“If Alzheimer’s is bad, ignorance of the disease is worse,” says family caregiver and former Wisconsin Governor Martin Schreiber. Since his wife Elaine was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s 14 years ago, Schreiber has struggled with …
health education
There’s No Place Like Virtual Home (for Home Care Simulations)
In the clinic, health care professionals can warn older adults about falls. During a home visit, they can point out the loose rug in the living room or the dim lighting near the stairs. Seeing …
Taking a Bite Out of Older Adult Malnutrition
“I work at a nursing home, so I see people coming in at all different ages,” says Kayla Olmstead, MS, a registered dietician who works in Wisconsin’s Chippewa and Barron Counties. “With some people, you …
Bringing Direct Care Staff Education Where It’s Needed Most: Rural Wisconsin
“I am always looking for affordable educational opportunities, but don’t find many that are close enough to attend,” said Kathryn Nachreiner, who has managed a residential care home in Plain, Sauk County, for 14 years. …
Supporting Direct Care Staff: You Know Your Residents, We Know the Research
Direct care workers meet the daily needs of older adults in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and continuing care retirement communities, and greatly impact the care provided by hospitals and home health agencies. Yet most have limited access to educational opportunities. The CARE conference is changing that.
Clinical Simulations’ Potential to Improve Geriatric Care
Today, older adults account for more than one-third of hospital stays and 15 percent of emergency room visits. These numbers will rise as the 65-plus population grows, intensifying the need for more nurses with experience …
Students Learning from and with Older Adults
For Yvette Egan, MS, RN, creating a learning experience that pairs nursing students with healthy, community-dwelling older adults was in the cards. Literally. Egan, a clinical assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of …
Evidence-Based Practice Corner: What We Talk About When We Talk About Surgery
In the United States, older adults have more than one-third of all operations. Each year, some 500,000 elders consider major surgery, such as coronary bypasses or organ transplants. As people are leading not only longer …
Making Communities and Future Professionals More Dementia Friendly
“I had never considered working with older adults because I thought it would be sad and depressing, but now I have completely changed my mind.” That was the impact on one University of Wisconsin–Madison undergraduate …
Is Big Data the Future of Healthy Aging?
“By the age of seventy, on average people have at least two chronic conditions. Many will have more than that,” says Parminder Raina, PhD, the director of the McMaster Institute of GeroScience in Ontario, Canada, …