Robert L. Kane

A survival guide with an insider's perspective, for the millions of unprepared caregivers of aging loved ones. As Americans are living longer, an unprecedented number of people now require long-term care during their last years. More than 15 million adult children now care for their elderly parents, and unsuspecting caregivers are usually unprepared financially, emotionally, and practically for the relentless job they will face. In The Good Caregiver, world-renowned expert on aging and long- term care Dr.Robert Kane provides a road map for caregiving. More than just a professional expert, Dr. Kane draws on his personal experience of caring for his aging mother after she struggled from a debilitating stroke. Dr. Kane offers heartfelt advice for those learning how to best care for their loved one and how to make thoughtful, informed decisions at each stage of the caring process: ? How does a nursing home differ from assisted living? ? How is a homemaker different from a home health aide? ? How far can you trust a hospital discharge planner? ? What services does Medicare cover, and much, much more The Good Caregiver equips readers to deal more effectively with the challenges of day-to-day care and to navigate the system itself, including legal, financial, and interpersonal hurdles. Filled with stories and sidebars from other caregivers, The Good Caregiver offers a candid, personal approach to caregiving, providing fearless answers to difficult scenarios with humor and encouragement.

Conducting Health Outcomes Research serves as the definitive guide to successful investigation of health care outcomes and the key resource for ensuring quality care. As consumer, insurer and government demands for quality health care increase, the field of research required to measure such quality stands to grow exponentially. Conducting Health Outcomes Research brings together the practical, actionable information needed to conduct research on health outcomes, with the goal of measuring the quality of the care being delivered. The book details the methodology for performing successful research in this growing field: from formulating models, choosing study design, measuring and gathering data to assessing and presenting results. The text dually covers risk adjustment and the interplay of demographic, psychological and social factors. Conducting Health Outcomes Research answers the growing call for evidence-based practice, comparative effectiveness reviews and overall quality assurance in health care.

Chronic conditions such as arthritis, heart disease, and Parkinson disease are the principal cause of all sickness and death in the United States and represent the vast majority of health care expenditures. Although we now live in a world dominated by chronic conditions, health care is still organized around a commitment to treating acute illnesses. Meeting the Challenge of Chronic Illness examines current deficiencies in chronic illness care and explores ways to improve it. Addressing the challenges of shifting from the primacy of acute illnesses to the predominance of chronic conditions, the authors identify the components necessary to reorganize and reform health care: properly prepared health care workers; involved patients and families; appropriate use of new technologies, especially information systems; an appropriate role for prevention; and the creation of funding approaches that will provide necessary incentives. This book calls on policy makers, health care providers, and educators to address one of the greatest challenges facing the health care system.

Both practical and applied, Understanding Health Care Outcomes Research, Second Edition makes sense of the new science of studying health care outcomes - a vital process in health care quality assurance. The second edition of this title includes updated chapters, as well as new chapters on confounders, research design, and working within clinical settings.

The failure of long-term care is the country's best-kept embarrassing secret. Almost every adult in the United States will either enter a nursing home or have to deal with a parent or other relative who does. Studies show that 40 percent of all adults who live to age sixty-five will enter a nursing home before they die, while even more will use another form of long-term care. Part memoir, part practical guide, part prescription for change, It Shouldn't Be This Way is a unique look at the problems of long-term care. Robert L. Kane, a highly experienced physician and gerontologist, and his sister, Joan C. West, tell the painful story of what happened to their mother after she suffered a debilitating stroke and spent the last years of her life in rehabilitation, assisted-living facilities, and finally a nursing home. Along the way, her adult children encountered some professionals who were kind and considerate but also many frustrations - inadequate care and the need to hire private duty aides, as well as poor communication and lack of coordination throughout the system. The situation, they found, proved far more difficult than it needed to be. As the authors recount their mother's story, they impart various lessons they learned from each phase of the experience. They alert those who are confronting such situations for the first time about what they will likely face and how to approach the problems. Closing with a broader look at why long-term care is the way it is, they propose steps to make necessary reforms, including the development of national organizations to work for change. Their message to families, care professionals, and policy-makers could not be more urgent.

The failure of long-term care is the country's best-kept embarrassing secret. Almost every adult in the United States will either enter a nursing home or have to deal with a parent or other relative who does. Studies show that 40 percent of all adults who live to age sixty-five will enter a nursing home before they die, while even more will use another form of long-term care. Part memoir, part practical guide, part prescription for change, It Shouldn't Be This Way is a unique look at the problems of long-term care. Robert L. Kane, a highly experienced physician and gerontologist, and his sister, Joan C. West, tell the painful story of what happened to their mother after she suffered a debilitating stroke and spent the last years of her life in rehabilitation, assisted-living facilities, and finally a nursing home. Along the way, her adult children encountered some professionals who were kind and considerate but also many frustrations - inadequate care and the need to hire private duty aides, as well as poor communication and lack of coordination throughout the system. The situation, they found, proved far more difficult than it needed to be. As the authors recount their mother's story, they impart various lessons they learned from each phase of the experience. They alert those who are confronting such situations for the first time about what they will likely face and how to approach the problems. Closing with a broader look at why long-term care is the way it is, they propose steps to make necessary reforms, including the development of national organizations to work for change. Their message to families, care professionals, and policy-makers could not be more urgent.

Long-term care in the United States has taken the nursing home as its benchmark, but the monetary, social, and psychological costs of nursing home care are all too high. This book challenges the current dominance of nursing homes as the principal institution of long-term care. It offers a series of alternative models where both services and housing can be provided in a way that allows long-term consumers to enjoy dignified, "normal" lifestyles. It addresses the political and economic consequences of making this decision. The authors start with the premise that long-term care is designed to assist people who lack the capacity to function fully independently. They argue that no disabled person of any age should be required to forsake his/her humanity in exchange for care. The book rejects the artificial dichotomy between social and medical care, asserting that both play important roles in psychological and physical well-being of long-term care patients. The authors consider the need for competent and compassionate medicine and discuss the methods for improving both its coordination of care and its effectiveness. The book redefines the meaning of safety and protection in long-term care, and how this goal can be accomplished without sacrificing quality of living. As the new millenium and the aging of baby boomers approaches, more creative approaches to providing better long-term care are required. This volume outlines a useful framework for the provision ofeffective and humane community-based programs that are both feasible and affordable. It will be an invaluable guide for geriatricians, public health professionals, family physicians, nurses and others who care for elderly patients.