"Where Fillmore County News Comes First"
Online Edition
Sunday, May 26th, 2013
Volume ∞ Issue ∞
- 11:44:26, May 21st 2013 - airmaxs52274 - Have you ever thought about adding a little bit more than just your a ... [Read More]
- 5:56:33, May 18th 2013 - modgudur - I guess the child is anti-gun control since Obama went to all that trouble ... [Read More]
- 9:27:41, May 16th 2013 - caal girl - Nice outfit on you. I loved some of the dresses but am holding my breath ... [Read More]
- 2:03:34, May 14th 2013 - - Thanks for sharing the trip with us! ... [Read More]
- 4:12:01, May 9th 2013 - Amanda Ziebell - Wow! Thanks to the Fillmore County Journal for this kind story. For a ... [Read More]
- 11:47:30, May 7th 2013 - EW - ramble.....ramble.....ramble..... ... [Read More]
- 10:25:25, May 7th 2013 - Thunder6 - Great article! I love to see the Youth of Fillmore County receiveing acco ... [Read More]
- 6:52:10, May 6th 2013 - Jason Sethre, Publisher of Fillmore County Journal & Olmsted County Journal - Maryh, ... [Read More]
- 7:29:56, May 5th 2013 - maryh - Where are OCJ's available for pickup...other than at the new office? ... [Read More]
- 2:41:47, May 3rd 2013 - Remark1976 - Mrs. Buckbee, I just looked up Senate File 796 and in it there are said p ... [Read More]
30
Should consumers have to pay sales tax on online purchases?
Health Talk & You
Tue, Nov 10th, 2009
Posted in Health & Wellness
Posted in Health & Wellness
Comments
The failure of our long-term care system is America's best-kept embarrassing secret.
Almost every adult in this country will either enter a nursing home or have a parent or other relative who does. Demographic studies suggest that 40 percent of all adults who live to age 65 will enter a nursing home before they die. Even more will use some other form of long-term care.
Some people believe that the key to dealing with long-term care is adequate preparation, and that insurance and planning should suffice. Alas, even such steps are not sufficient. You simply cannot rehearse the trials that long-term care subjects you to. That is why the system has to change.
My sister and I learned this first-hand, while arranging long-term care for my mother. She suffered a debilitating stroke and spent the last years of her life in rehabilitation, assisted-living facilities, and finally a nursing home. Our experience taught us that if a researcher with a 30-year history of studying long-term care could not navigate this process, it is very likely broken.
Along the way, our family encountered some professionals who were kind and considerate, but there were also many frustrations such as inadequate care and the need to hire private duty aides, as well as poor communication and lack of coordination throughout the system. Our long-term care experience proved far more difficult than it needed to be.
In preparing a book on this issue, we replicated our own experience, collecting stories from more than 700 other people around the country who had experienced similar frustrations trying to get the system to work. It's clear that our long-term care system needs major revisions.
Our current system is essentially risk-averse and life-defeating. We put so much energy into trying to communicate rules for safety that we haven't created incentives to create good lives for these people. When people actually do provide good care, we should pay them more for doing a better job.
We should also end the false marriage of services and living situation. People should not have to give up their autonomy and enjoyment of life in order to receive long-term care.
What can consumers do? First of all, it's important to recognize that the people who work in the system - from hospital discharge planners to the people in long-term care - are first and foremost agents of the institution for which they work. They will keep that institution's best interests in mind when they are dealing with you. When you purchase these kinds of services, you need to be as active and wary a consumer as you are when you buy a used car.
The state of long-term care in the United States is a national crisis, a silent epidemic. We have an enormous stake in improving the system, yet this issue has not received the attention it warrants. As a nation, we need to rally together to create the long-term care system we deserve.
Robert Kane, M.D., is a professor and endowed chair in Long-term Care and Aging, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and author of the book, "It Shouldn't Be This Way: the Failure of Long-Term Care" (Vanderbilt University Press). This column is an educational service of the University of Minnesota. Advice presented should not take the place of an examination by a health-care professional. For more health-related information, go to http://www.healthtalk.umn.edu.
Almost every adult in this country will either enter a nursing home or have a parent or other relative who does. Demographic studies suggest that 40 percent of all adults who live to age 65 will enter a nursing home before they die. Even more will use some other form of long-term care.
Some people believe that the key to dealing with long-term care is adequate preparation, and that insurance and planning should suffice. Alas, even such steps are not sufficient. You simply cannot rehearse the trials that long-term care subjects you to. That is why the system has to change.
My sister and I learned this first-hand, while arranging long-term care for my mother. She suffered a debilitating stroke and spent the last years of her life in rehabilitation, assisted-living facilities, and finally a nursing home. Our experience taught us that if a researcher with a 30-year history of studying long-term care could not navigate this process, it is very likely broken.
Along the way, our family encountered some professionals who were kind and considerate, but there were also many frustrations such as inadequate care and the need to hire private duty aides, as well as poor communication and lack of coordination throughout the system. Our long-term care experience proved far more difficult than it needed to be.
In preparing a book on this issue, we replicated our own experience, collecting stories from more than 700 other people around the country who had experienced similar frustrations trying to get the system to work. It's clear that our long-term care system needs major revisions.
Our current system is essentially risk-averse and life-defeating. We put so much energy into trying to communicate rules for safety that we haven't created incentives to create good lives for these people. When people actually do provide good care, we should pay them more for doing a better job.
We should also end the false marriage of services and living situation. People should not have to give up their autonomy and enjoyment of life in order to receive long-term care.
What can consumers do? First of all, it's important to recognize that the people who work in the system - from hospital discharge planners to the people in long-term care - are first and foremost agents of the institution for which they work. They will keep that institution's best interests in mind when they are dealing with you. When you purchase these kinds of services, you need to be as active and wary a consumer as you are when you buy a used car.
The state of long-term care in the United States is a national crisis, a silent epidemic. We have an enormous stake in improving the system, yet this issue has not received the attention it warrants. As a nation, we need to rally together to create the long-term care system we deserve.
Robert Kane, M.D., is a professor and endowed chair in Long-term Care and Aging, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and author of the book, "It Shouldn't Be This Way: the Failure of Long-Term Care" (Vanderbilt University Press). This column is an educational service of the University of Minnesota. Advice presented should not take the place of an examination by a health-care professional. For more health-related information, go to http://www.healthtalk.umn.edu.
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