Telemonitoring

How can you have up to four daily checkups without even leaving your house? A service called Telemonitoring makes this possible. WSLS recently reported on this tool, and you can watch their news clip by going to Generation Solutions' website - just click HERE. If you have any questions about the service, just call the Generation Solutions office at 434-455-6500 (Lynchburg) or 540-776-3622 (Roanoke).

Patient Beware

Consumer Reports National Research Center recently conducted a side by side survey of hospital conditions from two very different perspectives: the nurses and the patients. The findings showed that patients consistently scored the hospitals better than the nurses, and therefore, suggested that patients need to become more vigilant and aware of their own care in hospitals. The article encouraged consumers to do their homework. Check your health plan for its rules on hospitalization before you need it. Ask about the nurse/patient ratios. Make transistions smooth by bringing a list of your medications with you to the hospital, and keep your regular doctor in the loop. At the time of discharge, make sure you understand all the details of moving from hospital to home, and talk to the hospital's patient advocate if you are not satisfied or need help. Insist on a medication reconciliation between home and hospital drugs. It is also recommended that you see your primary care physician within a week of discharge, and have him/her review copies of your hospital records. While we still have some of the best doctors and nurses in the world, these are good steps to take to ensure your hospital stay is as pleasant as possible.

FDA Peanut Product Recall List

If you want to know if you have any food that may contain tainted peanut products, you can use the FDA Product Recall List located here on the blog, down the right margin. Follow the right margin down to the blue box labeled "Peanut Product Recall" and you can click on a food to search a particular brand, and then click on the brand to see which product is being recalled.

This box is called a "widget" in the internet world, and the neat thing is that it stays updated all by itself from the FDA information source.

Economic Headlines

In our most recent Generation Community newsletter, the November/December 2008 issue, we touched on the topic of our recent economic struggles. We asked the question "Are we getting the whole story?" when it comes to news reports on the economy. Specifically, how can we learn about the root causes of our issues when we only hear headlines, soundbites, and 30 second reports?

Thanks to the internet, we have the ability to look beyond the headlines and do our own research in a way never before possible. One way to get started on this topic is to go to Google and search these words:

"commercial paper" (remember to put quotes around multiple words if you want an exact match)
"Ted spread"
"credit default swaps"

If you enjoy listening to audio explanations, you might try searching for a "podcast" on topic. We found some helpful podcasts at This American Life, a Chicago Public Radio podcast. Particularly, their program on October 3, 2008 titled "Another Frightening Show about the Economy" went into simple, yet great detail about root causes of our financial struggles.

In addition to typing in a keyword at Google, or searching for topical podcasts, you can always go straight to the well established websites with names you've already heard of. For example, you can go to CNN.com and read stories on their huge money page. Generally the online articles will go into more detail than their televised counterparts.

Vinyl Records

The way people listen to music has changed very much over the past twenty years. The devices of this medium have continually gotten smaller, thinner, and more powerful. Yet, did you know that consumer interest in records has actually increased recently? That’s right —records. The Recording Industry of America reports that manufacturers’ shipments of records jumped more than 36 percent from 2006 to 2007 to more than 1.3 million.

Some avid music fans claim that the sound from records is superior to the sound from digital sources, like CDs. There is another reason, however, that may be behind the small resurgence in popularity. Record enthusiasts say they prefer the overall experience more, from putting the needle onto the record, to lingering over the liner notes and artwork on the record jacket. If you have a record player and some old records, why not take them for another spin?

Fewer Phone Booths for Clark Kent

That's right, the Man of Steel will need to find another place for his wardrobe change. With the popularity of cell phones, there just isn't the market for payphones that there once was. AT&T just announced that they are phasing out of the payphone business through the end of 2008. Payphones in the United States have declined across the industry from about 2.6 million phones in 1998 to an estimated 1 million phones today.

It is clear that consumers are in love with the convenience and peace of mind that cell phones offer. There are so many different kinds of phones and plans available. Some phones are geared to older adults, such as the Jitterbug which has oversized numbers and backlit buttons.