Aisha Adkins wasn’t planning on a role as caregiver. But then her mother, Rose, was diagnosed with a rare brain disorder eight years ago. There were some noticeable signs as the condition developed, but the first two diagnoses missed the mark, says Adkins, 35, of Dunwoody. The correct diagnosis proved to be frontotemporal dementia (also…
Five Georgia nursing homes have a small red icon attached to their listing on a website that rates quality of care. That mark is a new tool on the federal Nursing Home Compare site to warn consumers about facilities recently flagged for abuse or neglect. The red symbol has been attached to listings of about…
By Madeline Laguaite University of Georgia researchers are receiving millions of federal dollars to help create a “universal” flu vaccine. But what does that term mean? And will a breakthrough vaccine persuade more Americans to get flu shots? Right now, fewer than 40 percent of adults get a flu shot. And that’s bad. During the…
Metro Atlanta resident Becky Ferguson says she started using non-addictive cannabis oil because she hoped it would ease her chronic pain. The result was not quite what she expected. “It might have helped a little bit [with the pain], but I am getting a tremendous reduction in anxiety,” says Ferguson, who is in her late 50s….
A Medicare initiative aimed at reducing readmissions of discharged patients is penalizing 88 percent of Georgia hospitals evaluated in the program. That’s a slightly higher percentage than the national average of 83 percent of hospitals penalized in the readmission program. The cuts in payments come as Medicare continues its campaign to encourage hospitals to reduce…
As of midday Thursday, health care facilities along the Georgia coast were preparing to receive their patients who were returning from evacuations triggered by Hurricane Dorian. The storm did not hit Georgia as hard as was feared last week, but it brushed the state’s coast, knocking out power to thousands, before heading north to pound…
Seven individuals have been indicted in an alleged abuse scheme victimizing disabled adults in DeKalb County, state Attorney General Chris Carr announced Wednesday. Three of those indicted operated homes for people with mental and physical disabilities, the attorney general said in a press release. The three – Eric West, Valerie West and Erica West –…
Late last year, when Maggie Katie Brown Kidd of Clayton County celebrated her 114th birthday, news reports described her as the oldest living Georgian, the oldest living African-American and the 10th-oldest person in the world. She’s been moving up since then. A recent check of online resources about supercentenarians — people 110 and older —…
A year ago, a resident of a Central Georgia nursing home climbed out of the window of her room and wandered off. The staff at Pinehill Nursing Center in Byromville realized she was gone and launched a search. The woman had been reported to be delusional and refusing to take some of her prescribed medicine….
The measles outbreak has brought much-needed attention to the importance of vaccines. Next month, a CDC committee will meet in Atlanta to weigh whether to continue recommending another vaccine – this one for seniors. In a new GHN Commentary, Dr. Linda Walden says jettisoning the current recommendation of a pneumococcal vaccine for Americans 65 and…