Seniors with Alzheimer’s often have difficulty engaging in meaningful activities. Their limitations caused by dementia and the effects of Alzheimer’s often lead to an inability to connect with and enjoy their environment as well as those around them. Game playing can be a great way to help senior’s with Alzheimer’s pass the time, while also providing a means of stimulation, memory triggering, and so much more.

Alzheimer’s is a progressive memory loss disease. It starts with mild memory loss, and progresses over the course of years to severe memory loss, so much so that many who suffer from Alzheimer’s can’t distinguish dreams from reality, forget how to talk, eat, and in many cases are unable to respond to their environment. It is the most common form of Dementia, and the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. There is no cure, only treatment options and medications to lessen symptoms, and provide comfort to those with the disease.

Being able to engage in meaningful activities can go a long way to lifting the spirits, as well as the cognitive function, of those with Alzheimer’s. However, many activities, including game playing, can be a challenge. Some of the issues that face Alzheimer’s sufferers that can stand in the way of playing games include:

1. Problem solving difficulty- games cannot be complex.
2. Memory loss- Games have to have short play times and simple rules.
3. Difficulty remembering rules- The games have to be familiar, or have simple rules.
4. Trouble with spatial relationships- Games cannot require building or activities that require spatial relationships.
5. Difficulty reading, judging distance, color, contrast, etc.- They can’t involve cards, suits, etc. Even a game like Phase 10 can be too difficult if the player can’t distinguish colors.
6. Difficulty with conversation, struggle with vocabulary- Those with Alzheimer’s often have trouble finding names for even familiar objects, so games can’t require a lot of verbal communication.
7. Social withdrawal- Often groups of people can be overwhelming and confusing, as conversations are more difficult to follow, etc. Games have to be single player, or require only a few players to work.
8. Difficulty remembering newly learned info- Again, this means rules have to be simple and familiar.
9. Difficulty performing tasks that were once simple- Games that require holding cards, a seemingly simple task, can be a real challenge to someone with Alzheimer’s and can lead to more frustration than enjoyment.
10. Difficulty with basic tasks- Rolling the dice, following a specific order of play, or exchanging items in play can be difficult.

As you can see, the physical and mental limitations do not make it easy to find games to provide a meaningful activity for the senior.

The R.O.S. Therapy System is a great tool for those looking to provide meaningful and useful activity for their senior loved ones with dementia or Alzheimer’s. The tray is the heart of the system, acting as a console that facilitates a variety of activity boards or games. They simply slide in when the user is ready to play, and can be switched out. The boards and console are easy to clean, easy to use, and were designed with the mental and physical limitations of those with dementia in mind.

The R.O.S. Therapy System helps with the socialization, reality testing, cues for reminiscence, tactile, auditory, and visual stimulation, as well as increased avenues toward motivation. Because it can be individualized for clients and patients, it can be used to trigger memories, and stimulate conversation and connection. It offers a chance for increased self-worth, pride and esteem, while also providing an outlet for creative expression as well as fun.

Article by: The CareGiver Partnership

First – How Bad Is Your Burn?

Any time you are burned, your first aid priority is to run it under cold water. This lowers the temperature of the burned tissue and reduces, as much as possible, the intensity of the burn. Water also may remove infectious contaminants. After running the burn under water for a minimum of 5 minutes, you can take a look.

A simple description of the degree of burn is as follows:

• Red – First Degree – usually considered a minor burn
• Blisters or Bubbles – Second Degree – not a minor burn – keep dry and clean – don’t pop your blisters.
• Wound or Hole – Third Degree – Serious – get emergency medical treatment right away!

Regardless of the degree of burn, one should never apply household kitchen ingredients, most popularly, BUTTER. It is also important not to put ointment or ice on a burn. Just use water.

Why Not Put Butter On Your Burn?

• It may cause infection – the butter may contain infection, or prevent contaminated substances from being washed off. Remember, running water not only cools the burn, it rinses contaminants from the area.
• Butter may prevent the burn from cooling as fast. If the burn is covered with butter, water can’t reach the tissue to remove the heat. Cold running water is the fastest method of removing heat from a burn.
• Butter will need to be removed from the burn if a physician needs to treat it. One can only imagine the pain caused from the removal of butter stuck to an already painful burn.
• Butter, which is fat based, may weaken the skin, which is fat based and now injured. There is no reason to weaken already injured tissue.

Other Ineffective Folk Remedies For Burns

There are many folk remedies for burns that have been passed on through generations. These include baking powder, pickle juice, toothpaste, sliced raw tomato, vinegar. As a CPR/AED/First Aid instructor, the author hears different folk remedies for burns with every class taught. While the list of ineffective burn treatments can never be complete, The American Heart Association instructs to use only running water. Never use ointment or any kitchen or household substances.

Maybe?

It is possible that Aloe Vera juice can help minor burns. There have been a studies looking at Aloe Vera’s potential role in treating burns. The evidence isn’t conclusive.

Benjamin Karp is the President of GA CPR. GA CPR is a full-service safety company. They offer complete solutions including onsite group CPR training, AED sales and consultation in the development of a compliant AED response program for your organization. For more information visit: http://www.gacpr.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Benjamin_B_Karp

Aged care nursing, or geriatric nursing, is a nursing subfield involving the care for older adult patients. It is a fast-growing career – and is expected to continually be in demand in the next several years – because this is now the time of retirement for the baby boomers, when they are likely to need more health care services than any of the other age groups.

A nurse specializing in this field, better known as gerontology, has been trained to understand the needs of older patients and attend to their complex physical, mental, and emotional health requirements. She monitors closely for medical conditions which can occur unprecedentedly and quickly, and coordinates with the patients’ respective families. There are also occasions when a geriatric nurse works side by side with family caregivers, teaching them the appropriate methods in attending to their aged family members as she takes care of more complex nursing tasks. Generally, her work involves these duties:

• Evaluate a patient’s mental status and cognitive skills. She also assesses the latter’s medical problems, deciding whether he is capable of performing daily activities on his own. Such routine activities include walking, taking medication, and/or driving.
• Have a grasp on a patient’s acute and chronic health problems. Through both verbal and non-verbal communication, a geriatric nurse is able to conclude a patient’s health by observing his symptoms, complaints, as well as assessing the medications he takes.
• Act as liaison between doctors, patients, patient’s families, and other health care providers, and discuss with them common health concerns, like falls, incontinence, altering sleep patterns, and/or sexual problems.
• Educate patient and make him understand the importance of personal safety and disease prevention. She tries to protect his health and help him cope with changes in his mental and physical abilities, so he can maintain his independence and remain active as long as possible.
• Organize patient’s medication. In addition, she explains and ensures that medication regimen is strictly adhered to.
• Perform simple tasks, such as taking blood pressure, and vital signs of the patients, and other basic procedures.

Working in this subfield of nursing can sometimes be emotionally stressful partly because the elderly may be undergoing varied problems other than health concern – like, they may be struggling from financial problems, depression, feeling alone and abandoned by loved ones, or suffering from abuse. As a geriatric nurse, therefore, she must learn how to handle each patient’s case carefully, providing him utmost respect and loving care.

A geriatric nurse can be found working in a hospital, nursing homes, rehabilitation units, centres for senior citizens, retirement facilities, and in patient’s homes. Usually, she works with a team of health care providers that includes doctors, nursing aides, physical and occupational therapists, social workers, and other health professionals. In a hospital setting, she works with a treatment team handling a larger aged patient population, particularly in outpatient surgery, cardiology, ophthalmology, rehabilitation, and dermatology. She may even be assigned in the geriatric mental health, assisting patients with psychiatric conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, and depression.

Meanwhile, a geriatric nurse assigned in the rehabilitation and long-term care facilities takes charge with patient care from initial assessment through development, implementation, to evaluation of the care plan. She may also perform administrative tasks, training, and leadership roles.

In summary, a geriatric nurse is a registered nurse who has taken advanced and special training in the field of gerontology.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Davis_Mard

Methods of preventing falls in the elderly have improved greatly over the years, and technology and fall management strategies in hospitals and nursing homes have all contributed to improve care of patients, residents and family members at risk of a fall.

One of the main improvements in technology has been to give carers and nurses “advanced warning” when there is a risk of a fall. This is commonly when a person at risk of falling leaves their bed or chair. The latest bed sensor mats and chair sensors are able to alert the carer or nursing staff or indeed warn the person themselves to stay where they are until assistance arrives.

The elderly in particular can be at risk of falling for a variety of reasons including cognitive problems, restricted mobility, loss of balance, dizziness, medication and muscle weakness for example.

So when you need to be alerted to the risk of a fall, what are your options? Here we quickly summarise the products available that should be of interest:

Bed Sensor Mats – a mat is placed in the bed under the sheets or under the mattress. The bed mat is connected to an alarm which is activated when the mat detects that the person is about to leave the bed. There are several alarm options:

A friendly voice reminder can be played, such as: “stay in bed John, I’m on my way”. A friendly voice is particularly helpful when someone is confused, especially when they awake during the night, and a friendly voice is reassuring. The sensor mat detects if the person has not returned to bed and will play the reminder a second time. If they still do not return to bed the carer is alerted.

An alternative version will sound an alarm only to notify nearby staff/carers to attend. A light also flashes to help with identifying who’s alarm has been activated in a multi-occupancy room.

A third version will connect to a nurse call system and alert staff via their monitoring system. In this case the room monitor can be set to silent if preferred to avoid noise in a shared room.

Chair Sensor mats – as above, the chair sensor mat is placed in a chair or wheel chair and detects when a person is about to leave their chair. The same alarm
options described above also apply.

Fall prevention has many options and all our bed sensor mats, chair sensor mats and monitors are interchangeable so you can tailor your requirements -
whether you are a hospital or nursing home or a home carer.

For further advice, please talk to one of our fall prevention specialists email info@homecaretechnologies.com.

For more information visit:  Fall Prevention for the Elderly

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mikael_Sandberg