Trouble Distinguishing Odors Tied to Shorter Life Span

A study of 1,169 Medicare beneficiaries found that older people who have trouble distinguishing between odors appear to have a short life span.Results of the four-year study found that the mortality rate was 45 percent in participants with the lowest scores on a 40-item smell test compared with 18 percent of participants with the highest scores.

 

“The increased risk of death increased progressively with worse performance in the smell identification test and was highest in those with the worst smelling ability, even after adjusting for medical burden and dementia,” said Dr. Davangere Devanand, lead author of the Annals of Neurology study.

For more information about the study, visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ana.24447/abstract?campaign=wolacceptedarticle.  
 

Each Home Instead Senior Care^® franchise office is independently owned and operated.

Home Care Project Reveals Cost Savings, Quality Care

Results from the first year of the Independence at Home Demonstration, a program that provides chronically ill Medicare beneficiaries with primary care services in the home setting, included both higher quality care and lower Medicare expenditures. 

On average, those with home care:

• Have fewer hospital readmissions within 30 days;

• Have follow-up contact from their provider within 48 hours of a hospital admission, hospital discharge, or emergency department visit;

• Have their medications identified by their provider within 48 hours of discharge from the hospital;

•  Have their preferences documented by their provider; and

•  Use inpatient hospital and emergency department services less for conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, pneumonia, or urinary tract infection.

The CMS analysis found that Independence at Home participants saved more than $25 million in the demonstration’s first performance year – an average of $3,070 per participating beneficiary – while delivering high quality patient care in the home.  

 For more information about the research, visit http://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/Independence-at-Home/.

Each Home Instead Senior Care^® franchise office is independently owned and operated.