Medical Foster Homes for Helping Veterans and Other Ailing Adults Family-style caregiving offers an appealing alternative to nursing homes. FAMILY CAREGIVERS ARE devoted to keeping frail, older family members safe, comfortable and healthy. Foster homes have long served as community alternatives to institutions. A growing movement combines these concepts to help ailing older adults remain as independent as possible within homes headed by motivated, supported caregivers. This type of care goes by different names – adult foster care, medical foster homes, residential care homes, among
others – and details vary. If you're considering long-term care options for yourself or a loved one beyond nursing homes, you might want to include adult foster care. Here are some ways it can work. For veterans who can no longer safely live independently, the VA Medical Foster Homes Program may serve their needs. Veterans who qualify have serious, chronic disabling conditions that meet the nursing home level of care. These vets require health care coordination and increased access to VA services.
According to a VA overview, the medical foster home program "brings together a person who is willing to open their home and serve in the role of strong family caregiver" with a VA coordinator who manages the program, and a multidisciplinary home care team that provides inhome care to the veteran and training to the caregiver. The medical foster home is matched to the veteran's physical, social, emotional, supervision and safety needs. To date, 126 VA medical centers in 44 states and U.S. territories are operating or
developing medical foster homes. More than 1,000 veterans are enrolled, with about 700 caregivers who own or rent and live in these homes participating in the program. With a maximum of three residents (both veterans and nonveterans) receiving care in these homes, a therapeutic yet familial environment is possible. The small group of residents, 24/7 live-in caregiver and homecooked meals combine to create a personalized atmosphere. Residents can feel they're part of their surrounding neighborhood and community. ...Read More
Tips for dealing with rheumatoid arthritis flare-ups There are many methods for dealing with rheumatoid arthritis flares, or flare-ups, including home remedies and lifestyle changes. Flares are periods of increased disease activity during which people's arthritis symptoms, which typically include joint pain, swelling, and stiffness, are more severe. People with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) often find that flares come and go in waves throughout their lives. The duration of flares varies from a few days to several months. The specific symptoms and their severity may also differ between people and situations.
Dealing with RA flares There are currently no medications that can cure RA or consistently prevent flares. The goal of treatment is to reduce symptoms, minimize inflammation, and prevent joint damage. People can try the following techniques and home remedies to relieve their symptoms when they feel an RA flare coming on: Managing flares at home Being aware of the early symptoms of flares is useful for preventing and dealing with them. Keep a symptoms journal Rest more Exercise gently
Use hot or cold packs Make dietary changes Try a dietary supplement Reduce stress Medications It is possible to divide the medications that doctors usually prescribe for RA into three major groups: Medications to treat symptoms. Ster oids, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and acetaminophen are among the medicines that can relieve the inflammation and acute pain that RA may cause. Immunosuppressant drugs. These treatments slow the progression of RA and
prevent joint damage by halting the body's inflammatory response. They are also known as diseasemodifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Biologic response modifiers. These drugs are a newer generation of DMARDs, which mimic human immune molecules. Biologics inhibit the inflammatory response in a more targeted way. What does an RA flare feel like? Everyone with RA will experience flares differently, but it is common for RA symptoms to come and go in waves….Read the full article on Rheumatoid Arthritis
Meet the 'Super Agers' Who Are Out to Prove You're Only as Old as You Feel Researchers have identified a group of individuals called “super agers,” people in their 70s and 80s who have the mental or physical capability of those decades younger. Recently, high school students in San Diego witnessed several women, who could have been their grandmothers, playing each other on a basketball court. The ladies sank shots with the
same ease as players in their 20s. The so-called “super agers” are those who age much slower than their peers because they keep active physically and mentally. Marge, 79, played basketball in high school, and now finds
the game even more enjoyable. “It's much more aggressive, much more fun,” she said. The women are part of the San Diego Senior Women's Basketball Association, practicing at least twice a week and playing in games every weekend.
Jeannie, 77, hadn't played basketball for 30 years before recently joining the league. “I felt like I was 15 again,” she told Inside Edition. One woman, Linaya, 77, says basketball is her secret to staying young. “I say this is the fountain of youth,” she claimed.
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