Late-Life Suicide Controversy Leaves Many Doctors Feeling Unprepared To Help Patients Deal With Complex Issues
As suicide rates rise among the elderly, some health care providers think that even though it's difficult to do so, it's valid to discuss the topic and help those who think there are fates worse than death. In other news on aging: muscle loss and loss of independence, bereavement time for long-term care workers, malnutrition, dementia, and more.
The New York Times:
A Debate Over ‘Rational Suicide’
On a March morning in 1989, Robert Shoots was found dead in his garage in Weir, Kan. He had run a tube from the tailpipe of his beloved old Chrysler to the front seat, where he sat with a bottle of Wild Turkey. He was 80. His daughter wishes he had mentioned this plan when they spoke by phone the night before, because she didn’t get to say a satisfying goodbye. But she would not have tried to dissuade him from suicide. Years earlier, he had told her of his intentions. (Span, 8/31)
The New York Times:
Preventing Muscle Loss Among The Elderly
“Use it or lose it.” I’m sure you’re familiar with this advice. And I hope you’ve been following it. I certainly thought I was. I usually do two physical activities a day, alternating among walking, cycling and swimming. I do floor exercises for my back daily, walk up and down many stairs and tackle myriad physical tasks in and around my home. (Brody, 9/3)
Kaiser Health News:
Creating Rituals To Honor The Dead At Long-Term-Care Facilities
One by one, their names were recited as family members clutched one another’s hands and silently wept. Seventeen men and women had died within the past year at Gray Health & Rehabilitation, a 58-bed nursing home. Today, their lives were being honored and the losses experienced by those who cared for them recognized. Death and its companion, grief, have a profound presence in long-term-care facilities. Residents may wake up one morning to find someone they saw every day in the dining room gone. Nursing aides may arrive at work to find an empty bed, occupied the day before by someone they’d helped for months. (Graham, 9/4)
Columbus Dispatch:
Malnutrition Is A Leading Cause Of Illness, Death Among Seniors
As many as half of older Americans are at risk of becoming malnourished, and as the nation ages, the problem of getting nutritious food to seniors is poised to get worse. ...With advocacy groups reporting that as many as half of older Americans are at risk of becoming malnourished, an Ohio commission is recommending the expansion of programs that provide seniors with the food and nutritional support they need. (Viviano, 9/2)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Stroke Can Double The Risk Of Dementia, Study Says
Researchers from the University of Exeter recently conducted a study, published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, to explore the link between memory loss and stroke. ...After analyzing the results, they found that stroke patients were more likely to be diagnosed with dementia. In fact, history of stroke upped the risk by 70 percent and doubled the possibility for those who had suffered from a stroke recently. (Parker, 9/1)
Boston Globe:
Troubled Massachusetts Nursing Home Chain In ‘Dire’ Straits, Court Monitor Warns
The state attorney general’s office says it will scrutinize a troubled Massachusetts nursing home chain for allegedly leaving many of its employees without health insurance after deducting premiums from their paychecks but failing to pay the insurer. The coverage lapse affected workers at all 10 of Synergy Health Centers’ nursing homes, according to court records and a letter sent to employees by the insurer that was obtained by the Globe. (Lazar, 9/1)
