The Better Health While Aging Podcast

In This Episode:

Dr. K shares the coronavirus (COVID19) information and recommendations she presented on 7/16/20 to members of the Helping Older Parents Membership.

She covers:

• The coronavirus situation today
• Are we better at preventing COVID?
• Are we better at treating COVID?
• Current COVID treatments available in the hospital
• Dr. K’s take on hospitalization for frail older adults with COVID
• Useful resources and her recommendations for this summer

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In This Episode:

Dr. K shares an update on the coronavirus (COVID19) situation and more recommendations to help older adults and people concerned about aging parents.

To watch the video version, click here.

This episode covers:

• The coronavirus situation today
• Key points on what Dr. K has learned about COVID so far (and what we’re still trying to figure out)
• Updates on testing & reducing COVID transmission
• If you’re wondering “Is it safe to…?”
• COVID & Older Adults: the tradeoffs we’re facing
• Nursing homes and COVID
• Dr. K’s recommendations for this summer

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In This Episode:

Dr. K talks with Dr. Karl Steinberg, an expert in nursing home care and the President-Elect of the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. He has been a nursing home and hospice medical director in the San Diego area since 1995, and is currently the chief medical officer for Mariner Health Central, a 20-facility California nursing home management company. They discuss:

• The varied course of COVID illness among nursing home residents
• What older adults and families should know, to address COVID and advance care planning
• Steps that nursing homes are now taking, to reduce COVID risk and manage cases
• What we know about how COVID has affected other forms of long-term care, such as assisted-living
• How we might be able to keep nursing home residents engaged socially and physically, during COVID times
• Whether some facilities may eventually divide residents into those who prioritize isolation and those who are willing to tolerate slightly increased risks in order to benefit from more socialization and activities
• What safer “re-opening” might look like, in nursing homes
• Why it’s essential to get information from your county and state public health department

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In This Episode:

Dr. K and her guest experts Dr. Nicole Didyk and Richard Caro, PhD, answer BHWA reader questions about aging health in COVID times.

To watch the video version, click here.

Questions and issues they addressed during this call included:

• The trade-off between safety and other benefits that older adults value
• How to think through making an activity or situation “safer” rather than ask “is it safe?”
• How to maintain physical and mental wellbeing while confined to the home, or to a locked-down facility
• When it’s likely to be “safe” to resume routine health appointments, including eye and dental visits
• How the pandemic situation might affect recovery from hospital delirium
• What we know so far about the course of COVID in older adults who develop symptoms
• What palliative care at home for COVID might look like
• The challenges that nursing homes are currently facing

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In This Episode:

Dr. K talks with geriatrician Muriel Gillick MD, Professor at Harvard Medical School, about her latest book, The Caregiver’s Encylopedia: A Compassionate Guide to Caring for Older Adults. They discuss:

• Why it’s so important for family members to be informed and proactive
• Why Dr. Gillick recommends starting by understanding your relative’s overall health state
• How to recognize frailty, and why it’s essential to be aware of it
• Whether frailty can be reversed by exercise, and the pro and cons of pushing an older parent to exercise
• The importance of “goals of care”, and what to do when trade-offs become necessary
• How to ask an older person about what matters most to them
• How to let the doctors know what an older person wants from their healthcare
• How to get older adults — and healthcare professionals — to value the involvement of the family member
• The importance of someone in the family being able to advocate for better care

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