

Over the summer I made a major purchase at a home improvement retailer. To make a long story short, the vendor: lost my order data due to a computer power failure, delayed product delivery, ordered the wrong size product, forgot to collect payment from me while I was in the store (which meant I had to make an extra trip to the store), allowed the ...

Norovirus, often called the ''stomach flu,'' often shows its face this time of year. Most people realize it's highly contagious but, for the first time, U.S. health officials report it can be spread from contact on computer keyboards and computer mice. With several people sharing computers in long-term care facilities, and the push towards ...

Research from the November 2007 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that fish intake, in particular the intake of dietary omega-3 fatty acids in fish, may improve cognitive performance. And the more fish, the better. The subjects who consumed more fish scored better on cognitive performance tests than those whose ate ...