WNYT News Channel 13 turns to Littauer for information Posted on February 26, 2015 by Dakota PikeOn Wednesday, Feb. 25, WNYT News Channel 13 news anchor and health reporter Benita Zahn came to Nathan Littauer Hospital to talk to Littauer’s own Dr. Maruthi Sunkara and one of his patients about the new peanut allergy debate. Dr. Sunkara, his young patient, and mother did an incredible job lending clarity to the food allergy discussion. Follow this link to the program segment: http://wnyt.com/article/stories/s3717088.shtml?cat=12404 Click here for information about the new peanut study:http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/nioa-sfp022015.php
NLH Vital Signs Newsletter, Holiday 2014 Posted on January 30, 2015 by Dakota PikeDEC vital signs 01282015 PDF
Littauer presents check to Make-A-Wish Northeast New York Posted on January 30, 2015 by Dakota PikeGLOVERSVILLE – The Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home’s Courtesy Counsel annual Holiday Basket raffle raised $5400 for Make-A-Wish Northeast New York this year. The donation remains local for a medically eligible child. Over 20 baskets were donated from departments throughout the hospital and nursing home. “The employees here at Nathan Littauer are very giving and willing to help their community” said Moshgan Jones, NLH Courtesy Counsel Chairperson. “Each department is so creative.” “Every year we support a local community non-profit organization, and typically raise $5000,”said Jones. “We are thrilled that Make-A-Wish gives back so greatly to those in our community. We met the recipient of last year’s donation, and it meant to world to our employees.” For the second year in a row, the NLH Courtesy Counsel has partnered with Make-A-Wish Northeast New York. In the course of two and a half days on Dec. 10, 11 and 12, 2014 employees and guests of NLH brought $5400 for the fundraiser. Receiving the check for Make-A-Wish Northeast New York was the foundation’s CEO, Dr. William Trigg. He told the crowd gathered at the celebration, “Know that you are bringing hope, strength, and joy to a special child with this generous donation.” Adding “We can’t thank you enough for your generosity and this money will be used locally to make a child’s wish come true.” Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Since 1987, Make-A-Wish Northeast New York has granted nearly 1,500 wishes in the 518 area code and currently grants 90 to 100 wishes each year. Littauer CEO and President Laurence Kelly, left, Littauer Courtesy Council Chairman Moshgan Jones and Make-A-Wish CEO Bill Trigg
NLH’s “Falls and Prevention” program earns media attention Posted on April 28, 2014 by Dakota PikeBalancing ActExercise, environment important in senior fall preventionApril 20, 2014By BRIAN McELHINEY , The Leader HeraldGLOVERSVILLE – City resident Doris Clo, 82, is lucky. When she fell while taking out the garbage this winter, she was not hurt.“I do things now because my husband cannot, because of his balance,” Clo said, after attending HealthLink Littauer’s Improve Balance & Prevent Falls program at the Fulton County YMCA on Wednesday. “So [I] was getting the garbage can out of the ice, and it came faster than I thought it would, so basically, I fell backward. I did not hurt anything.”The fall was one of the reasons Clo attended the program, along with nearly 30 other seniors and caregivers. Clo has an artificial hip and knee, she said, and her husband, Lou, suffers from neuropathy, which affects balance.Article PhotosHildegard Cooper, left, a short-term resident at Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home receiving rehabilitation therapy, walks with Kirsten Lennon, Littauer’s coordinator of occupational therapy, Thursday. Photo submitted“I wanted him to come,” she said. “When I did fall this winter, it helped to be able to know how to get back up again. So I wanted to learn more, too.”Many seniors who suffer falls don’t end up as lucky. According to information provided by Nathan Littauer Hospital at the program, nearly 2 million emergency room visits per year are due to falls.“I would say 50 percent of folks that made it into a nursing home, did so post-fall,” said physical therapist William Oates, Nathan Littauer Hospital’s rehabilitation director and one of the presenters at the program.HealthLink, in cooperation with the Y and the Fulton County Office For Aging, has offered the Improve Balance & Prevent Falls program for about four years now, according to Sue Cridland, Littauer’s director of community education.“[A fall] can be such a life-changing event, so anything we can do to help prevent that is really important,” Cridland said.Physical activity is the most important method seniors can use to prevent falls, Cridland said. For seniors who are frail or unsteady, she recommended an evaluation by a physical therapist before starting any exercise program.The Y will offer a number of exercise programs in its Spring II session, which begins Monday and runs through June 8. A specific course dedicated to fall prevention, Balance & Stability For Fall Prevention, will be offered Mondays from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m.“That kind of program that is run here at the Y is wonderful, and the other piece of that, when you have a class, is that you have the whole socialization thing going on, which is also really, really important,” Cridland said. “One of the fellows that I just walked out with now that was going to sign up, he says, ‘You know, I’m 92 and I just don’t get out that much in the winter anymore, so I think this would be good for me.'”Oates sees patients for rehabilitation after falls, as well as patients who come in looking to proactively avoid falling. He said he likes to focus on awareness of the aging process – slower reaction times, lowered visual coordination and other balance-affecting afflictions – when developing a balanced training regimen for seniors to do at home.“One of the things I do like to concentrate on with someone who is beginning to have impaired balance is the strength of the ankle,” Oates said. “That’s the first recovery point. If you’re standing up straight and you start to fall backward, the first thing the body does is lift its toes off the ground to try to get you back into a neutral posture.”Environmental factors should also be considered in fall prevention. Margaret Luck, coordinator for the Lifeline program at Littauer and Fulton County coroner, talked about things around the home that can be changed to prevent falls, including keeping walking areas in free of obstacles; installing hand rails in stairways and bathrooms; and rearranging kitchen storage so that items are more easily accessible.“We can’t go up on ladders and be as sturdy as we used to be reaching for things, so it’s important that [seniors] look at their home,” Luck said.The Lifeline program itself can be an important way to avoid serious injuries from falls. The program equips seniors’ homes with a box and portable sensor button, so that if the senior does suffer a fall, he or she can push the button to alert paramedics.Littauer has offered the program for 25 years now, and the technology continues to improve. An Auto Alert system was introduced to the program about a year ago. The Auto Alert sensor will detect if a senior does not recover from a fall, and automatically alerts paramedics after 40 seconds, Luck explained.“It’s getting more popular,” Luck said. “Time matters. When somebody falls, the longer they’re down, the longer it takes to recover, and Lifeline has proven this fact over 25 years, that if they can get help right away to get back up, the recovery time is a lot less.”Clo said she is hoping to put the information provided in the course Wednesday to good use.“I want to try the strengthening exercises, and I want my husband to try the balancing exercises,” she said.
Nathan Littauer in the news: Plan ahead to reduce stress Posted on April 7, 2014April 7, 2014 by Dakota PikePublished in the Daily Gazette April 5, 2014Q & A: Plan ahead to reduce stress, health educator says Community health educator Wendy Chirieleison says one way to reduce stress is to stay away from computer screens. (Courtesy Healthlink Littauer)Relax — that’s one word of advice that community health educator Wendy Chirieleison can offer to reduce stress.Chirieleison will offer other advice to free people from personal pressure cookers on Tuesday, April 15, as she presents “50 Ways to Reduce Stress.” Two one-hour lectures, sponsored by HealthLink Littauer — Nathan Littauer’s Hospital’s wellness education and resource center — will be held at the Fulton County YWCA at 11:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. The YWCA is at 213 Harrison St. Extension, Johnstown.People interested in attending either of the lectures are asked to call HealthLink at 736-1120.Q: Can you tell that people in our community are under assorted stresses these days?A: I think you can see people are looking tired, looking a little bit frantic when they’re working and carrying out daily activities. People can be a little short-tempered at times . . . I think it’s a combination of family, not having enough time, high demands at work, not getting enough sleep, not getting enough exercise, not eating well, not getting the fruits and vegetables and water that we need to maintain a healthy balance.Q: How can people dampen their daily stresses?A: Here are some of the ways to help minimize or prevent stress — one would be improving time management, making a schedule and sticking to it. Getting ready ahead of time, prepping things ahead of time and leaving yourself enough time to arrive early. So leave a little earlier for appointments. When you don’t plan for enough time, people start rushing — especially in the car, when you may not have planned to be behind a slow-moving vehicle. Your blood pressure goes up, you need to get to your appointment on time and you didn’t factor in this travel time.Q: How can people reduce their stress in their workplaces?A: Technology has placed an expectation on workers they will be available 24-7. If you’re working on a project, and your team has a question, they may feel they can text you or email you with questions when you’re home trying to have a relaxing evening with your family. Turn off, unplug your devices so you can connect with your family and have a clear division of work time and personal time.Q: How about some other ways to minimize stress at the office?A: Being organized is one great way to minimize stress at work. That means everything from organizing your work space to your schedule and really giving yourself either 30 minutes or 60 minutes to de-stress from what you were doing at work, have a healthy lunch, get in some exercise. I think people would really feel better if they did that. They would feel a lot more energized.Q: How can people on the job beat stress when so many of us have extra duties these days?A: It’s OK to say no. If you are being asked by the PTA to run an event but your plate is full, know that it’s OK to respectfully decline helping out . . . you can ask your supervisor to put that project on hold until you can have finished some of the other things you’re working on. It would give you some time to finish working before starting something new.I think supervisors also have to be mindful of realistic expectations, take into consideration how much time employees are spending working on projects and be a little bit more flexible with the demands they’re placing on their workers and their staffs.Q: How does healthy eating figure into stress?A: Unhealthy eating connects to stress because our bodies need nutrients in order to help us cope with the stress that we experience all day. So healthy eating would make sure you’ve gotten the proper servings of proteins, whole grains, fruits and vegetables and avoid things that add to stress such as caffeine, excess sugar and alcohol.Q: How does exercise help chase stress?A: Exercise creates endorphins that make us feel happy, so that kind of balances our stress as well. If people were getting 30 minutes of activity every day, even if they divided that 30 minutes into two 15-minute increments or three 10-minute increments, they’d feel more energized and much less stressed.Q: How much sleep do we need to relieve stress?A: You need at least seven to eight hours of sleep every night. That really helps maintain balance. If people have trouble sleeping at night, they might try putting their devices away early because the light from the screens really triggers the brain and doesn’t allow the brain to relax. You might think reading a tablet a half hour before you go to bed is helpful, but really, it isn’t. TV is another thing you would want to avoid in bed.Q: How does positive thinking figure into the de-stress equation?A: Sometimes we tend to be more negative in thinking about ourselves and what we have done. Replace those thoughts with something more positive. So if you made a mistake or, for example, you’re on a diet and you eat something you shouldn’t have eaten and didn’t want to eat. Tell yourself “Tomorrow starts another day . . . I’m not going to beat me up over this one mistake.” Recognize all the good efforts you have made.Reach Gazette reporter Jeff Wilkin at 395-3124 or at wilkin@dailygazette.com.
