Utilization of Long-Term Care by an Aging Population

In this brief, authors Reagan Baughman and Jon Hurdelbrink examine the relationship between macroeconomic conditions, as measured by the national unemployment rate, and utilization of long-term care, as measured by respondents’ reports in the Health and Retirement Study of what type of care they received in the past month to help with daily activities. Long-term care for older adults can take the form of nursing home care, formal (paid) home care, or informal (unpaid) home care. Almost 1 in 5 individuals over the age of 65 gets some type of help with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and self-feeding, or with instrumental activities of daily living such as preparing hot meals and taking medications. The authors report that the utilization of long-term informal care services by Americans over age 65 is estimated to have declined by 6.75 percent during the Great Recession. This decrease was driven by a drop in informal care provided at home for free, usually by adult children or spouses. One reason that the elderly use less care during recessions is that they are in slightly better health than they would be/are when the unemployment rate is lower. The fraction of those over 65 who report fair or poor health decreased by 6.6 percent during the Great Recession. Better health reduces the need for care. That recessions are associated with better health for certain individuals, especially the elderly, is one of the more unexpected findings to come from research on the relationship between the economy and health

The Effects of Muscle Energy on Low Back Pain: A 3D Analysis of running biomechanics

Background: Muscle energy technique (MET) is asn osteopathic treatment technique that is utilized frequently in the clinical setting, yet the overall effectiveness is minimally supported within literature. MET is an osteopathic technique that involves an isometric contract relax technique intended to improve alignment and enhance neuromuscular education. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of MET on running kinetics on subjects with low back pain. Method: A quasi-experimental research design was implemented and subjects, all of whom either had a history of or currently experience low back pain, underwent pre-intervention data collection of: anthropometric measurements, medical history, dorsaVi 3D running analysis, and a musculoskeletal and neurological clinical exam. Subjects underwent 6 weeks of isolated lumbo-pelvic MET at a frequency of twice a week, and were instructed to avoid all other treatment. Post-intervention data collected included a clinical exam and another dorsaVI running analysis. Results: Data was analyzed including: pre and post-treatment initial peak acceleration, ground contact time, and ground reaction force. A paired t-test comparing pre and post mean kinetic changes demonstrated the following p values: initial peak acceleration p = .80, ground contact time p = .96, and ground reaction force p = .68. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that isolated MET treatment is not statistically significant for changing 3D kinetic running variable in subjects with low back pain. Clinical Implications: Recommend healthcare providers to use a multi-treatment approach for low back pain. Future research should include a control group and larger sample size