6 The Hampton Roads Messenger


Volume 7 Number 9


Finding the Best Possible Nursing Home Care for a Loved One


May 2013


Renewable Energy Potential High in Rural Communities


USDA-funded renewable energy assessments for NC, VA, & SC provide assistance As renewable


energy becomes


increasingly common throughout the state of North Carolina, opportunities rural


for


to take advantage of renewable


communities energy


BY RITA WATSON PROVIDENCE, R.I.— When


their mother became a nursing home escapee, her helicopter daughters wondered what the sweet 93-year-old widow was thinking. With her daughters hovering anxiously, she was quick to answer. “I wanted to pick up a few things to cook for your father tonight.”


The woman’s daughters gave a


collective deep sigh. Their mother remained young at heart, but the memory thief of dementia turned her mind into an intermingling of long-term remembrances, short-term forgetfulness and delusional thinking. She was stuck in her married past unable to comprehend why she had to live in a room with no kitchen to cook pasta for her husband, who had actually died.


Her daughters realized that they


could neither stop their mother’s mental deterioration nor prevent behavior one would expect from an impetuous teenager. But, what they could do was to find a nursing home where their mother would be safer and maybe happier, too.


Despite their hovering and


search for the perfect nursing facility, their mother’s worsening dementia limited their choices. Questions to ask about quality ratings, activities and atmosphere as well as cultural sensitivity, patient rights, and physician availability may seem obvious.


Key Questions to Ask However, even with all the guides


designed to help families, getting answers is a challenge.


In addition to general manuals,


such as the comprehensive 72-page Your Guide To Choosing A Nursing Home — Medicare.gov, getting a sense and feel of a home by visiting more than once may make the difference between sleepless nights and peace of mind.


Questions to admission directors


are important, but observation is often a better predictor of how well a person will adjust to the new environment. Answers from staff may dramatically clash with the reality of a nursing home’s ratings, atmosphere, activities, patient rights and physician availability.


Things to Look for Onsite Often a nursing home placement


is made hastily because of a hospital’s “time’s up” policy. Patricia L. McGinnis, executive director of California Advocates for Nursing


Home Reform, [www.canhr.org] said, “Contradictory to their role -- appropriate placement – discharge planners are often pressured to get patients out of the hospital because of billing issues.”


Atmosphere is important: With


nursing homes, beautiful furniture and new curtains do not necessarily translate into good care. You may see a facility that has a four- or five-star rating, but the atmosphere or patient population may not be well suited for a potential resident.


Always look at dining rooms


during lunchtime to see how many residents are there instead of eating alone in their rooms.


Ask to look at activity charts


to determine how those requiring various levels of care may participate and benefit. While offering residents Wii Bowling sounds good on paper, residents with dementia will not be able to remember the steps involved for knocking down the pins. On the other hand, BINGO plays an important role in routine and socialization.


Music in nursing homes should


be more than just recreation; it should be therapy, even for residents who are cognitively challenged. Some experts in aging say that making music can be a protective factor against the most difficult aspects of dementia.


For example, the documentary


Alive Inside, explores how patients are transformed by listening to iPods. In a nursing home there can never be too much music.


Patient rights and physicians:


From small issues to more substantive ones, patients’ rights versus the best interest of a patient is tricky. Be certain to ask about patient-choice issues. Important examples are:


Dining room seating -- Do new


residents get assigned tables and is there flexibility to be able to move to another table? You want flexibility.


Room changes -- Residents may


be shifted to different rooms merely for the convenience of the home. But sometimes roommates are not compatible. Ask how this is handled, and is the staff quick to make changes if problems arise?


Showers and changes of pull-ups


or diapers -- To prevent urinary tract infections, or UTIs (a common health issue that can also worsen a senior’s mood), it is important that residents are changed and bathed frequently. Ask how often this takes place and how they handle a person who refuses. Hiding behind patient rights is not acceptable when a health issue is


NURSING HOMES PAGE 13 Ingalls Shipbuilding FROM PAGE 1


capabilities onboard the cutters. NSCs are 418 feet long with a


54-foot beam, displacing 4,500 tons with a full load. They have a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 110.


The Legend-class NSC is capable


of meeting all maritime and national security mission needs required of the high-endurance cutter, including new requirements in support of Arctic


exploration. The cutter includes an aft launch and recovery area for two rigid-hull inflatable boats and a flight deck to accommodate a range of manned and unmanned rotary wing aircraft. It is the largest and most technologi- cally advanced class of cutter in the Coast Guard, with robust capabilities for maritime homeland security, law enforcement, marine safety, environmental protection and national defense missions. This class of cutters plays an important role enhancing the Coast Guard's operational readiness, capacity and effectiveness at a time when the demand for their services has never been greater.


are growing rapidly. Solar electric, also known as photovoltaic or PV, solar thermal, and bio-energy can bring revenue and savings to rural and agricultural enterprises while providing the environmental benefits that accompanies renewable energy. Several factors are joining forces to drive this recent explosion of solar and bio-energy development. In the PV industry, recent strong growth in worldwide demand for PV has driven down system prices through radical drops in panel prices due to manufacturing cost reductions, economies of scale and increased competition. Additionally, large-scale investors are becoming more comfortable with solar PV and solar thermal as investments, which is increasing the size of systems and allowing new financing options.


Large Solar PV installations, some


100 acres or more, are now often being sited in rural areas, where flat land near transmission or distribution power lines is common and minimizes the cost the solar farm. Land owners can benefit by leasing land for 15 or more years to the project developers that are building these solar farms throughout the state. Lease rates are often higher than other uses for the land, making this an attractive option for many landowners. Large solar thermal installations can be installed at any type of facility where a large amount of hot water is used. These systems can dramatically reduce the use of heating fuels, reducing the facilities’ operating costs. A seven-acre solar thermal farm at Prestage Foods in St. Pauls, NC was installed at no cost to Prestage Foods, and will cut their utility cost for heating


hot water by more than 35 percent. North Carolina’s Renewable


Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standards (REPS) provide an ongoing opportunity for North Carolina agriculture to produce renewable energy by providing specific incentives for renewable energy produced from swine and poultry waste. Power produced from swine waste and poultry litter can claim renewable energy credits, which have a market value and can be sold to provide additional revenue to these projects. Only a few installations have taken advantage of the swine and poultry allocations of the renewable portfolio standards, leaving a large opportunity for swine and poultry waste-to-energy projects in North Carolina.


For land or business owners


interested in the potential of renewables, the N.C. Solar Center currently offers USDA-funded, reduced-cost renewable energy assessments for rural small businesses and agricultural producers in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The program is open to agricultural producers and rural small businesses.


Energy costs greatly impact the


economic operation of agricultural enterprises. By identifying potential renewable energy opportunities, farms may reduce their energy consumption, lower the cost of operation, and improve the economic viability of the business.


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