focused on helping elderly people
Health care for our aging population has been made possible by Highmark, Blue Cross Blue Shield for over 75 years Blue Cross Blue Shield is committed to building stronger, healthier communities through corporate giving, sponsorships and program support. There are 2.2 million Pennsylvanians aged 65 and over. While the number of seniors is increasing dramatically, there is tremendous growth as they age and live longer. People have serious doubts about who will take care of us as we age. We have a system that is not very focused on helping elderly people, including care.
care environments, in hospitals, in care centers.
More often at home. So how will families receive this training? Pennsylvania passed the Health Care Act to address some challenges, but how will it work? Who will help? Concerns may be one of the two or three most talked about topics in the next five years, discussed at the highest levels of government and discussed in community centers like this one. Innovative programs help seniors and their caregivers for caregivers
I think it was really nice to be able to share an experience with the people at Acts. It is a growing and evolving problem. Especially for those who want or need to keep their loved one at home. Sometimes it feels like you're available 24/7. Sometimes I say, Bob, I want to go now. Three of my brothers wanted him home. So I knew he was getting the care he needed. And above all, he liked balance. Everything is a challenge: love, obligations, stress, finances, worries. This can affect us all. There is a 100% chance that everyone becomes a caregiver at some point in their lives.
Jody Houston is a caregiver. The same goes for his brother Bob, who lives with his father in Eden Valley, Pennsylvania. It's about one o'clock. Northwest of Pittsburgh, it would be very difficult for one person to do that all the time. Damn dad, despite your dad's constant care, he needsJody and Bob. It contains many precious memories of his father when he was younger. The man who was once dynamic, funny and hardworking. He drove trucks for coal mines for a living. He is now 86 years old and does not leave this room. He's been bedridden for five years. He was in the hospital by
Pneumonia is an infection of the urinary tract. And when he got home, he couldn't walk anymore. Plus, he has terminal Alzheimer's, and like many kids with aging parents, Jody expected that. He came to see me. It took 3 hours to get there. He had forgotten the way and was becoming more and more forgetful. And then finally he didn't remember our names, he only remembered our faces and then one day he stopped talking. Then came the decision of where Donald McCreery would live. The rest of your life. The family turned this living space into a makeshift hospital room. Jodi's family considered a quality nursing home, but were concerned not only about the level of care, but also the cost of a good nursing home in that area. That's about ten thousand dollars a month. Three of the brothers wanted him home. So he was getting the care he needed and knew he was being fed. And then, most importantly, your loved ones because, you know, many of us come to visit you. Do you spend a lot of time with him? This family is one of millions of Americans who have chosen to care for their aging or dying loved ones. In fact, 80% of people in need of care stayed at home or moved in with a relative, Alô. And that means the need for more health.
Health professionals. The asylum is coming. 1.3 million home care jobs are expected by 2020, an increase of nearly 70%. hi man how are you Penny Has been Donald's nurse for several years. Today it provides end-of-life care to patients, supports Tom's families and restores his blood pressure. I know you don't like being in between the cheap stuff of keeping your vitals and nutritional skin care needs under control, and now your decline has been slow. He's on a downward spiral, eating less, not sitting up. Part of cheap labor is teaching families to care for their loved ones. We educate, we encourage the family to do the wrapping, we're not there 24/7 so we want to make sure we educate the family on how to use our bedding. Hangs, pulls, dries, rests a patient without injuries, all these things contribute to patient care. Donald McCrary's family is committed to providing him with the best possible care. However, the reality of caregiving can sometimes be discouraging. There's always someone watching over him in case he needs a change or if he starts coughing and, you know, she throws up or something. It becomes so emotionally exhausting for you to see everything fall apart. So the biggest satisfaction I get is knowing that you really care about him. If caring for Donald's generation is a challenge,
American baby boomers are already reaching retirement age. The number of elderly people in 2014, 46 million. However, by 2060, that number has more than doubled. And when you look at the states with the oldestPOPULATION, the Keystone State ranks fifth. The fastest growing segment of our population is the over 85 segment and it is growing very rapidly as people live longer Long Term Services and Support Systems.
What music therapy is for people with Parkinson's disease and their caregivers is the final day of an eight-week pilot program at Wallace Memorial Presbyterian Church among the evergreens. In suburban Pittsburgh, singing brings people together and making music brings them together. Music can really change the brain. For them, it's great. Sometimes he is even confused about the proximity to the workplace. The demands can be overwhelming. And the list of caregiver health problems can be endless. Anxiety, depression, fatigue, sleep and/or concentration problems, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking or diet, health problems
Problems can get worse and most importantly there is this underlying feeling, I feel and believe that I am not the only carer. Why should he be in this angry position? The other part is that there are support groups for carers and talking to other people who have been carers can be very helpful.
So associate a positive experience with it.
What bothers us about Parkinson's disease is that we are not only stiff in our bones and joints, but also in our necks. I think with Parkinson's, the camaraderie between people with Parkinson's and health professionals is very genuine, it's very warm. Just for them to have their own space and share the experience and use music to bond like that. It's good to have people as organizers of the mind. We hope that more funds will allow the music program to continue. So my conclusion is that I would like to see it before. I would love to see it grow so we can reach more people who have benefited from it. I wish we could continue and make money from this. Some programs help caregivers emotionally, but what about financial? Family caregivers spend about twenty percent of their annual income on caring for a loved one, which equates to nearly $7,000 a year. And for people with dementia they spend even more. When you think of a nursing home,and skilled nursing home, you're looking at almost four hundred dollars a day, and when you compare that to the ability to care for a patient through home care. I'm talking about an average of $145 per day, and again, it can be quite different. This difference is at the root of the creation of innovative companies. As well as home and community services, there are hundreds of businesses in the state of Pennsylvania that make deliveries. Hundreds of home care providers deliver medical equipment to your home. Hundreds of home infusion therapies. What makes it unique is that we own it and now we check the totality of all the pieces with silos and create a model. This is the aspect of the parties that provide home health services is a way to save.
Other efforts are underway within the government to help the growing number of caregivers for the elderly in Pennsylvania. Relatives at home, as the ARP went out and investigated care, more and more. Who says it's the hardest work they have ever had because of the uncertainty and lack of training people in a home have to take on some of the tasks they are expected to do as caregivers. That's why Pennsylvania passed the Care Act, which stands for the Licensed Caregiver Counseling Registry. When someone is in a hospital, there is a lot of confusion. A moment of crisis to make up for this confusion.caretaker provides the patient with the medical file.caretaker the patient judges the discharge and more importantly provides that caregiver with instructions and some training.
So when discharge comes and your loved one returns home, the caregiver is prepared and knows what to do. An untrained caregiver is one of the reasons many people end up returning to the hospital. The Care Act hopes to reduce the number readmission when it goes into effect in April, but the medical community will be ready. In fact, hospitals already do this to some extent, there has been great hope in recent years to improve transitions of care. Many hospitals work from the beginning to stimulate the training of their staff so that they can have a program processEDUCATION more interactive. with health professionals. Yes, I think it helps, but it's only one piece of the puzzle.That country, we don't look for much research on how to help our caregivers be effective. Until then, people are doing their best despite the challenges of being content with the decision to care for their father at home.
In the beginning she is still learning to live her life as a babysitter and she also has a piece of advice: take care of yourself. Make sure you are interested in the things you love.
Sometimes just a few words of experience from someone who has been there counts. And he says he will always be there.
