Posts Tagged ‘seniors’
Many seniors enjoy living in their own home with the freedom to do as they please. While some health problems may limit a senior’s ability to do so, with the right home health care, a senior can enjoy an independent life in the presence of illness or other health conditions. When a senior receives adequate health care, it can keep the senior out of a convalescent or nursing home.
For many seniors, just knowing that they will be allowed to recover at home will put them in better spirits, which is more conducive to faster healing. The goal of home health care is to provide the senior with any necessary treatment as the senior heals from an illness or injury in the home setting. Home health care concerns medical treatments and services would otherwise be done in a hospital or other health care setting. Home health care can include services such as nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, counseling, social services and speech therapy.
A doctor will prescribe home health care when the doctor feels that a patient may recover successfully at home. The doctor may order of services of a nurse, homemaker, physical therapist and a personal care worker as part of the home health care plan. Each of these personnel members would perform different tasks as the senior recovers.
The nurse would administer medications, give the patient dietary tips and would arrange any other treatments or services that are necessary. The homemaker would do the household chores, shopping and preparation of meals. The physical therapist would perform such services that would help the patient get their strength back. The personal care worker would help the patient move around their home, including such tasks as dressing, bathing and walking with the patient. The people who provide home health care services are usually licensed nurses, homemakers, therapists and personal care workers.
Many products can be purchased for the purpose of home health care. Not all the products are related to the patient’s body and instead are used to make the home safer for the patient. Such home health care product and services involves the modification of the outdoor steps, seating, inside walls, bath and shower. A walkway may be built or railings may be placed inside the home. Mobility equipment such as a cane or wheelchair may be required. Any necessary medical equipment may be rented before making a purchase as well.
Home health care services may be performed by a public, private or other organization that is devoted to these services. Home health care workers are checked by most states for criminal backgrounds. Not all states perform a background check. If a state does not perform these checks, it is up to the person hiring the services of a health care worker to make sure that their criminal record is clear.
Home health care is not the same service as home care for seniors. Generally, home care revolves around house cleaning and other chores at the house. Home health care involves medical treatments or those services that are required to help the patient recover.
Home health care allows a senior’s life to go on despite any injury or medical condition. A health problem does not automatically mean that a person has to be cooped up in a health care facility or nursing home. Patients that receive home health care are grateful for the opportunity to avoid the hospital or nursing home.
H1N1 flu vaccine clinics scheduled Saturday and next week in the Reno area for high-risk groups will be open for the first time to people ages 65 and older who have underlying chronic health conditions, said Judy Davis, spokeswoman for the Washoe County Health District. Clinics are scheduled Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday in Building B of the county’s office complex at 1001 E. Ninth St.
The high-risk category of people 25 and older with chronic health conditions, such as asthma or diabetes, that put them at higher risk of medical complications from influenza was expanded beyond age 64. Other high-risk groups are medical personnel, household members, caregivers and day care providers who are around children younger than 6 months of age, pregnant women and people 6 months through age 24.
“We have been given permission by the state health division to expand the H1N1 clinics to those who are ages 65 and above who have underlying and ongoing health conditions,” Davis said.
The state is following guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in opening the clinics to the older population, which has not been as hard-hit by the new virus as younger people without underlying health problems, she said.
“The only people in the state right now that the vaccinations are not open to are those who are ages 25 years and older who are healthy,” Davis said. “We are waiting for guidance from the CDC or the state of Nevada Health Division about when we will be able to offer them the vaccine, and we will make that announcement when the information becomes available.”
Unlike previous health district clinics, wristbands assigning vaccination times will not be distributed, she said.
Enough H1N1 vaccine is available, so the clinics are not expected to run out, Davis said.
“If it turns out we are starting to get overwhelmed with people, then we will go to the people in line and give them the choice of staying in line or getting a wristband and a time when they can return to get their vaccinations,” she said.
Patients will be asked to complete and sign a form indicating that they are in a high-risk group or older than 64 with a chronic health problem. Adults must have photo identification to verify their age.
The Thursday clinic will be the last of the year, Davis said.
Saint Mary’s clinic
Saint Mary’s Immunization Program will offer H1N1 vaccinations Saturday to individuals ages 2 to 24, pregnant women, health care and emergency medical workers, caregivers of children 6 months of age and younger and those 25 and older with chronic health conditions, the first time Saint Mary’s has given vaccine to anyone older than 25 with chronic health conditions.
The clinic will be 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the third floor of the Saint Mary’s Center for Health and Fitness, 645 N. Arlington Ave.
The H1N1 vaccine costs $20 but is free to Saint Mary’s HealthFirst and Health Choice members who present their insurance cards.