Barb's Daily Dose

Katrina Kenison - The Gift of an Ordinary Day

I hope you all have 5 minutes to watch this - make sure you have a box of Kleenex!!

Hoarders

Have You Seen This Show on A & E?

Hoarders provides a glimpse into the worlds of people with an anxiety disorder that manifests by their need to accumulate and surround themselves with things.  There is so much that is fascinating about this show, but one thing that surprises me every week is how attached these folks are to worthless garbage.  I'm not talking about mementos or things that we save from childhood.  I'm talking about empty bottles, cans, packaging, and garbage.

Need Air? Open a Window Into the Alzheimer's Soul

Our Featured Guest Writer Today is:  Paula Spencer, Senior Editor at caring.com

Stories of how people with Alzheimer's spark to creative activities involving art, music, and literature arts activities make life less stressful for dementia caregivers, which is why I can't revisit this topic enough.

Some Examples:

• When my son played guitar for a group of residents in the dementia wing of a nursing home where his grandpa lived for rehab, one woman prone to violence and wandering restlessly planted herself in front of him to happily dance and dance.

• A friend recently told me her mother, who has advanced Alzheimer's, mostly sits locked into her own silent world, until her daughter plays church hymns on the piano. Then Mom sings every word, clear as a bell.

Do You Have a Sleepwalker?

A new study has found that sleep walking is common in almost 1 in 5 children. Sleepwalking children are more likely to have parents who also were sleepwalkers.  Though we don't understand this completely, there does seem to be a biologic reason. The good news is that most will outgrow this, but before that happens, here's a few tips.

Helping Hospitalized Veterans

Here's an inspirational video from a hospitalized veteran who is using crafting to help him recover from his injuries.  Recovering "eye-hand" coordination is one of the big challenges after a brain injury and crafting is one therapy that works.

To learn more visit:  HHV.org

Head Injuries in High School

After watching the Super Bowl this past February and seeing some of the hits, tackles and general barbarian mauling that those athletes endure to move a ball down the field to score 7 points, I was very interested in this article from the Boston Globe. Don't get me wrong, I love football and was happy to see the Saints win, but the price the athlete's pay makes me wince. I'm surprised that more don't leave the field on stretchers.

If you have a teenager who participates in any sport where there's any likelihood of contact, like water polo, lacrosse, skiing, even soccer, read this.  You'll be glad that you did!

Nurse Practitioners

Excerpted from The Comfort of Home: A Complete Guide for Caregivers^TM

By Maria M. Meyer and Paula Derr, Contributing Writers - Article Featured on www.caring.com

Seek out a medical practice that incorporates the services of a nurse practitioner or physician assistant. These mid- level practitioners provide health screening, perform physical examinations, order laboratory tests, and prescribe specific medications authorized by the physician. Nurse practitioners also educate patients about staying healthy. Often they are the best-equipped health professionals to educate patients and caregivers about the common problems of chronic illness. Mid-level health care providers usually spend more time with patients and caregivers than the supervising medical specialists in a busy practice.

To read more of this informative article, click here.

Hold On to the Yellow Card

When parents have the Yellow Vaccination Record or Yellow Card, they're kids are more likely to stay up to date with their vaccinations. It makes sense, right?  When things are out of sight, they're out of mind, and we forget. Heck, if I don't have the lab slip reminding me to get my fasting cholesterol test in front of me, I forget too!

Here's another idea that we do in my office.  How about 2 shot cards?  One for at the Health care provider's office and one at home.  That way, even if someone misplaces it, you've got another one ready to go!

With the shear number of recommended vaccinations, it's really hard to keep track of what your kids have had and what they still need, especially if you're spacing them out. 

To read more - see this article.

Are Nurses the Key to Solving the Health Care Problem?

You know what I think.  Of course, we are one of the keys to solving some of the problems in Health Care in this country. It's got to be a multi-pronged approach emphasizing prevention, weight loss, and utilizing lower cost out-patient clinics.

It's more cost effective for Nurse Practitioners and PA's to see people in community clinics or even retail clinics, work with patients on prevention of the consequences of poor health habits, than to try to "fix" the problems when they're too far down the path.

Now, experts are weighing in on the issue.  Read more here:

Teen Book Fanatics Has Launched

Our Featured Guest's Today are:  Mom and Daughter Team - Diane and Camille Hakansson,

Creators of "Teen Book Fanatics"

Teenbookfanatics was started as a way to share our love of reading and provide insight into many of the books available to teens.  We started out simply by frequently providing book recommendations to teens and parents.

Teen Book Fanatics Has Launched!

Teenbookfanatics.com provides insights into teen and young adult books.  Currently, we have reviewed over 100 books and 50 authors, and we continue to review new books every week. 

Our review has Three Parts:

1. Book Summary
2. Teen Review - Written by a teenager to provide insight from a piers perspective.
3. Parent Review - provides insight into:

• Language
• Sex (how detailed)
• Violence
• Morals
• General thoughts

To encourage teens to read we are giving away an autographed book each month.  In February, we our giveaway is:  "The Summoning", by Kelley Armstrong.