Posts by Pat Tarantino
End to Flu Season 2014 – 2015
The New York State Department of Health has declared that the 2014-2015 influenza season has officially ended, citing a marked decrease in influenza-like illnesses (ILI). As a result, unvaccinated health care workers in both hospital and home settings are no longer required to wear flu masks. While the flu is still active throughout the summer…
Read MoreThe Questions We All Need to Ask As We Grow Older
Elder care expert, author and advocate Joanna Leefer recently held a very frank discussion about the nuts and bolts of growing older in New York City. While the city has made great strides to safeguard older residents with expanded senior activities, safer street crossings, and additional amenities like benches and senior-only green space, Leefer’s lecture,…
Read MoreNY Bill Must Pass to Protect Patients
Classify Home Care Workers as Essential Personnel in Emergency Management Plans It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but home health care workers are most effective when they can reach their clients’ homes, especially during a citywide emergency like Hurricane Sandy, when “non-essential personnel” are advised to shelter in place. To that end, Staten Island lawmakers…
Read MoreOlder Drivers & Driving Safely
In recent years, the SelectCare team has been pleased to see New York City receive growing praise for becoming a great place to grow older, thanks to the city’s increasingly age friendly public initiatives, a wealth of hospitals and a public transit system that makes accessing resources easy for people of all ages. While New…
Read MoreInside Scoop on Poop
SelectCare’s clinical staff has provided New Yorkers with compassionate and comprehensive home care for thirty years. During that time, our staffers have learned that they need to consider every facet of a client’s life and bodily rhythms in order to spot new or growing health concerns before they take a serious turn – changes in…
Read MoreAdvance Directives in New York – Planning for the Future
Do You Have Advance Directives? SelectCare offers a wide variety of home health care services to our clients throughout New York City, ranging from occasional assistance around the home to around-the-clock nursing services for people experiencing major illnesses. During every client’s free in-home health and safety assessment, Selectcare’s RN Field Nurse Supervisors cover an extensive…
Read MoreHidden Costs of Over Medicating
Geriatrician Calls for Holistic View to Patient Care If you worry doctors might be overeager to prescribing drugs to elderly patients, you’re not alone. During a recent Senior Umbrella Network – Brooklyn meeting at the Bensonhurst Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare, Dr. Jennifer Breznay discussed the challenges of polypharmacy (the over prescription of drugs) and…
Read MoreWinter’s Last Hurrah for 2015
“Taken during the great blizzard of 1888, when New Yorkers tunneled through snowbanks with nothing but harsh language and boot straps.” And here we are, folks, in the midst of what meteorologists are calling Winter’s Last Hurrah: a nation-wide snow storm expected to dump another 8” of snowfall in New York City, complete with icy…
Read MoreLong Distance Caregiving – A Personal Story
Part of my job at SelectCare involves meeting with prospective clients during our free initial home health assessments. While our RN Field Nurse Supervisors focus evaluating a client’s medical, social and safety needs, I get to know the client and their family, what they hope to gain from our services and discuss these details with…
Read MoreFor Online Dating, Seniors Top the List Of Those Looking For Love
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, many New York singles are taking to the Internet to find a date for the holiday – who wants to eat a $200 pre-fixed dinner alone? More and more people are turning to online dating sites as a way to fill that second seat, especially singles 55 and…
Read More