Tag Archives: Caregiving

Elder Care at Home

With a rapidly aging population, caring for your elders is likely going to be a big part of your life. According Medicare.com, a recent survey by the National Caregiver Alliance and the AARP Public Policy Institute revealed that approximately “34 million adults in the U.S. are unpaid caregivers to an individual over 50 years old, with 85% providing care for a family member.”

Care giving is a fairly broad term and responsibilities depend on the physical and mental health of an individual but may include anything from helping with everyday activities to medication reminders to hiring and coordinating with assisted living staff. Regardless of the level of involvement, caring for the elderly requires patience.

Every day tasks that we take for granted, such as getting up and getting ready for the day can be challenging as we age. The elderly often need help with daily living activities like bathing or getting dressed. Though these tasks may be time consuming, the physical and emotional benefits of grooming, bathing and putting on clean clothes should not be underestimated to making someone feel more good.

The National Institutes of Health National Institute on Aging (NIA) provides several resources and tips for caregivers including:

Communication

  • Be simple, direct and positive when speaking. Clear and upbeat communication is generally a good idea, especially if the person you are caring for has health problems that could affect memory and cognitive skills.
  • Establish eye contact, use the person’s name and if appropriate, touch or hold his or her hand to encourage conversation
  • Ask simple yes-or-no questions rather than open-ended questions. For example, ask “Are you hungry?” instead of, “When would you like to eat?”
  • Limit choices to reduce confusion. For example, ask, “Would you like to wear your jeans or your khakis?” instead of asking, “What do you want to wear?” You might even want to show the options to the person you are caring for to help them make the decision.

Bathing and Dressing

  • Easy wear, easy wash clothing. Comfortable, loose-fitting clothing with elastic waistbands will not only make it easier to get dressed, it will also make it easier to remove clothing to use the bathroom.
  •  Assist in dressing as needed. Let the individual do as much as possible without assistance but be ready to lend a hand. To assistance, lay out the clothes in the order they will be put on. For example, place underwear and socks before pants and shirt.
  • Make the shower safe. Use a sturdy shower chair, grab bars, non-slip bath mats and a hand-held shower-head to reduce the chance of falls.

Eliminate Safety Hazards to Prevent Falls

  • Remove or secure rugs. Try using double-sided adhesive tape to firmly attach any large area rugs.
  • Hide electrical cords. Tuck cords behind furniture, under large rugs or tack to the baseboards so they are out of the way.
  • Create clean lines and open spaces. Remove any extra furniture that would be difficult to maneuver around with a cane, walker or wheelchair.
  • Install handrails and grab bars. Most commonly used along stairways, on the side of the bed, next to the toilet and in the bath or shower.
  • Install good lighting inside and outside home. If the elderly individual has difficulty seeing, install the highest recommended bulb per light fixture. For their safety at night, install nightlights in bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen and hallways.

Remember, it is also important to make sure your loved one not only has health food and beverages available but that they are eating regularly. Proper nutrition and hydration can have a significant impact on an individual’s physical and mental abilities.

If the time has come when your aging loved one is no longer able to live independently, please contact the knowledgeable staff at ElderLink to help you find elder care services or an assisted living facility within California that is customized for your family.

Feel Like The Last Friend Standing? Here’s How To Cultivate New Buds As You Age.

Donn Trenner, 91, estimates that two-thirds of his friends are dead.

“That’s a hard one for me,” he said. “I’ve lost a lot of people.”

As baby boomers age, more and more folks will reach their 80s, 90s — and beyond. They will not only lose friends but face the daunting task of making new friends at an advanced age.

Friendship in old age plays a critical role in health and well-being, according to recent findings from the Stanford Center on Longevity’s Sightlines Project. Socially isolated individuals face health risks comparable to those of smokers, and their mortality risk is twice that of obese individuals, the study notes.

Baby boomers are more disengaged with their neighbors and even their loved ones than any other generation, said Dr. Laura Carstensen, who is director of the Stanford Center on Longevity and herself a boomer, in her 60s. “If we’re disengaged, it’s going to be harder to make new friends,” she said.

Trenner knows how that feels. In 2017, right before New Year’s, he tried to reach his longtime friend Rose Marie, former actress and co-star on the 1960s sitcom “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” Trenner traveled with Rose Marie as a pianist and arranger doing shows at senior centers along the Florida coast more than four decades ago.

“When we were performing, you could hear all the hearing aids screaming in the audience,” he joked.

The news that she’d died shook him to the core.

Although she was a friend who, he said, cannot be replaced, neither her passing nor the deaths of dozens of his other friends and associates will stop Trenner from making new friends.

That’s one reason he still plays, on Monday nights, with the Hartford Jazz Orchestra at the Arch Street Tavern in Hartford, Conn.

For the past 19 years, he’s been the orchestra’s pianist and musical conductor. Often, at least one or two members of the 17-piece orchestra can’t make it to the gig but must arrange for someone to stand in for them. As a result, Trenner said, he not only has regular contact with longtime friends but keeps meeting and making friends with new musicians — most of whom are under 50.

Twice divorced, he also remains good friends with both of his former wives. And not too long ago, Trenner flew to San Diego to visit his best friend, also a musician, who was celebrating his 90th birthday. They’ve known each other since they met at age 18 in the United States Army Air Corps. They still speak almost daily.

“Friendship is not be taken for granted,” said Trenner. “You have to invest in friendship.”

Even in your 90s, the notion of being a sole survivor can seem surprising.

Perhaps that’s why 91-year-old Lucille Simmons of Lakeland, Fla., halts, midsentence, as she traces the multiple losses of friends and family members. She has not only lost her two closest friends, but a granddaughter, a daughter and her husband of 68 years. Although her husband came from a large family of 13 children, his siblings have mostly all vanished.

“There’s only one living sibling — and I’m having dinner with him tonight,” said Simmons.

Five years ago, Simmons left her native Hamilton, Ohio, to move in with her son and his wife, in a gated, 55-and-over community midway between Tampa and Orlando. She had to learn how to make friends all over again. Raised as an only child, she said, she was up to the task.

Simmons takes classes and plays games at her community. She also putters around her community on a golf cart (which she won in a raffle) inviting folks to ride along with her.

For his part, Trenner doesn’t need a golf cart.

His personal formula for making friends is music, laughter and staying active. He makes friends whether he’s performing or attending music events or teaching.

Simmons has her own formula. It’s a roughly 50-50 split of spending quality time with relatives (whom she regards as friends) and non-family friends. The odds are with her. This, after all, is a woman who spent 30 years as the official registrar of vital statistics for Hamilton. In that job, she was responsible for recording every birth — and every death — in the city.

Experts say they’re both doing the right thing by not only remaining open to new friendships but constantly creating new ways to seek them out — even at an advanced age.

Genuine friendships at any age typically require repeated contact, said Dr. Andrea Bonior, author of “The Friendship Fix: The Complete Guide to Choosing, Losing and Keeping Up with Your Friends.” She advises older folks to join group exercise classes or knitting or book clubs.

She also suggests that seniors get involved in “altruistic behavior” like volunteering in a soup kitchen or an animal shelter or tutoring English as a second language.

“Friendships don’t happen in a vacuum,” she said. “You don’t meet someone at Starbucks and suddenly become best friends.”

Perhaps few understand the need for friendship in older years better than Carstensen, who, besides directing the Stanford Center on Longevity, is author of “A Long Bright Future: Happiness, Health and Financial Security in an Age of Increased Longevity.”

Carstensen said that going back to school can be one of the most successful ways for an older person to make a new friend.

Bonior recommends that seniors embrace social media. These social media connections can help older people strike up new friendships with nieces, nephews and even grandchildren, said Alan Wolfelt, an author, educator and founder of the Center for Loss and Life Transition.

“It’s important to create support systems that don’t isolate you with your own generation.”

Many older folks count their children as their best friends — and Carstensen said this can be a big positive on several levels.

“I don’t think it matters who your friends are,” she said. “It’s the quality of the relationship that matters most.”

 

Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

Understanding Home Health Care

One of the most confusing elements of securing care for seniors is deciphering the difference between home health versus home care. Although it might seem like a minor difference, the distinction between the two terms is more than splitting nouns to professionals in the industry – especially for insurance providers.

One of the most important differences is that care provided by home health agencies are usually covered by medical insurance because these services are prescribed by a doctor and are often part of a transition from a hospital stay back into a home. Home care services are not usually covered by medical insurance but may be covered by long term insurance. The main reason why medical insurance covers one and not the other? Home health services require a trained professional, such as a physical therapist, occupational therapist, registered nurse or certified nurse assistant, while home care services generally not to require professional training or education.

The type of care and the insurance coverage that will be provided depend on each individual but these are some of the key terms you should know.

HOME CARE/ASSISTED LIVING/COMPANION OR RESPITE CARE
This type of care is often provided by friends or family members and includes assistance with daily living tasks. When looking for an extra pair of hands outside your immediate circle, Home Care Agencies can offer assistance. The types of services provided may include light housekeeping, shopping, cooking, laundry, medication reminders, companionship and even transportation to doctor’s appointments, shopping or recreational activities. These agencies usually charge by the hour and may require a minimum number of hours for each shift. Beyond any minimum shift requirements, these types of agencies may offer services for up to 24 hours, allowing the primary caregiver (often a spouse) the opportunity to get away for a few hours or even for several days. Benefits of using a home care agency include care coverage in the case the regular agency care provider is unavailable, employment taxes and fees are handled by the agency and agency caregivers often have some related training. Depending upon your policy, these services may be covered by long term insurance.

HOME HEALTH (AGENCY)
Generally licensed by each state, home health agencies primarily provide skilled care, although some may also provide companion and home care services. Common services provided by home health include nursing care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and respiratory therapy. Some agencies may also provide medical equipment and supplies as well as home health aide services, such as assistance with bathing, dressing and eating. In addition to providing services to patients in private homes, home health agencies may also be able to provide services to patients in assisted living facilities and adult family care homes. Scheduling the services of the medical professionals, including the nurses and therapists, is not as definite as with home care staff as home health professionals are usually going from one patient home to another. The services for skilled home heath care are usually paid in part or entirely by an array of health insurance and long term care insurance, depending upon the policy. Services may also be paid out of pocket or on a fee-for-service basis.

MEDICARE HOME HEALTH AGENCY
These agencies provide skilled care in a person’s home and paid for by Medicare if the following conditions are met: the patient must be under the care of a doctor and you must be receiving services under a care plan established and reviewed on a regular basis by a doctor. As part of this process, a doctor must certify that the patient needs one of more of the following: intermittent skilled nursing care, physical therapy, speech-language pathology services and/or occupational therapy. The agency must be approved by Medicare (aka Medicare certified) and doctor must also certify that the patient is homebound. If these conditions are met, Medicare is likely to pay for your covered home health services for as long as the patient is eligible and the doctor certifies that the services are necessary. Usually homebound patients are still permitted to leave home for medial appointments or procedures as well as brief non-medical reasons, such as a haircut or to attend religious services. Please consult your doctor and agency for specific requirements and eligibility.

These are the most common types of agencies to provide in-home or outpatient care. In case of injury, such as a broken hip or knee replacement, in-home care may only be needed for several weeks. Navigating the system of elder care services and agencies can be confusing for anyone. Sometimes it can be overwhelming. Finding the appropriate level of care and caregivers you can trust can take time but it is time well spent.

If the time has come when your aging loved one is no longer able to live independently, please contact the knowledgeable staff at ElderLink. We will help you find elder care services or an assisted living facility within California that is customized for the requirements of your family.

Seniors Who Live Alone Likeliest To Rate Their Health Highly, Study Says

People over 65 who live alone were more likely to describe their health as excellent or very good than were seniors who live with others, according to a study exploring connections between older Americans’ health status and their living arrangements.

Conversely, older people living with others — whether related or unrelated to them — were significantly less likely to call their health as excellent or very good, researchers reported recently in the Journal of Applied Gerontology.

That may be because when seniors encounter serious health problems and mounting physical difficulties, they often stop living by themselves and choose to live with others for support, they speculated.

But the researchers said they drew no conclusions about whether keeping a solitary household in old age leads to a longer life.

In fact, living alone wasn’t superior in every way for people over 65, according to the study. Those who share a home with a spouse or partner were less likely to report serious psychological distress than were older people without companions, a finding that meshes with prior research.

“Their physical health was better living alone rather than with a spouse or partner, but the mental health from living alone was worse,” said Judith D. Weissman, the study’s lead author. She is an epidemiologist and research manager in the Department of Medicine at the New York University School of Medicine.

Mental health affects physical health and that’s why older adults’ psychological wellbeing deserves more attention, she said.

“From a policy standpoint, it indicates we may have to provide either emotional or mental support for seniors living alone,” Weissman said.

The study was based on data for 41,603 adults 65 and older collected in six years of federal surveys. Researchers studied people living alone, with a spouse or partner, with others related or unrelated, or living only with children.

Researchers also discovered the relationship between living arrangements and health differed for men and women.

For instance, older men living alone were less likely to report having two or more chronic health conditions — such as cancer or diabetes — than counterparts in households with spouses or partners. They were also less likely to report their health as fair or poor.

The opposite was true for women on both counts: Those on their own were more likely to report multiple health conditions than the ones with spouses or partners. Yet, they were also more likely to describe their health as excellent or very good.

“This apparent paradox may be difficult to untangle due to the varied life experiences that lead women to live alone,” researchers said.

For example, they said, older women are more likely to be widowed and after becoming widows, they tend to live alone.

KHN’s coverage of aging and long term care issues is supported in part by a grant from The SCAN Foundation. This KHN story can be republished for free (details).