Author Archive | Renee

http://www.medicinenet.com/kidney_failure/article.htm

http://www.alz.org/dementia/wernicke-korsakoff-syndrome-symptoms.asp

Talking to members about the transition home before and after a hospitalization is vital for service coordinators involved with the process.

Phina Smith-Hamilton, Director of Case Management at Henry Ford Hospital stated that service coordinators could be instrumental in providing referrals to additional care givers after a member is discharged. “It depends on what services are needed when it comes to community services, and the service coordinator being in touch with the patient after the hospitalization.”

Edie English, Director of Nursing at Beaumont Hospital in Taylor said patients have to disclose to discharge planners if he or she wants the service coordinator to be involved with the transition home.

English said that Beaumont currently uses home care agencies and The Senior Alliance to provide support to patients leaving the hospital. Sometimes, Adult Protective Services is used to make sure that the patient is safe in the home.

English suggested that home safety assessments could be one way that service coordinators could help. Currently, the hospital uses outside agencies, such as home care agencies,  to conduct home safety assessments.

A priority for discharge planners, English said, is to “ensure a safe discharge in the safest location possible.”  Additionally, care transitions involve making sure the patient is taking their medication correctly and a follow-up plan to keep the patients home.

The main priority for all professionals involved is to provide quality, person-centered care. “It really depends on the patient,” English said. “What does the patient expect out of the relationship? It’s about doing the right thing for the patient.”

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/16-charged-in-detroitarea-as-part-of-nationwide-health-care-fraud-sweep/33652072

Take Back the Night Event – Hannan Scoop Article

By Vanessa Rorai

On Wednesday April 8^th, 2015, I had the privilege of attending a Take Back the Night event. This event was created to raise awareness of sexual violence and empower men and women to stand up against it. This was my first time going to such event and it was very engaging, educational, and empowering. The guest speaker was Wayne County Prosecutor Kim Worthy. She spoke about the terrible situation Wayne County was in regarding discovering thousands of untested rape kits, and the progress that has been made since. Many community agencies and organizations attended the event to hand out information about available services and resources for victims and survivors of sexual violence and/or domestic violence.

After looking over the services, there are unsurprisingly little resources, if any, directed to older adults. Most services are specific to children or generally directed to adult victims of domestic violence. Services offered to adults have no age limits. However, news reports prove that sexual violence is just as pertinent of an issue with older adults as other age groups.

An incident occurred in 2012 when a man suffering from dementia was reported to have killed his wife in Winsford, England (BBC, 2013). Also, a very recently reported incident occurred in early April of a man suffering from dementia killed his wife in New Jersey (Konstantinides, 2015). Both of these couple’s relationships had a history of domestic violence. Sexual violence among older adults is occurring, but there are unique characteristics among this population, such as health concerns, longer relationship histories, and generational differences. Clearly, there is a need of focus towards the older adult population exclusively for treatment and programs for victims/survivors of sexual and domestic violence.

References

BBC (2013, October 29). Hazel Bailey death: Husband jailed for walking stick killing.
BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england
merseyside-24728165

Konstantinides, A. (2015, April 6). 100-year-old dementia sufferer ‘murdered his sleeping
wife, 88, with an ax, then committed suicide with a knife’. DailyMail.com
News. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article
3028326/100-year-old-New-Jersey-man-allegedly-killed-sleeping-wife-ax
committed-suicide.html

By Vanessa Rorai

This week I had the privilege of attending a forum held at Wayne State University on the topic of human trafficking. This event not only changed my entire idea and understanding of human trafficking, it gave me a great sense of empowerment to make even the slightest change to this huge social problem. The panel of speakers gave diverse perspectives from a legal, educational, research, and treatment standpoint. All speakers emphasized three ways anyone can do something about human trafficking: awareness, activism, and advancement.

I would like to share a few facts I learned at this event that raised my awareness. First, the average age of a person being trafficked is 12 years old. Trafficking generates $32 billion dollars a year, which is more than the revenue of the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL combined. I found it exceptionally interesting when one speaker discussed the ‘conditioning’ process trafficker’s use on their victims, and how it differs from the most common trafficking processes occurring in Detroit. Generally a trafficker will spend a lot of time and effort in getting to know their victim, become trusted, and eventually function as the main source of support in every facet of the victim’s life. In Detroit, it typically occurs fast and spawns out of opportunity. It is the nature of the situation that turns to opportunity for the trafficker to start using the individual to make money.

There is much room for activism against human trafficking. Anyone can volunteer to fundraise for treatment programs, or raise awareness by having a conversation with another person. Although Michigan currently has safe harbor laws, there are 32 states that do not. Thus, there is room for activism in improving the current laws of Michigan and supporting other states to adopt safe harbor laws.

Anyone can advance the idea of decreasing and ending human trafficking. The speakers targeted the students in the audience like myself as key individuals that can choose careers that advance awareness and activism against human trafficking such as law enforcement, treatment counselors, researchers, educators, and social workers.

Thus, this leads me to my conclusion of what all social workers can do in the fight to end human trafficking. First, social workers need to be aware of this social problem by knowing the signs of a trafficker and victim, where opportunity for trafficking exists, and realize that trafficking has no boundaries to gender, age, or location. Regardless of what population or area a social worker works within, there is a high likelihood of coming into contact with a current or previous victim. Thus, social workers must know how to advocate for a victim, what resources are available, and how to connect that individual to the services they may need. Anyone can raise awareness through conversation; social workers are perfect to start this necessary conversation.