Rehab Select Blog

Every year, over two million people in the United States have some kind of serious cardiac event that requires extensive medical attention. Myocardial infarction, heart failure, and cardiac surgeries such as coronary artery bypass or valve replacement are some examples. Many of these patients are over the age of 65, and with the aged population growing, the number of elderly patients in need of cardiac rehabilitation will also increase.

For these patients, recovery is often long and difficult, because of comorbidities, general age-related frailty, and their need to restrict physical activity during acute recovery. Skilled nursing facilities are an often overlooked resource for patients who need postacute care and cardiac rehabilitation. 

Having surgery? Not sure where you should go for your post surgical rehabilitation? Fortunately, you have a choice. Skilled nursing facilities are a valid option for inpatient rehabilitation after your surgery. Why?

They have the resources you need

Today's skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) are dynamic community-based institutions that provide facilities for recovery, rehabilitation, and long-term care as needed to the residents of the area. Top-notch medical staff and professionals serve patients in the community as they recover from surgery or other medical situations.

Scams against seniors have been called the "crime of the 21st century". Seniors are often targeted for fraud because they're thought to have a lot of money. In addition, seniors with cognitive difficulties can be easy targets.

Is it safe for older people to exercise? For most people, the answer is a resounding "yes."

Understanding health benefits of exercise for seniors is relatively straightforward: The American Academy of Family Physicians states that almost all older people can benefit from at least some activity. Regular, sensible physical activity helps protect seniors from chronic diseases, improves mood, lessens the chance of injury, and helps prevent situations that can lead to rapid decline, like falls.

Perhaps the most common definition of elder abuse is physical abuse. However, scams against seniors also qualify as elder abuse, and to that end are covered by elder abuse protection laws. If you have an elderly friend or family member, it's important that you educate them about this fraud -- or to take note of it yourself if you could be a potential victim.

It is important to eat well at any age, but it's especially important to make nutrition a top priority for older Americans. Some 15 to 50% of older Americans struggle with malnutrition. Symptoms can include loss of appetite, lethargy, disorientation and weight loss. Fortunately, it's a relatively easy problem to fix for most people; understanding health benefits of a proper diet for the elderly is the first step in doing so.

Approximately 20 million Americans today suffer from some kind of kidney insufficiency that requires kidney disease care. Kidney diseases that can become chronic include kidney stones, urinary tract infections, or even chronic renal failure that could result in death.

Patients who need extended care and rehabilitation after an acute renal episode requiring hospitalization can receive excellent, cost-effective care in community based nursing facilities – including dialysis if necessary.

Approximately 26 million Americans have diabetes today. More people are diagnosed with this disease every year, and approximately one in three Americans is expected to have diabetes by the year 2050. Of those with diabetes today, only 19 million actually know they have the diagnosis. Seven million unknowingly have the disease. What does this mean for diabetes management, for the healthcare industry today, and in the coming years?

When a patient suffers an acute cardiac episode like a heart attack, he/she is taken immediately to the hospital and given life-saving interventions.

The very nature of hospitals means that they provide acute care during critical times. Once patients are well enough to leave the hospital but not well enough to go home, the next step is cardiac rehabilitation.

Caring for a tracheostomy - an incision in the windpipe made to relieve an obstruction to breathing - can seem complex, perhaps even scary. The truth is that maintenance procedures are not complicated; but they are critical to keeping the tracheostomy opening and skin around it clean and free of infection. Individuals living with a tracheostomy are likely dealing with a number of medical problems that put them at risk for complications. Proper maintenance of the tube prevents further airway obstructions.