The Mobile Learning Era

Did you know that the fastest growing group of technology learning is in the 50+ age group.

Did you know that we are in the era of 7 minute learning revolution? That time is limited for 2 day workshops? That people want to learn bight size chunks of learning when they need and want it not spend a whole day in a classroom?

Did you know that many learning institutions are 5 years behind google learners? That mobile learning is on the increase dramatically and that if you want to reach you staff you need to provide them with the opportunity to learn in multiple ways using technology?

This very interesting YouTube video is very iteresting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yswtL_3cb_g

Congratulations to Rosedale Village

Debbie Tunui has been working with Netsoft Technology on a new Instant Point of Care data collecting technology.

Congratulations for your forward thinking Debbie.

Really intersting Press Release. Why dont you check this out http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1106/S00593/new-hand-held-technology-provides-instant-point-of-care.htm

Apple peel helps prevent muscle wasting?

Well maybe our grandmothers were right. An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Well this was something that I learned anyway.

Now I don't have a problem eating apples, I love them but I know of others who don't mainly because they are gas producing. However it now appears that there may be a compound in the skin of apples that actually prevents muscle wasting but many older people find the skin very difficlut to eat sowhat do we do? Yes thats right, we peel off ths skin which may turn out to be the best part of the apple.

While more research does need to be done, as always, it appears from a study done on mice that the mice who were fed this compound, ursolic acid became leaner and had lower blood levels of glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides. Very intersting.

No doubt there will be drug manufactured sometime in the future with these compounds. So maybe if we keep eating an apple a day (with the skin on) then we may be a much healther group of people who will have strong, healthy, well functioning muscles well into our old age.

Care Training Online Update

I am amazed how well this is going. More and more people are joining and experiencing the benefits of have training at their fingertips 24 hours a day.

I am continually working to get more topics up on line so caregivers have access to comprehensive training. The topics that are now up online are
Infection Control
Aging Process - Skin
Challenging Behaviours
Reatraint Minimisations & Safe Practice
Stoma Care
Continence
Pain Identification and Management
Nutrition
Hydration
and this week will go up Aginig Process Muscles, Ligaments, Tendons and bones. Soon to follow will be Abuse and Neglect. Want to know more give me call.

Still, Lovely

This movie is well worth seeing. It gives an insite of how it might be for a person with dementia. It is slow moving but profoundly frank. It left me with a strong sense of sadness.

I have worked with people with dementia for very many years, but I have never had such an emotional response to a movie for years. It certainly isnt a movie that you jump up from and walk out of the theatre.

I beleive it would be a great movie for caregivers, registered nurses, managers and owners to see. For those who don't understand what it might be like having dementia, this should have a profound affect and cant help but change attitudes

On-Line Training Update

I have been going around visiting facilities in a variety of locations to talk to them about the online training. I am excited at the uptake and people are seeing www.caretrainingonline.com as a valuable tool to help train their staff.

I know what it is like to be a nurse and manager trying to get the education to all the staff and do everthing else as well.

My next move is to itemise what is in each segment of the topics and how long each segment is so that you know how much time you need to do the training. I am making changes all the time to not only add new material but also to help you in both time and training.

The next topics to go up is likely to be Aging Process - Muscles, Tendons Ligament and bones.

I am still looking at how to best do a topic as an Introduction to Caregiving that covers Customer Service and looks at the Social Model of Care but with a heading that will excite people and entice them to want to use it.

Like many of you, I am concerned at the lack of personal care. It is not that the carers don't want to do it, it is just they think their role is clinical rather than predominantly social with clinical when needed.

If anyone who thinks like me, can send me a topic heading that would entice them to open a link on it can they please email me at leigh@clinicalupdate.co.nz Caregiving has to start at the beginning and to build on skills.

The Vitamin D debate

It seems we are caught between a rock and a hard place here. We are told to slip, slop, slap in the summer to prevent skin damage from sun yet we need the Vitamin D for healthy and strong bones!

What do we do?

For sometime I have been aware of this and have not used sunblock unless I am going to be out in the sun for extended periods. I never use and SPF factor in my moisturisers either. You see I already have osteoprosis and am on Vitamin D so why would I compromise my health even further?

Most of my day, like many others, is spent inside working. Why would I want an SPF factor in my moisturiser to protect me from the suns rays that I don't get? It doesn't make any sense to me.

While I may have sparked a debate on this, I hope a healthy one, just don't get caught up in all the hyp of generalised research that may not affect you. Research is now linking Seasonal Affective Disorder and other conditions like internal cancers, heart disease, immunity, diabetes, strokes to lack of Vitamin D.

Question? The more we find out, the more we complicate our lives and health.

Now I am not against research. It think it is very valuable and a great way for us humans to understand our bodies and how they work. But lets get a bit of balance here and some common sense.

If our major source of vitamin D comes from the sun, why do we spend so much money on blocking it out when we are not in the sun?

While there are small amounts of vitamin D in some foods like oily fish (especially fish liver oils), salmon, sardines, mackerel, tuna, egg yolks, butter, some cheeses and oysters we cant possiblby eat enough of these to give us our required daily dose of Vitamin D.

So choose for yourself what you want to do.

For me I will continue to do what I am doing and get the maximum amount of Vitamin D from the sun whenever I can.

What about you? What about your residents who never go out in the sun? Think how you can help them naturally as well as through diet and supplements.