Visiting Nurse / Hospice Atlanta Blogs

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When you earn too much to receive Medicaid but too little to afford private health insurance, you're caught between a rock and the emergency room. It's a dilemma detailed in journalist Mike King's book A Spirit of Charity about the fractured funding of America's public hospitals and clinics, a problem that also results in a lack of home health services for people without insurance.

When facing a serious illness, treatment options can be confusing. Some patients pursue aggressive treatment, while others choose to forego curative treatment and enter hospice care. However, there is another option called palliative care. Palliative care is often confused with hospice care, but it is not just for hospice patients. Many patients find palliative care a life-affirming, supportive option for dealing with their serious illness.

Games are common in checklists of gifts for Alzheimer's patients, because they provide mental stimulation and pleasant interaction for patients and their families and other caregivers. A July 2016 report concerning reinterpretation of data from a 10-year study related to warding off Alzheimer's is creating a stir about cutting risk of the disease through computer brain games. Registered nurses who aid Alzheimer's patients know all too well the impacts the disease has on patients' families. One concern that often arises is vulnerability of other family members to the disease and what they can do to avoid it. Many members of Alzheimer's families are interested in whether brain training through computer games may be beneficial.

Approximately 5.3 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. One in nine people over 65 suffer from this devastating illness. Researchers are keen to learn more about the factors that may improve early detection of the disease as well as characteristics that may place someone at greater risk. Now, new information is emerging about subtle changes that may be early signs of Alzheimer’s disease.  

Life expectancy in the developed world has been continuously increasing for decades, spurred on by medical breakthroughs, improved sanitation and greater access to medical resources. These changes have also led to differences in how and where people die. No matter what your age, it is never too early to begin thinking about the circumstances in which you would like to spend your final days.