Anyone in northern Illinois experienced in long term care management knows that everyone feels anxious and under stress from time to time. Situations such as conflict-laden relationships, difficulty in performing important obligations or frustrating cognitive tasks, often bring about anxious feelings.
Mild anxiety may help make a person become alert and focused while facing threatening or challenging circumstances, while severe anxiety is very debilitating.
Anxiety disorders cause severe distress over a period of time and disrupt the lives of individuals suffering from them. The frequency and intensity of anxiety involved in these disorders severely compromises quality of life. But fortunately, with proper and effective treatment, residents suffering from anxiety disorders can lead normal lives.
What are the major kinds of anxiety disorders?
It is important for those in long term care management to understand that there are several major types of anxiety disorders, each with its own characteristics.
People with generalized anxiety disorder have recurring fears or worries, about health or finances etc, and they often have a persistent sense that something bad is just about to happen. The reason for the intense feelings may be difficult to identify. But the fears and worries are very real and often keep individuals from concentrating on daily tasks.
Panic disorder involves sudden, intense and unprovoked feelings of terror and dread. Residents who suffer from this disorder generally develop strong fears about when and where their next panic attack will occur, and they often restrict their activities.
A related disorder involves phobias, or intense fears, about certain objects or situations. Specific phobias may involve things such as encountering certain animals or flying in airplanes, whereas social phobias involve fear of social settings or public places.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by persistent, uncontrollable and unwanted feelings or thoughts (obsessions) and routines or rituals in which individuals engage to try to prevent or rid themselves of these thoughts (compulsions). Examples of common compulsions include washing hands or cleaning house excessively for fear of germs, or checking over something repeatedly for errors.
Someone who suffers severe physical or emotional trauma, such as from a natural disaster or serious accident or crime, may experience post-traumatic stress disorder. With this problem, thoughts, feelings and behavior patterns become seriously affected by reminders of the event, sometimes months or even years after the traumatic experience.
Symptoms such as shortness of breath, racing heartbeat, trembling and dizziness often accompany these disorders. Although they may begin at any time, anxiety disorders often surface in adolescence or early adulthood. There is some evidence of a genetic or family predisposition to them.
Why is it important to seek treatment for these disorders?
If left untreated, anxiety disorders can have severe consequences. For example, some residents who suffer from recurring panic attacks avoid, at all costs, putting themselves in situations that they fear may trigger an attack. Such avoidance may create problems by conflicting with family obligations and basic activities in the facility.
Many residents who suffer from an untreated anxiety disorder are prone to other psychological disorders, such as depression, and they have a greater tendency to abuse alcohol and pain medications. Their relationships with family members and friends may become very strained.
Are there effective treatments available for anxiety disorders?
Absolutely. Most cases can be treated successfully by mental health care professionals.
Those in long term care management should realize that, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, research has demonstrated that both ‘behavioral therapy’ and ‘cognitive therapy’ can be highly effective in treating anxiety disorders. Behavioral therapy involves using techniques to reduce or stop the undesired behavior.
For example, one approach involves training patients in relaxation and deep breathing techniques to counteract the agitation and hyperventilation (rapid, shallow breathing) that accompany certain anxiety disorders.
Through cognitive therapy, residents learn to understand how their thoughts contribute to their symptoms and how to change them to reduce the likelihood of occurrence and the intensity of reaction.
The patient’s increased cognitive awareness is often combined with behavioral techniques to help the resident gradually confront and tolerate fearful situations in the controlled, safe environment of the facility.
Proper and effective medications may have a role in treatment along with psychotherapy. In cases where medications are used, the patients care may be managed collaboratively by a psychologist and physician. It is important for patients to realize that there are side effects to any drugs, which must be monitored closely by the facility staff.
How can a psychologist help someone suffering from an anxiety disorder?
Psychologists are highly qualified to diagnose and treat anxiety disorders. Nursing home administrators, desirous of helping residents suffering from these disorders, should seek a provider who is competent in cognitive and behavioral therapies.
Family and group psychotherapy offer helpful approaches to treatment for patients with anxiety disorders.
How long does psychological treatment take?
Long term care management professionals need to be aware that treatments for anxiety disorders do not work instantly. The resident should be comfortable from the outset with the treatment being proposed and with the psychologist with whom he or she is working.
The patients cooperation is crucial, and there must be a strong sense that the patient and psychologist are collaborating as a team to reduce the anxiety.
No one plan works well for all elderly patients. Treatment needs to be tailored to the needs of the elderly patient and to the type of disorder from which she suffers.
The psychologist and aged patient should work together to assess whether a treatment plan seems to be on track. Adjustments to the plan sometimes are necessary, since patients respond differently to different treatments.
However, many residents will begin to improve noticeably within eight to ten sessions, especially those who carefully follow the outlined treatment plan.
There is no question that the various kinds of anxiety disorders can severely impair a geriatric patients functioning with family and in the facility. Long term care management professionals should realize that the prospects for long-term recovery for most residents who receive appropriate professional help are very good.
Those who suffer from anxiety disorders can work with the psychologist to help them regain control of their feelings and thoughts—and their lives.
Illinois is a myriad of sites and sounds, history and multiculturalism, all blended harmoniously into what is considered a perfect microcosm of the United States. The exploding diversity of the north and Chicagoland balances perfectly with the wilderness and historic sites of the south.
The major financial, cultural and commercial hub of Illinois, Chicago, is situated on the Great Lake Michigan. The rest of the state is largely bordered by major waterways, including the Mississippi River to the west and the Ohio River to the south. Due to its geographic location, Illinois has blossomed over the centuries to become the unofficial capital of the Midwest region of the United States. Get a true taste of America’s Heartland when you book your airfare to Illinois’ Interior Plains.
The Joy of Illinois: Chicago and Beyond
When you plan your itinerary, remember that Illinois is divided into six distinct regions that all offer a different flavor of the Midwest and are best explored by automobile. Southern Illinois is not short of parks, recreation and open spaces. The Shawnee National Forest, expanding between the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers, is a 270,000 acre wilderness wonderland, complete with rock climbing, horseback riding and observation towers. If you love wine, travel Illinois’ wine region in the south. The Shawnee Hills Wine Trail provides an excellent tour of five wineries that are easily accessible by car.
Central Illinois is a notable mix of fantastic stops that will certainly round out your travel to Illinois. It also happens to be where President Abraham Lincoln’s former home and the state’s capital is located. In Springfield, take a stop at Looking for Lincoln, a collection of houses, buildings and countryside where the 16th president actually spent time. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is also located in the heart of Springfield. You can also get your kicks in Central Illinois where the Historic Route 66 passes through the state. Along the way, stop at the Amish Interpretive Center for a glimpse into the life and history of the Old Order Amish community. The fun is certainly not over yet; convince the kids that Santa does exist by visiting Hardy’s Reindeer Ranch where real Alaskan reindeer roam the grounds!
Chicagoland in Northern Illinois is another influential region. After you find cheap airfare to Illinois through O’Hare International Airport, you will find yourself in the true heart of the state. Stroll along the waterfront of Lake Michigan or enjoy world-class theater and dining. Chicago is the third most populous city in the United States and a historic center for America’s civil rights movements as well as the birth and growth of modern music, including jazz, blues and techno.
Witness the cultural melting pot that is the United States on a smaller scale. From hiking and fishing to historic sites and cosmopolitan exploits, travel to Illinois is certainly an all in one adventure!
We saw multiple scenarios, where Corporate ERP implementation goes into limbo phase and you think that this system might be not the one you need. In our opinion – over 90% of these Corporate ERP implementation failing cases had rather subjective reasons and could be efficiently recovered if customer would stop at some point and asked for Second Opinion from one of local Chicagoland and Northern Illinois based Dynamics GP Resellers, or even from nationwide firm with strong Great Plains implementation, data conversion, reporting and customization expertise in your industry. Think this way – Dynamics GP is a tool and Corporate ERP platform, but it allows you to design and organize Accounting, Sales Order Processing, Manufacturing, Shipping and Receiving, Procurement, Inventory and Warehouse management procedures. Plus it open through Dexterity, eConnect, Integration Manager, ReportWriter, SQL Server Reporting Services, Crystal Reports and other tools to data conversions, customizations, integrations and reporting. To implement your new Corporate ERP you would have to probably assign internal Project Manager, plus probably allocate some members of IT team if data migration and customization is needed, and of course you should select the right Dynamics GP Partner, who could help you implement Great Plains as real team of GP gurus. We are trying to make this article readable for both IT managers and Company Executives, so please take it to consideration and skip the paragraph that is too technical or too philosophical. Let’s come through the most typical Corporate ERP failures scenarios:
1. Unrealistic Data Conversion. We were discussing which topic should go on the first position, and looks like the “winner” is data migration, massage and conversion. And this might be also related to lack of management involvement (when somebody from executives orders Dynamics GP VAR to convert “everything” and period) as well as to some learning curve from your Dynamics GP Reseller sales engineering team, where they say Yes to all customer requests in their desire to push Software Licenses Sale through (better approach would be to set the right expectation and explain recommended and possible levels of Data Conversions, their cost and potential risks). We described Dynamics GP data migration in previous publications, however here we would like to give you summary. You should first consider to convert only master records (customers, vendors, GL accounts, employees, addresses) and GL balances and leave your old Accounting system (QuickBooks, Peach Tree, etc.) for data inquiry only to secure possible strategies for future audit and IRS compliance. If you must have some GL history – consider only current year and only monthly balances – this exercise is possible via Dynamics GP Integration Manager via ODBC connections to your legacy Corporate ERP data base or to exports in text files from legacy accounting, the most typical case is when you are migrating from QuickBooks. Migrating “everything” to Great Plains is very costly and very risky, as GP business logic and tables structure are complex
2. Unnecessary Deep Modification. Great Plains already has pretty rich mid-market Corporate ERP and MRP applications business logic and first you should try to cast your business processes in Dynamics GP setups and procedures. We recommend you to be certain and not accept shortcuts approach, when if process is not apparent, realize it via Dexterity, Modifier or eConnect customizations. However if customization is required, please check with your Dynamics GP Partner that they have reasonable experience to accomplish it for you, versus try it first time and come through learning curve with facing most of the potential Great Plains Dexterity programming pitfalls
3. Integration with Legacy System limbo. Often you may have something from non Microsoft World: Oracle Based Sales Order Processing system, EDI, PHP MySQL and Linux based eCommerce web application. Typically to integrate the two you would need consultants who are either cross trained or consulting team with expertise in both platforms
4. Crystal Reports limbo. Industrial reporting tools, such as Crystal Reports, SSRS also require reports developer to have reasonable experience and exposure. If developer is novice and tries all sorts of Wizards – results might be disappointing. Professional reporting for Corporate ERP applications requires data query abstraction from the tool itself. In the term of Crystal Report for Dynamics GP it means that report should be based on SQL Stored Procedure or at least on SQL View, and these techniques are crossing the boundaries of apparent reports wizards
5. Process Manufacturing. If you were pushed in GP sales phase with the promise to implement Process Manufacturing, you probably should slow down, as Microsoft Business Solutions really features Axapta Dynamics AX as process manufacturing Corporate ERP option: food, meat and poultry processing, farmers associations, mining, drilling, energy, oil and gas, etc. Dynamics GP Manufacturing Suite is for so-called Discrete Manufacturing
6. Great Plains Upgrade Limbo. If you are migrating from really old version, such as Great Plains on Pervasive SQL or Ctree: 7.5, 7.0, 6.0, 5.5, 5.0, 4.0 or even from Great Plains Accounting for DOS and Windows, you should be aware on the possible problems. For example Intellisol Purchase Order Processing was recommended in time (2002) to be migrated to Great Plains Purchase Order module. You can still do this, but this should be performed for Great Plains Dynamics version 7.5, where you chosen Dynamics GP Partner may have no clue. Great Plains Accounting for DOS, Windows or Mac is even better puzzle, as its support was terminated by Great Plains Software somewhere around 2001. If you need to migrate away from this archaic Corporate ERP platform to Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 – you should carefully design upgrade path with your Dynamics GP Partner
7. Trying to Implement Dynamics GP in International environment in the country where it is not localized. Please, note that GP is only localized in English speaking countries, plus in Spanish speaking Latin America. If you are trying to expand it for Brazilian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian subsidiary – you will not have success. International Corporate ERP is not piece of cake, it requires research and dedication to international business rules. We advise to consider alternatives to Great Plains, such as SAP Business One, or Microsoft Dynamics AX Axapta, these are Unicode characters compliant and available to broad spectrum of countries. For example, if you have small facility in Brazil, SAP B1 would be the way to go in our opinion, plus it is very friendly for data export and GL level consolidation to Corporate ERP Great Plains or even on FRx Reporting base. There are some exceptions – we can help you with options on Crystal Reports in Chinese with Great Plains Dynamics GP
8. How to get help? Please, feel free to call us: 1-866-528-0577, outside of USA: 1-630-961-5918 or email us help@albaspectrum.com We are very technical and real Dynamics GP Dexterity, SAP Business One SDK programming gurus. We have Great Plains Software Development Factory and could support unlimited Dynamics GP Customization and Programming needs. Plus we speak English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and not only as native speaking sales folks, but as real technical consultants. If you prefer skype: albaspectrum