Voice Tech Has ‘A Long Way to Go’ to Meet the Hype in Skilled Nursing.

Voice technology has promise in senior care, but skilled nursing providers and residents need to keep their expectations tempered, one expert says.

When it comes to Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, Elizabeth Mynatt, the executive director of Georgia Tech’s Institute for People and Technology, has a note of caution.

“I think the Alexa is unproven,” Mynatt told Skilled Nursing News. “But there’s a lot of excitement about it, because it kind of takes away a lot of the complexity of text and computers, and you’re just talking to something. So there’s a lot of folks building what they call skills — essentially apps for things like the Alexa — but we have a long way to go.”

Read more at https://skillednursingnews.com/2018/07/voice-tech-long-way-go-meet-hype-skilled-nursing/

Trauma in Older Adults

Older adults who suffer traumatic injuries have worse outcomes than younger patients. In this episode Dr. Zara Cooper (acute care and trauma surgeon at Brigham and Women’s hospital) and I discuss some of the reasons for this, and also ways to avoid missing injuries in older adults. Falls are the most common cause of trauma in older patients, and understanding how falls are a geriatric syndrome can help you understand how to help prevent future falls.

https://gempodcast.com/2017/09/27/trauma-in-older-adults/

 

National Nursing Home Week is May 14-20, 2017

Established by the American Health Care Association (AHCA) in 1967 and always beginning on Mother’s Day, NNHW provides an opportunity for residents and their loved ones, staff, volunteers, and surrounding communities to recognize the role of skilled nursing care centers in caring for America’s seniors and individuals with disabilities.

Find out how you can join in the celebration by going to: https://www.ahcancal.org/events/national_nursing_home_week/Documents/2017NNHWGuide.pdf

New Wound Treatment Could Address Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

While MRSA rates appear to be on the decline in health care settings, the infection is still a major threat—especially to frail elders.

http://www.providermagazine.com/news/Pages/2016/0916/New-Wound-Treatment-Could-Address-Antibiotic-Resistant-Bacteria.aspx