Gentiva Health plans nearly $1B Odyssey buy ATLANTA (AP) — Home health services provider Gentiva Health Services plans to spend nearly $1 billion in cash to buy hospice care company Odyssey HealthCare. Read more on KING5 Seattle

Recommendation in: use lodge for mental health Tertiary mental-health care for seniors and adults in a renovated Cowichan Lodge is being recommended to regional health bosses by a citizen-based health network. Read more on Cowichan News Leader Pictorial

Gentiva Health plans nearly $1 billion takeover of Odyssey HealthCare ATLANTA – Home-health provider Gentiva Health Services Inc. said Monday it plans to spend nearly $1 billion in cash to buy hospice firm Odyssey HealthCare Inc. in a move to create the country’s largest provider of home-health and hospice care. Read more on Brandon Sun

Kudos To Malaysia’s Health Care System KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 (Bernama) — Dr John Tomaro, Programme Director, Health of the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is no newcomer to Malaysia. Read more on Bernama

Old age affects different people in different ways. While some people experience forgetfulness, confusion and dizziness others might experience serious health related problems. But thanks to elderly home health care service providers who are well aware of these facts and help older people in surviving a better sound and healthy life.

For any type of non medical support, elderly home health care is the best available option. Your elderly family member gets adequate aid and assistance in a familiar surrounding hence they feel comfortable and secure. As a step ahead, caregivers ensure providing enough support so that elderly people become independent and self- sufficient. On the other hand, you can have your complete peace of mind that your elderly family member is getting just the right care and attention.

If your elderly parents or grandparents have returned home after being in long time in hospital, then you must consider for the services of home health care. After spending a long time outside the familiar environment of home, elderly people lack their confidence in being self-reliant. Under this type of circumstances, they require to maintain a good quality of life which elderly home health care could provide. With their supportive attitude they help old people in returning to their normal life.

A caregiver also helps elderly people in making their own choices and determining their own course of life. Sometimes, elderly people feel insecure in their own surroundings because of various reasons. Home health care providers assist them in being safe. Some of the important services that elderly home health care service provides offers are listed below:

·         Hygiene assistance

·         Medication assistance

·         Meal preparation

·         Assistance with grooming and bathing

·         Driving support

·         Light housekeeping

Since, there are different services related to elderly home health care, hence it is extremely important for you decide the required type of service. You can either talk with the concerned elderly person to locate their need and preferences or depending on the situation you can opt for any service. Today, you can find numerous private home care service providers at an affordable rate. Once you have decided what kind of service you require, finding best elderly home health care service becomes easy.

Historically, most humans in the world used to pass their evenings together around a fire.  While this is still the case in many places, for many cultures the fire has been replaced by the television set.  Prior to the Industrial Revolution, Western societies were generally structured such that the young and the elderly, the sick and the healthy, all lived together, taking care of one another.  But as societies became increasingly stratified, these connections dwindled.  The extended family home gave way to the home of the nuclear family.  How have these changes affected the quality of health care? 

Today, in Western industrial societies, most young children pass their time in childcare outside the home.  Many people living with chronic illnesses or cognitive disabilities pass their days far away from their loved ones and family members.  Likewise, the vast majority of seniors reside in an institutionalized assisted living situation rather than with their extended family.  In Central Europe, one in every two people ends their life outside the home. These trends are perplexing, considering that in-home care is more cost effective than institutionalized care and science tells us that those who receive care in their homes are more likely to have better health care outcomes. 

Anthropologists who specialize in the study of aging adults, for example, tell us that seniors who remain in their own homes with the assistance of in-home health care have the best of both worlds.  Their research shows that people who remain in their own homes during their elder years are happier, healthier and more active than their counterparts who enter assisted care facilities or nursing homes, while at the same time enjoying the benefits of in-home help with tasks that have become difficult, such as housecleaning, meal preparation, transportation and keeping track of medications.   On average, their cognitive abilities also remain intact longer, as they go about their usual daily activities and make decisions about what they will do each day, from what they eat to what they wear.  Elders who remain in their own homes with the assistance of in-home health caregivers stay more engaged with their families and with their long-time friends and neighbors, which stimulates the parts of the brain involved with memory, communication and a sense of identity.  Depression is far less likely among this group. 

Moving to an assisted living facility or nursing home is a traumatic event for most elders, who must part with many of their cherished possessions and become oriented to a whole new way of life in a new place.  The unfamiliar setting and the challenges of adapting to scheduled meals and activities can overwhelm seniors, who often react by slipping into a passive state of depression and dependency.

An older person or couple who can stay in their own home, with the assistance of an in-home caregiver, continue to feel independent and in control of their lives, which boosts their self-esteem.  Studies show that a sense of control of one’s life is an important factor in preventing depression.  Elders in their own homes are more likely to keep up with world events through newspapers and television, use the telephone to stay in contact with friends and family, enjoy their long-time hobbies and even take up new activities. 

So why is care so often taken outside the home?  The way industrial societies are structured plays a huge part.  As German sociologist Reimer Gronemeyer explains: “Those societies that see themselves as productive societies tend to ‘marginalize,’ or even to suppress…elderly citizens and their interests because their needs could be perceived as an unacceptable pressure on the budget.“  While medical developments have dramatically increased the life expectancy in industrialized societies, with people over 65 constituting the fasted growing segment of the U.S. population, these societies have not yet adapted to embrace family models that account for this increase. 

The problem may lie in how these societies conceive of personhood.  This question is one of the most telling tools by which anthropologists can make cross-cultural comparisons.  Is the value of a human life based on how much a person produces or on how that person treats others?   Likewise, for Gronemeyer, the manner in which a society “responds to the weak, needy and fragile members within its own structures measure[s] the sense of humanity of any society.”  

Home health services are expected to grow each year ending at 119 billion dollars by 2017.The figure could be anywhere from 10% to 15% growth each year over the coming years. The industry is incredibly fragmented with the top four earners only making up 12 to 15% of the industry’s revenue. This means that there is plenty of room for companies to come in with reasonable barrier of entry.

Part of the growth is due to acquisitions. There is a favorable exchange rate that allows publicly traded companies to use their stock and buy off private firms.

Because the government has such a hold on the funding of home health care options, changes in legislation are a major concern for stock holders of publicly traded companies. Medicare and Medicaid account for 55% of the funding toward home health care services. Reimbursement issues are always a concern for home health companies.

Home health care companies are in a unique position as insurers are trying to hack away at healthcare costs. For tax payers, home health care is a more favorable option because it is so much cheaper than having to foot hospital bills.

Many chronic diseases such as diabetes, chronic obstructive disease, and renal disease can be treated effectively at home making it an attractive option. These companies market to occupational therapists and hospital discharge planners. It is important for these companies to gain referrals from these trusted health care sources.

This also means the non medical home health care employment will be more in the market. It will give caregivers and certified nursing assistants another opportunity to employ their skills. The truth is we as a nation are growing older. With the baby boomer generation growing older and retiring, there is a great strain on the squeeze generation ages 40-60 who need to take care of their parents as well as their children.

More and more people are moving to home health care as an alternative to nursing homes. There is also an increase in the number of people seeking their own caregivers independently. This gives people the advantage of determining their own set of responsibilities and the type of service they require right out of the gate.

Whatever the case, more and more people are turning to care for their chronic disease instead of acute care. This will shift the insurance burden from term life insurance and accident insurance to long term care insurance as more people will require long term health care.