Mr. Park, 85, recently was admitted to the hospital with community-acquired pneumonia and, after five days of intravenous antibiotic therapy, he was discharged home.
Mr. Park lives with his daughter. He has hypertension, benign prostate hyperplasia and mild Alzheimer's disease. His medications at home included bisoprolol/HCTZ, 5/6.25 mg; tamsulosin, 0.4 mg; and donepezil, 10 mg once a day. While he was in the hospital, the bisoprolol was switched to 50 mg of metoprolol twice a day because bisoprolol was not on the formulary. At the time of his discharge, an intern reviewed his hospital medication list and wrote out the prescriptions, which were given to Mr. Park by a nurse. Mr. Park's daughter filled the new prescriptions. When he returned home, Mr. Park resumed taking his usual medications, plus the new ones prescribed in the hospital. The combination of bisoprolol and metoprolol made Mr. Park bradycardic and dizzy. He fell on his way to the bathroom. When the emergency medical technicians arrived at his home, his heart rate was just 38 beats per minute. Mr. Park was readmitted to the hospital.
Patients often are discharged from the hospital to their homes unprepared to care adequately for themselves. Because of postdischarge missteps, many involving a medication mistake, patients too often may find themselves back in the hospital. Given the medications Mr. Park was mistakenly taking after he returned home, his dizziness and bradycardia could have been predicted and his readmission avoided.
This article provided by American Medical News. To read the entire article, please click here: AMA
Feb 18, 2010
HHS Awards Major Grant to SAGE
To Create First-Ever National Resource Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Elders
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the Administration on Aging have awarded Services & Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders (SAGE) a three-year, $900,000 grant to create the nation's only national resource center on LGBT aging. The National Technical Assistance Resource Center for LGBT Elders will assist communities across the country in their efforts to provide services and supports for older LGBT people. The Resource Center will provide training to aging service providers and LGBT agencies nationwide, and will offer critically important educational tools to LGBT older people.
"The creation of a National Technical Assistance Resource Center for LGBT Elders is a monumental step forward for the LGBT community," said Michael Adams, Executive Director of SAGE. "SAGE is extremely gratified to be given this opportunity to create and oversee the Resource Center in close cooperation with the Administration on Aging," continued Adams. "We are confident that working with AoA and our partners - who represent an extraordinary collaboration between the aging services network and the LGBT community - we will make a difference in the lives of every LGBT older person in every community in this country."
"Agencies that provide services to older individuals may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the needs of this underserved population," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "The Resource Center will provide information, assistance and resources for both mainstream aging organizations and LGBT organizations and will provide assistance to LGBT individuals as they plan for future long-term care needs."
Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee explained: "AoA frequently turns to national organizations to support the Aging Network in their efforts to work with specific minority populations that are traditionally underserved. In the past, AoA has funded national organizations to provide technical assistance on providing supports and services to African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian and Pacific Islander Americans and Native Americans. With the full support of the current Administration, we now recognize that LGBT older adults also represent a community with unique needs that must be addressed."
Entire article can be read here: www.Sageusa.org
"The creation of a National Technical Assistance Resource Center for LGBT Elders is a monumental step forward for the LGBT community," said Michael Adams, Executive Director of SAGE. "SAGE is extremely gratified to be given this opportunity to create and oversee the Resource Center in close cooperation with the Administration on Aging," continued Adams. "We are confident that working with AoA and our partners - who represent an extraordinary collaboration between the aging services network and the LGBT community - we will make a difference in the lives of every LGBT older person in every community in this country."
"Agencies that provide services to older individuals may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the needs of this underserved population," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "The Resource Center will provide information, assistance and resources for both mainstream aging organizations and LGBT organizations and will provide assistance to LGBT individuals as they plan for future long-term care needs."
Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee explained: "AoA frequently turns to national organizations to support the Aging Network in their efforts to work with specific minority populations that are traditionally underserved. In the past, AoA has funded national organizations to provide technical assistance on providing supports and services to African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian and Pacific Islander Americans and Native Americans. With the full support of the current Administration, we now recognize that LGBT older adults also represent a community with unique needs that must be addressed."
Entire article can be read here: www.Sageusa.org
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