Cold Weather Increases Risk to the Elderly

About 600 people in the U.S. die each year from a dangerous medical condition called hypothermia, and about half of those are over the age of 65.

Hypothermia occurs when a person’s body temperature drops below 95 degrees because of exposure to cold temperatures.  The danger isn’t limited to being outside in winter weather.  It can also occur from exposure to cold temperatures inside as well.  The elderly are often at risk for hypothermia because they lose body heat faster.  Older adults also may have complicating medical conditions or take certain medications that affect their ability to gauge how cold they are.

If you have an elderly relative or friend, watch for these signs of hypothermia and call 911 if you suspect the condition:

    * Sleepiness
    * Confusion
    * Cold hands and feet
    * Pale skin
    * Slurred or slow speech
    * Slow or shallow breathing
    * Clumsy or unsteady movements

Source utmedicalgroup.com
 

If your family needs help with home care in Columbus OH, please contact the home care counselors at Age Advantage 614-442-6944. Age Advantage is a home care agency providing caregivers to the residents of Columbus OH and the surrounding areas.

Planning Holidays with Elderly Parents

With celebrations coming, you have time to plan for holidays with elderly parents. Obviously you’re preoccupied with making sure all the details are in place, meals, gifts, guests. Don’t forget that this is a great opportunity to check on your aging parents in a new way.

I would not advocate heavy duty conversations during your time at home. Sitting at the family dinner and saying, “So Mom, when are you moving out…” may not be the best for digestion!

Use this time for being together, for celebrating and NOT raising the anxiety level of your mother and the rest of the family. But you can still get a lot done to equip you for the important talks that you will need to have next.

What to check on. What to look for.

Take the time to really look at your folks. It may have been a while since you’ve seen them, and things have changed. You need to be able to take in what’s different. Of, course you’d rather imagine that things are the same as they always have been and always will be, but now is the best time to look closely and take it all in.

Things HAVE changed. Our minds are trained not to notice what we’re not looking for. Rather than looking for all the evidence that things haven’t changed — be open to noticing what’s different. Your aging parents may not be able or willing to tell you. Some changes happen so gradually, that they may not have noticed themselves.

These things don’t require immediate conversation, or even to be commented on at the moment. Be deliberate about your observations. Make a mental note, and then jot down what you’ve seen at the end of the day.

• What’s different? What’s new?
• How are they really doing?
• What might be in disrepair?
• What could you help with?
• What can you encourage?
• What can you support?

…continue reading from talk-early-talk-often

For information about Home Care in Columbus OH and the surrounding area, please contact the professional caregivers at Age Advantage, a home care agency that can help your family with all of your elder care needs. 866-995-8681.

Gift Ideas For Nursing Home Residents
By Vivienne Montague

Several things should be considered when choosing gifts for nursing home residents. How much room does the resident have? Do they have room for the gift you have in mind? Are they physically able to use the gift? Will they need help to use the gift and, if so, is the help readily available?

Popular gifts that have stood the test of time for nursing home residents are books and magazines.. A new book by a favorite author is always welcome. A subscription to a favorite magazine is also a good idea.

A box of candy is another popular choice but before giving candy, check with the caregivers to see if this is something the resident can have or can be doled out occasionally.

If the resident enjoys writing letters and cards, a box of all-occasion cards or notepaper would be welcome. Add some postage stamps and pre-printed labels for the people they write to and they can write cards and letters whenever they want to.

Coloring books and crayons are fun for both residents and visitors. If the resident has difficulty conversing, just sitting and coloring with them, occasionally patting their hand or making comments about coloring is a relaxing way to spend time together and is appreciated by the resident.

A lap-desk with a raised border around it is useful for writing and coloring.

If the resident is able to go out, the promise of a trip to a favorite restaurant or movie would be appreciated but check with the nursing staff to make sure they are physically and mentally able to handle such a venture. Ask about any medications or treatments that might need to be taken into consideration.

Source: Eldercare ABC Blog
Continue reading…
 

Age Advantage is a home care agency providing home care in Columbus OH and surrounding areas. For information about our caring services, please call 866-995-8681.

Baby Boomers: Be Your Aging Parents’ and In-Laws’ Holiday Gift
By Isabel Fawcett, SPHR  for LTC Expert Publications

As Baby Boomers prepare to visit their aging parents and/or in-laws for the holidays, some may be in for a rude awakening in caregiving. Home care may be looming large on their elderly parents’ horizon. Some boomers don’t see the need for elderly home care until they’re literally scrambling to find home care options for their parents and/or in-laws. “Too late, too late shall be the cry?”

It was bound to happen – or, was it?

In 2011, now less than 2 months away, the first wave of Baby Boomers will hit the magical age of 65.

Naturally, boomers’ parents have already transitioned into their senior years. Other parents have died. Some parents are trying to cope with their chronic health conditions, widowhood, a spouse’s or domestic partner’s chronic health issues. Each relationship has its own family and couple’s dynamic.

With aging and health decline, very little is new. Time marches on. Why, then, do some adult children wait until our backs are against the long-distance caregiving wall? Unless you thrive on high stress in your life, avoid procrastination and denial about your parents’ and/or in-laws’ golden years life transitions.

Pre-Travel Eldercare Assessment & Tips for Long-Distance Family Members
If you haven’t seen your parent(s) in more than a year, brace yourself. Prepare by planning ahead and thinking strategically. Ask yourself tough questions.

• Do my parents have a clean bill of health, or, are there medical conditions I need to know about?
• Are my parents still able to drive safely? How will I know if they should not be driving?
• Assuming worst case scenarios in my parents’ health, physical and cognitive abilities, what would it take for my parents to age in place, with dignity?
• What am I prepared to do to help or lead my parents and/or siblings in our family’s eldercare strategy?

Long-Distance Caregiver Cheerleader Calls Strongly Recommended
If you’ve never made time to engage your parents or in-laws in candid conversations, pave the way with  a couple of scouting-the-caregiving-terrain calls. Let your elders know that you’re looking forward to visiting. Ask whether there are chores or errands you may assist in doing.

If no information is forthcoming, mention examples like cleaning the yard, raking leaves, cleaning or organizing the garage, attic, and/or making or scheduling general home and/or equipment repairs. Anything that would save your parents time, money and/or physical effort should be on the table.

Do they need to stock up on basic supplies? Use the current economy concerns as a springboard for this discussion. Be chauffeur, handyman and executive assistant while visiting. Let them know that you don’t have much money to spend on gifts and decided to make your holiday visit a hands-on gift of caring. When you arrive, wear a Santa or other festive hat. Tie a gorgeous red ribbon around your neck, or arm, as a visual symbol that your assistive service is their holiday gift 2010, with love.

Better to wrap yourself as your parents’ holiday gift than to pull teeth about what you think they need to be doing at this stage to help them transition to assisted living, adult day care services, or, in-home care. Avoid depressing your parents and/or yourself. Be good tidings and cheer.

If this all sounds like it’s too much work, the alternative is more work, possibly heartache, if you ignore your aging parents’ and/or in-laws’ declining health and social need for assistive care support.

Mom, Dad, I’m Home!

Here are a few long-distance caregiver tips to help you make the most of your holiday visit.

• Park on the street a few blocks away from your parents’ home. Scan the environment. Look for vacant lots and homes for sale. Both tell a story about the local economy, neighborhood, property values, and more. Observe pedestrian and vehicular traffic. How busy, and safe, is the street on which your parents live? Do you feel safe in the community, or not? Noticed any suspicious activities?
• Park curbside in front of your parents’ home. Take notes describing what you see, from the roof, to the driveway, windows, front door, lighting, paint, etc. If your parents’ car is in the driveway, is there external damage to the car? Is the yard overgrown or littered? By comparison to other homes on the block, how does your parents’ home look? Is it a fixer-upper?
• Once inside your parents’ home continue sleuthing.
• Invite your parents to go grocery shopping – on you, if you can afford it. Note their grocery and other selections. Are the purchases balanced, or, mostly convenience and non-nutritional? Back home, are your parents able to safely lift the bagged goods? Are they short of breath?
• Allow them to drive you to church, stores, or sightseeing. Evaluate driving safety and reflexes.
• Have “the talk.” “Mom, Dad, I am impressed by everything you accomplish independently. I support your continued independence in living. There are many resources available these days to support us all in sustaining independence in living now that we are all older…meal service delivery, home and health aides, house cleaning services…Even one service would allow you more time to enjoy your lives….”

Be a resourceful caregiver. Your aging parents may benefit from home care.

Contact the caring counselors at Age Advantage for all of your home care needs. We are a home care agency providing elder care in Columbus OH and surrounding areas. Call us toll free at 866-995-8681.

Family and Medical Leave Act and Caregivers at Work

It is a safe assumption that many caregivers who work outside their homes are aware of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA.)  Even if some American workers are not aware of FMLA yet, this blog steers you in the right direction and shares one caregiver’s perspective on when and whether you wish to invoke your FMLA rights, *if eligible.

FMLA is Federal Law
FMLA requires *eligible employees to take an unpaid leave up to 12 work weeks in any 12 month period. *The 12-month window is defined by the employer’s prevailing practice or policy. With *required medical certification, *subject to employer approval the eligible employee is allowed to take the approved leave for the birth of a child, to care for a family member who has a serious medical condition, or, if the employee has a serious medical condition which requires such leave.

(*The above layperson’s descriptive of FMLA does not constitute legal advice by this blogger and/or the owner of this website and/or any third parties involved in the publication or dissemination of this blog. Comprehensive information on the FMLA is available through the U.S. Department of Labor’s website at <www.dol.gov>.)

Caregivers at Work
Some workers view FMLA as an all-or-nothing package. Nothing could be further from the truth. FML can be a strategic work and life decision if you so choose and are eligible under the law.

Timing is Everything
If the person in your care is chronically ill with multiple chronic diseases requiring primary physician, specialized medical, and other healthcare intervention, using FML for one serious medical condition may preclude using FML for other equally serious medical conditions. Such a scenario would hold true if the caregiver exhausts the 12-week FML entitlement through consecutive leave use.

I cannot and would not tell anyone else how to handle your FML eligibility. I am happy to share the conscious decision I made for 10+ years in my then-part-time caregiver-worker bee roles.

I chose to not invoke my FML for one reason only.

My mother has multiple chronic illnesses as medically diagnosed. I mindfully considered worst-case outcomes for each of her medical diagnoses.

I decided that brief hospitalizations, major surgeries without medical complications, and post-surgical weekly follow-ups were best managed through advance planning, scheduling, and careful management of my accrued (paid) leave benefits at work. Non-emergency surgeries were scheduled in advance, allowing me ample time to take an approved vacation day, or 2, while I actively monitored and evaluated whether I might need to apply for FML, or not.

For me, only, it really was that simple. I never invoked my FML right nor did I use all of my accrued leave for caregiving in any year. Think strategically is all I can say.

Isabel Fawcett, SPHR
Isabel has been a full-time, stay-at-home caregiver to her 85 year old mother for 2 years, and counting. She is a regular Contributor at ElderCareLink, a blogger and Twitterer. Isabel is an independent human resources consultant and former HR management professional with 20+ years of HR experience, including FMLA, workers’ compensation and the Americans With Disabilities Act. She is a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certified and last worked for the Office of the Governor in Texas before her most recent eldercare choice.  Isabel also has worked in healthcare as Assistant Director of Volunteers at Beth Israel Medical Center, New York City, and Manager of Staffing and Recruitment, Norwalk Hospital, Connecticut. She has also worked at Marriott International Headquarters in HR. Isabel is fully bilingual in English and Spanish and has been a patient care volunteer for the American Red Cross overseas.
 

Home care counselors at Age Advantage are available to talk with you and your family about care needs for your loved one, including, how to reduce caregiver stress while providing better, affordable care. Age Advantage is a home care agency providing In Home Care in Columbus and surrounding areas and can be reached at 866-995-8681.

Baby Boomers’ Eldercare Wake-up Call

There are approximately 78 million reasons for boomers to jump on the long-term care strategic thinking, planning and executing bandwagon.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau report in 2009, boomers were 78 million strong based on the 2006 census.

The staggering number of aging boomers in America serves as a wake-up call to boomers to start planning for our elder care needs. We’re only more than a decade late. How’s that timeline for urgency, my fellow boomers? Our millennial wake-up call is more urgent if any of the following scenarios are sound bytes from your life. 

• Long-Term Care (LTC) Insurance: If you are familiar with LTC insurance, you get an “E,” for effort, as my octogenarian mother occasionally said about a few of her former elementary school students who didn’t quite make the grade in reading, writing, or arithmetic. If you have LTC insurance, you’re barely passing with a C-.  LTC coverage is a sound baby step, though maybe not for everyone.
• Childbearing Profile:  You are single and childless. While having grown children is no guarantee of having at least 1 trustworthy LTC gatekeeper in your golden years, being a parent of an adult child may yield elder care dividends down the road.
• Health:  You have been medically diagnosed with at least one chronic medical condition.
• Family Medical History:  You have a family history of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and certain types of cancer and/or diabetes. As is said in Spanish, “¡Ojo!” (Translation: Keep an eye on that!)
• Relationships in Your Family:  Some families can’t wait to get as far away from each other as possible as members age. If your family’s relationships are strained, don’t count on family support in your golden years. Some caregivers could tell you stories about dysfunctional family relationships that erupt in nasty feuds when aging family members need long-term assistive care.  Who are your family allies? Do you know? You should. One day in the not too distant future, your daily eldercare may depend on a family member. If that day comes, your primary (family) caregiver should be your elder care advocate.
• Home Upkeep:  If you are a homeowner, you know that appliances and various parts of your home eventually will need repairs. Physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially, will you be prepared, and able, to keep up with increasing demands of homeownership as you advance in years?
• Family’s Go-To Contact?  Your parents are older and/or starting to show signs of age-related or chronic disease health decline. You volunteered, or, Dad asked you for help with mowing the lawn after his heart attack scare. Your sibling who lives closer to your parents than you do has been calling you to vent about “little things” around your aging parents.
• Sibling(s) Lives Closer to Your Elderly Parents: You’ve long assumed that your sibling was merely venting with those telephone calls about your parents. You never gave the conversations a second thought. Your sibling takes care of helping your parents and lives within 15-minutes of your parents’ home.
• Financially Tangled Elder Web:  You feel blindsided when you inadvertently discover that your parents have not paid their (property) taxes for more than a year now. Then, you discover unopened and unpaid bills in your parents’ home. How, and when, did your parents’ financial affairs get so out of hand?
• Your Emotional Roller Coaster:  You wonder what you may have missed and decide that the whole mess is your sibling’s fault. You had nothing to do with this.  You have no idea what to do, or, where to begin. You have your own life, marriage or divorce, relationship woes, job demands, financial challenges, adult child(ren) who just moved back into your home in a dismal economy, mounting debt, and more drama. You’ll help your parents because no one else in your family seems to care.
• Stress:  Your anger mounts. You’re depressed. You stop talking to your sibling(s). You argue with your parents.

You feel so alone.

With 78 million aging boomer cohorts and 65 million caregivers in the U.S., you are part of a supportive community.  Recognizing eldercare’s red flags is one way to achieve confidence that propels you to reach out to healthcare and eldercare professionals for help. Involve your parents and siblings in decisions.
You’re not alone. It’s a family affair.

Isabel Fawcett, SPHR
Isabel has been a full-time, stay-at-home caregiver to her 85 year old mother for 2 years, and counting. She is a regular Contributor at ElderCareLink, a blogger and Twitterer. Isabel is an independent human resources consultant and former HR management professional with 20+ years of HR experience, including FMLA, workers’ compensation and the Americans With Disabilities Act. She is a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certified and last worked for the Office of the Governor in Texas before her most recent eldercare choice.  Isabel also has worked in healthcare as Assistant Director of Volunteers at Beth Israel Medical Center, New York City, and Manager of Staffing and Recruitment, Norwalk Hospital, Connecticut. She has also worked at Marriott International Headquarters in HR. Isabel is fully bilingual in English and Spanish and has been a patient care volunteer for the American Red Cross overseas.

Home care counselors at Age Advantage are available to talk with you and your family about care needs for your loved one, including, how to reduce caregiver stress while providing better, affordable care. Age Advantage is a home care agency providing In Home Care in Columbus OH and surrounding areas.

Each November, the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) celebrates National Home Care and National Hospice Month to honor the men and women who have dedicated their lives to the caregiving of others. Below are some tips for families who may be looking into home care and what they can and should expect. If you need more information, the caring staff at Age Advantage can help answer any questions about home care in Columbus OH and the surrounding area.

A Guide to Choosing the Right In-Home Care Service and Care Giver for Seniors
By: Kori Irons

What Seniors Can Expect from In-home Care

It can be incredibly difficult for a senior to allow a stranger into his home to help with household tasks, personal care and/or transportation. There is a great deal of confusion and anxiety around what exactly
 "in-home care" and an "in-home caregiver" might involve and entail–not to mention how to go about hiring and supervising the help. Here are some suggestions for what seniors can expect from in-home care and some advice on how to search for the perfect assistant:

An in-home caregiver can have a variety of qualifications, depending on the depth and intensity of personal care they are able to provide. Some take care of household tasks and hep with errands and transportation, while others have medical credentials and are able to help with more medical details and nursing needs. The most popular services required of in-home caregivers for seniors include: assistance with mail and correspondence, housekeeping, laundry and ironing, help with grocery shopping and other errands, coordinating and reminding about medications, cooking and meal panning, transportation and mobility assistance, and companionship and other personal assistance needs.

Even seniors who may have special needs such as those who are recovering from an accident or illness, or those with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, or those with other more permanent disabilities can benefit from the services of an in-home care provider. A senior may need assistance on a daily or weekly basis, or something in between. It is not necessary to hire a caregiver to be present for every hour of every day if that is not what is needed or required.

Source: Associated Content

Age Advantage Columbus OH, 866-995-8681
 

Alzheimer’s Awareness Month Sheds Spotlight on Treatment, Prevention Efforts

November marks the beginning of National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month, a reminder that the number of people who will develop the disease is expected to skyrocket over the next few years.

Starting Jan. 1, 79 million baby boomers will turn 65 at a rate of one every eight seconds.

That is more than four million per year, according to a recent op-ed piece in The New York Times. If scientists could delay onset of the disease by five years, via better drugs, the United States could keep much fewer Alzheimer’s patients from needing nursing homes, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, and Alzheimer’s experts Stanley Prusiner and Ken Dychtwald said in the piece.

Currently, for every penny the National Institutes of Health spends on Alzheimer’s research, Americans spend $3.50 caring for individuals with the disease, for a total of $172 billion a year.  At that rate, by 2020, the cumulative total will be $172 billion a year, or $20 trillion by 2050, according to the op-ed titled “The Age of Alzheimer’s."

…read more from Mcknights.com

For information about how Age Advantage can help your family with home care for a loved one suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease in Columbus, visit www.ageadvantagecolumbus.com or call 866-995-8681.

Friends and Family May Be Best Detectors of Early Alzheimer’s Disease

Family members and friends may be better judges of early Alzheimer’s disease than standard memory tests, a new study reports. The results could help doctors diagnose suspected Alzheimer’s at an earlier stage, when treatment may be more effective and families can better prepare for the changes to come.

The study comes from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where researchers developed a two-minute questionnaire that asked close friends and family members if they have noticed problems with memory or judgment. The survey asked “yes” or “no” questions about whether they have noticed such signs in loved ones as:

• Bad financial choices or other problems in judgment;
• Less interest in hobbies and other favorite activities;
• Repeating questions, stories or statements;
• Trouble learning how to use a tool or appliance, such as a television remote control or a microwave oven;
• Forgetting the month or year;
• Difficulty handling complicated financial affairs, such as balancing a checkbook;
• Difficulty remembering appointments; and
• Consistent problems with thinking and memory.

Survey results were then correlated with so-called biomarkers, like brain changes on brain scans or blood tests results, that are generally regarded as of Alzheimer’s. The survey proved more accurate than standard word and memory tests like the mini-mental state exam, which doctors perform in their offices to look for early signs of Alzheimer’s.

…continue reading from alzinfo.org

Alzheimer’s home care counselors at Age Advantage are available to talk with you and your family about care needs for your loved one, including, how to reduce caregiver stress while providing better, affordable care. Age Advantage is a home care agency providing Alzheimer’s Home Care in Columbus OH.
 

Long Distance Care Givers Receive Help with Aging Parents

Living in a different city or state — miles from aging parents — can be very difficult. Keeping in touch by telephone and making long trips to help parents or aging relatives with their needs can be time consuming and not nearly as effective as being available full time in person.

Mark Sessions spent two years juggling his restaurant business with multiple daily phone calls to his elderly parents, checking on their needs and answering their questions. Family vacations were spent traveling the 500 miles to his parent’s home to personally take care of home maintenance and provide health care visits to their doctor. During his last visit, Mark noticed his father had difficulty walking and his mother was confused as to which medications she was to take and at what time. This alarming change in his parent’s condition concerned Mark that his parents’ care needs required more than frequent phone calls and vacation visits. Running his business and handling his parent’s long distance care was now becoming very challenging.

According to a report by the Alzheimer’s Association of Los Angeles & Riverside, California, there are approximately 3.3 million long distance caregivers in this country with an average distance of 480 miles from the people they care for. The report also states that 15 million days are missed from work each year because of long distance care giving. Seven million Americans provide 80% of the care to ailing family members and the number of long distance caregivers will DOUBLE over the next 15 years.

…continue reading from longtermcarelink.com

If you need help with eldercare in Columbus OH for your aging loved one, please visit www.ageadvantagecolumbus.com for more information.