Month: June 2017

Finding and Paying For Long Term Care

Posted on by genushealth Posted in Bringing in outside help, For the receiver of careTagged , , , ,

 

You have found the home-care provider or facility you want to help with the care of your aging loved one, but how does one pay for this?  If your loved one doesn’t have long-term health insurance, things can get expensive very quickly.   This government website answers the many confusing questions involved with the financial end of providing care.

Included in this link is a search engine for finding facility care, home care, and just about anything else you can think of provided in this resource.  The fact that it is not a private industry that receives pay for recommendations is a good way to double check on what’s available to your family to care for your loved one.

 

Am I At Risk for This Disease?

Posted on by genushealth Posted in UnderstandingTagged , , , ,

If your life is wrapped up in the challenges of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s, you can’t help but think, “Is this going to be me one day?   Am I at risk for this disease?”   It can be pretty darn scary.

Diet

What we eat is critical to maintain healthy brains, and of course to keep us feeling strong enough to accomplish all that we need to do.  Amy Paturel, of AARP discusses the importance of the diet we follow for our brain health.    You can find her article on the AARP website.  She lists simple foods that need to be part of our daily diet to optimize the science of nutrition in combating Alzheimer’s.   Basically, she is encouraging the Mediterranean Diet, known for brain enriching foods.

 Regular Exercise

Of course, diet is just part of what we need to do to keep our brains healthy.  Regular exercise is equally important, which can be difficult when you are busy living your demanding life while caring for an aging loved one.   Remember to allow time for yourself to get the exercise you need no matter how impossible that seems to be.  Is there a way you can kill two birds with one stone and exercise while spending time with your loved one?  My dad loved his daily walks and to make it more physically challenging for myself, I sometimes would jog in place as we walked through the park.  He got his much needed family time and I was able to get some cardio as we spent time together as well!   I have a friend who gently jogged as she wheeled her mom through the neighborhood in her wheelchair.  Heck, I’ve even been known to sit and do my stretches as we chatted in the den.   We do what we gotta do, right?

Additional Information

For more tips on Alzheimer’s prevention, see Alzheimer’s website with all kinds of up to date research:  alz.org

Remember, taking care of the You the Caregiver is just as important as taking care of your loved ones!

The Magic of Involving Our Children in Eldercare

Posted on by genushealth Posted in For young givers of careTagged , , , ,

This video, created by Sunny Rae Keller, a young child with a grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s, says what I could never attempt to write here.   The innocent love of children can do wonders to show us what is really important in this battle we fight.  Once you have finished drying your eyes, read on to find out ways to involve your children in eldercare.  Great blessings await you all if you embrace this powerful relationship.

Are They Being Ripped Off?

It’s easy to get caught up in the mindset that our children are really the ones who got “ripped off” when our parents are suffering from dementia or another aging ailment.  I know I have heard these exact words from friends who are in this situation, and I could understand that feeling completely.

  • They don’t have a grandparent that is “all there”.
  • They never got to meet the “real grandma or grandpa”.
  • Their free time is tied up with taking care of someone rather than just having fun …

But most kids don’t feel that way.  We are robbing our children of a life-changing and character forming opportunity with this understandable, but misleading attitude.  The song above is evidence of how our children still love fiercely in the face of the ugly beast of aging illnesses.

I love watching how my siblings involve their children in caring for our parents.   My son was grown up and out of state by the time my dad’s Alzheier’s had reached the intervention point.  But my siblings with younger children were torn daily between daily homework and soccer games and attending to my parents’ needs.  Their stress was definitely greater than mine in this arena and it was such a blessing to watch the many creative ways they involved their kids.

How Can the Kids Help?

  • Shopping, cooking and general chores can be more fun when little kids are empowered to help and really feel as if they are contributing to grandma/grandpa’s lives
  • Involving the kids in creating photo montages, either on a poster board or via technology is real fun for the kids and the grandparents
  • Taking the parents to your daily sporting, dance and scouting events is good for everyone and maximizes the use of everyone’s time
  • Thinking of field trips to go to that all may enjoy: the zoo, museums, parks…. Something for everyone.   Check with your local library for discounts to area attractions.  There are loads!
  • Be sure to include music in your kids’ interactions with their grandparents. They can share with each other their favorite songs and you can throw in your classic rock n roll favorites too!
  • Lots and lots of storytelling. Asking the grandparents to tell about when they were growing up.  Kids LOVE to hear these stories

For 101 activities for kids to do with an Alzheimer’s patient from the Alzheimer’s Association, click here.   This list will spark other ideas that may be more specifically suited to you and your family.  Remember, these are precious moments between your children and their grandparents that you are creating.  Enjoy them!

What Are Young Givers of Care

Posted on by genushealth Posted in For young givers of careTagged , , ,

Our team at genusConnect™ recognizes the value of involving our children in the care of our parents.   It is why we have a special section dedicated to Young Givers of Care.  It is our unique belief that much is to be gained by everyone with actively involving our kids in the care of the aging members of their families.

In my family, the teenage members who have grown up with grandparents suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s, are now part of the care community using the Genus App.  Those that can drive are involved by doing some of the shopping and easier errands.  They can log their visits into the App, providing important feedback for everyone.  They really enjoy taking pictures and adding them to the “Moments” platform.  Some even use the App to call their grandmother.   Get them involved and watch them go!

Who Benefits When the Children Are Involved Caring for Aging Loved Ones?

  • The Children: building of self-esteem, developing empathy, empowerment
  • Our Aging Loved Ones: love, joy, attention, and feeling of usefulness, brain engagement, physical exercise,
  • Us, the Givers of Care:  a little break for us to do other tasks while our parents are happily busy with our kids, satisfaction of knowing we are doing what’s right for all involved; building positive character traits in our children that will last a lifetime

What do we really have to lose by making this challenge in our life a Family Affair?  What is there to be gained?   I think you can see the answers.

When Your Loved One Can’t Communicate Clearly

Posted on by genushealth Posted in Bringing in outside helpTagged , , , , ,

Givers-of-careOne of the most difficult situations to deal with when caring for a loved one with a brain disease such as dementia, is when the patient cannot clearly communicate his/her wants and needs.  Even when we have provided the necessary home-care or nursing care for their safety, we worry how their emotional safety and if their needs are being met.   How can our loved ones communicate needs, interests and desires when they can’t clearly communicate?

The Alzheimer’s Association has some good resources for communicating with Alzheimer’s patients as they progress.  You will want to spend a great deal of time reading from the resources here.

This is Me!

One idea is to create a “This is Me” document for caregivers to have access to when they care for your loved one; either at home or in a facility.  Ideas to include in the document (worded as you speaking for the patient).

  • Name I like to be called.
  • Where I live: The area (not the address) where you live and how long you have lived there.
  • The person(s) who knows me best: This may be a spouse, relative, friend or care-worker.
  • I would like you to know: Include anything you feel is important and will help staff to get to know and care for you, eg I have dementia, I have never been in hospital before, I prefer female caregivers, I am left-handed, I am allergic to…, other languages I can speak.
  • My background, family and friends (home, pets and any treasured possessions): Include place of birth, education, marital status, children, grandchildren, friends and pets. Add religious or cultural considerations.
  • Current and past interests, jobs and places I have lived and visited: Include career history, voluntary experience, clubs and memberships, hobbies, sports or cultural interests, favorite or significant places.
  • The following routines are important to me: What time do you usually get up/go to bed? Do you have a regular nap or enjoy a snack or walk at a particular time in the day? Do you have a hot drink before bed, carry out personal care activities in a particular order or like to watch the evening news?
  • What time do you prefer to have breakfast, lunch, evening meal?
  • Things that may worry or upset me: Include anything you may find troubling, eg family concerns, being apart from a loved one, or physical needs such as being in pain, constipated, thirsty or hungry. List environmental factors that may also make you feel anxious, eg open doors, loud voices or the dark.
  • What makes me feel better if I am anxious or upset: Include things that may help if you become unhappy or distressed, eg comforting words, music or TV. Do you like company and someone sitting and talking with you or do you prefer quiet time alone?
  • My hearing and eyesight: Can you hear well or do you need a hearing aid?
  • How is it best to approach you? Is the use of touch appropriate?
  • Do you wear glasses or need any other vision aids?
  • How we can communicate: How do you usually communicate, eg verbally, using gestures, pointing or a mixture of both? Is the use of touch appropriate?
  • Can you read and write and does writing things down help?
  • How do you indicate pain, discomfort, thirst or hunger? Include anything that may help staff identify your needs.
  • Are you fully mobile or do you need help? Do you need a walking aid? Is your mobility affected by surfaces? Can you use stairs? Can you stand unaided from a sitting position? Do you need handrails? Do you need a special chair or cushion, or do your feet need raising to make you comfortable?
  • What physical activity do you prefer?
  • My sleep: Include usual sleep patterns and bedtime routine. Do you like a light left on or do you find it difficult to find the toilet at night? Do you have a favored position in bed, special mattress or pillow?
  • My personal care: List your usual practices, preferences and level of assistance required in the bath, shower or other. Do you prefer a male or female caregiver? Do you have preferences for brands of soaps, cosmetics, toiletries, continence aids, shaving or teeth cleaning products and dentures? Do you have particular care or styling requirements for your hair?
  • How I take my medication: Do you need help to take medication? Do you prefer to take liquid medication?
  • My eating and drinking: Do you prefer tea or coffee? Do you need help to eat or drink? Can you use cutlery or do you prefer finger foods? Do you need adapted aids such as cutlery or crockery to eat and drink? Does food need to be cut into pieces? Do you wear dentures to eat or do you have swallowing difficulties? What texture of food is required to help – soft or liquid? Do you require thickened fluids? List any special dietary requirements or preferences including being vegetarian, and religious or cultural needs. Include information about your appetite and whether you need help to choose food from a menu.
  • Other notes about me: Include additional details about you that are not listed above and help to show who you are, eg favorite TV programs or places, favorite meals or food you dislike, significant events in your past, expectations and aspirations you have.

 

Stress Management for Givers of Care

Posted on by genushealth Posted in Family lifeTagged , , ,

Being a caregiver for chronically ill patient can take its toll on Givers of Care.  In fact, we often just avoid thinking about it because even that adds to the stress.   Doing your homework on combating stress will benefit you and your loved one.  If we don’t take care of ourselves, who will?  And if we don’t take care of ourselves, then our loved ones suffer as well.

This article from the Mayo Clinic addresses this issue and provides some helpful tips for combating stress.  In a very clear, organized fashion, the Mayo Clinic staff has gathered information on signs of stress, risk factors, and strategies for dealing with caregiver stress

Common Medication Errors

Posted on by genushealth Posted in For the receiver of care, z_endTagged , , ,

SafetyOne of the most important aspects of physical safety for chronic patients is dealing with the myriad of medications involved in their care.  In fact, medication errors may be one of the first warning signs you saw that led you to realizing your loved one needed additional help.

A great resource for reducing medication errors is this article provided by the Mayo Clinic.  You will find many medical safety ideas that you may not have already considered.

Another article that is helpful in avoiding medication errors is from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Here you will find some specific warnings about certain medications that need close monitoring as well as excellent tips for managing medications.

Your aging loved one may not be ready to give up control of medication management.  This may take some time to convince him/her.  For us, it took quite a bit of conversation and an unfortunate hospital visit for our mother to give up that control and allow us to fill her pill box weekly.  She had become quite ill and had to spend weeks recovering from the effects of medication errors she had unwittingly committed.  We were lucky that the effects of medication misuse hadn’t become permanent, yet.

Remember to use the genus™ App to keep your loved ones’ medications list up to date.  It truly is worth the time and effort to input the medication data into the app.  This part of the app in the Medical platform will provide you with medical safety information when you visit the doctor’s office, consult with a pharmacist, or make a plan for safe medication dispersal.   All this at the tip of your fingertips, wherever you are!   Together, we can care better.

Millennials As Caregivers

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We typically think of family caregivers as women in the Baby Boomer generation, age late 40s to late 50s. But new information from AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving reveals that a full 10 percent of family caregivers are Millennials. That’s 10 million people!

The typical profile of this person is someone who is 27 years old, works part time, and has household income below the national medium.

Why this increase?

One reason is some Baby Boomers need a little help with older loved ones.  And it seems Millennials are actually happy to help.  Of course there are some circumstances where Millennials have had to step up for the care of their own parents.  After all, diseases like early onset Alzheimer’s are being diagnosed more frequently.  But for the most part, Millennials are helping Boomers take care of what is left of the Greatest Generation and perhaps the first wave of Boomers.

Millennials who are supposed to be at a stage of life where they are absorbed in their own careers and families.  Often they are balancing a career, getting advanced degrees, caregiving and raising children, making them some of the youngest to handle sandwich generation stress.   This makes caregiver Millennials a unique group.  Of those 10 million Millennial caregivers, there is an equal split between men and women.  That’s a little different than the typical caregiver demographic, which skews toward women.  But Millennials attitudes toward masculinity have changed and men are more likely to see themselves as nurturers, too.  For additional data on millennial caregivers, see this article.

Technology Millennials Use

The genus™ App is truly something Millennials gratefully grasp onto.  They grew up with technology and embrace the opportunity to use it to provide the best care possible for their loved ones.   With so many Millennials having to work far from where their parents live, having a tool like the genus™ App allows them to fulfill their career goals while attending to family responsibilities.   They are thrilled to have a platform that coordinates outside help, visits, medical information, and valuable resources, all ready to be accessed at the touch of a button.

Emotional Safety for Your Person of Care

Posted on by genushealth Posted in For the receiver of careTagged , ,

When taking care of an aging or chronically ill loved one, we need to be concerned wGivers-of-careith several types of safety:  physical, emotional, financial, and spiritual.  We often do a stellar job of taking care of their physical needs, but what about their emotional needs?

An elderly person needs to feel safe, remain close to other people and believe that his life continues to be meaningful. Meeting his/her emotional needs can help avoid depression. Signs that your aging loved one needs more support may include difficulty in sleeping, a poor appetite or an inability to concentrate.  Emotional care for a senior should include steps designed to deal with vulnerability, loneliness, boredom and isolation.

Using Technology to Help

Here is where the genus™ App can help design these next steps.  When the community of care folks (the people you have in your care community on the App) can easily access visitor information and a common schedule; then all can work together seamlessly to provide visits and activities that allow for regular contact with loved ones.   Here you can easily log visits and phone calls.  It is important for all involved to realize that this is not about who visited Mom the most, but rather how we can all work together, making the most of our busy schedules, to provide Mom with the best emotional support there is:  time with loved ones.  Think about how important Mom will feel when she sees her community of loved ones working to give her the best, together.  I know that my mom has frequently commented to her friends how her children are using “the internet” to schedule visits and activities.  She feels honored that such efforts are being made to provide her with best care possible.

Along with making sure our loved ones get regular social contacts, it’s important to note how they are doing physically as well.  In the Health platform of the Genus App, you can track how the patient feels physically each day as well as tracking their mood and mobility factor.  You can then run medical reports periodically to show the doctor.  It could help the doc adjust medications, change medications, or even remove unnecessary meds.  With various folks inputting the data, the App allows for tracking of data in a meaningful way to share with family members and medical professionals as necessary.  You then can have a complete picture of your loved ones’ physical and emotional health, as they are both tied so closely together.

Some tips to remember:

  • Talk with the older person in your family to identify needs. Listen to individual concerns. Don’t assume all elderly are lonely. Encourage the person to express their feelings and be a good listener–ask questions and don’t be judgmental.
  • Be aware of fears. Due to medical conditions, some people lose independence as they grow older. Some elderly people may fear not being able to take care of themselves.
  • Many older people develop depression. Factors such as illness, death of family members and medications all contribute to depression. Don’t be afraid to ask family member if he or she is feeling depressed. Also look for signs, such as withdrawing from family and friends, mood changes, fatigue and weight loss.
  • Understand the need for purpose in an elderly person’s life. With their children grown and retired from their job, an elderly person may feel they are not needed. Many volunteer agencies are geared especially for senior citizens. For example, Senior Corps utilizes senior volunteers in a variety of jobs. In our community, we have an agency called SOC (Society for Older Citizens) that provides all kinds of services for the elderly.
  • Recognize the need for professional help. Some emotional problems will need to be evaluated by a doctor or a qualified mental health professional. For example, if signs of depression persist for more than two weeks and interfere will daily activities, professional help may be needed.
  • Be aware some emotional problems in the elderly may be caused by side effects from medication and certain medical conditions. A physical may help determine if medical problems are contributing to emotional issues.

 

Hiring a Caregiver You Can Trust

Posted on by genushealth Posted in for givers of care, For the receiver of careTagged , , , , ,

It can be so overwhelming deciding what kind of outside help to hire for your aging loved one.  Who should you hire?  How do you find them?  Are they qualified?  Can they be trusted to care for your parent?  What questions should you ask?  What is the cost?  How do I find the best care possible for my parent?

Once you start your research, it is easy to get overwhelmed with all the information out there.  Agencies that earn their money by recommending specific home-care agencies are available BUT they only refer those agencies that pay them a fee.  There are so many of these “placement agencies” ….. Home Instead, A Place for Mom, AgingCare, care.com…. the list goes on.   Talk to your friends to see what they have used and get recommendations.  Use social media to solicit recommendations.  The agencies they recommend can vary from location to location.   Agencies are run by local owners, so getting some advice from local friends and family about local agencies they have had success with is invaluable.

At-home caregivers generally fall into three categories:
  • Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs)
    • have some medical training and must pass an exam to get a license. They usually work under the supervision of registered nurses. In home care nurses can check vital signs, care for wounds, and help with everyday activities such as bathing and eating

(you’ll often hear these referred to as “activities of daily living,” or ADLs)

  • Home Health Aides
    • generally assist with ADLs. And personal care attendants (PCAs)
  • Personal Care Attendants. (PCAs)
    • also sometimes called personal companions, assist with household chores such as cleaning, cooking and shopping

The job descriptions of these caregivers can overlap considerably, and they’re often referred to interchangeably.  You will need to decide whether to go with an established agency or hire a private home-care worker.  Both have advantages and disadvantages.   Of course with an agency you will usually find licensed care workers, but you will also pay more money than private care, in general.   However, with a private homecare worker, you often get more personalized attention.

Valuable Links for Finding the Best Outside Help

The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) is the best place to start when looking for home-care agencies.  They are a government service that is not affiliated with one agency over another.  This link will take you to eldercare.gov which is a affiliate of n4a in which they recommend agencies that provide outside help.  https://www.n4a.org/hcbs

When considering an agency, you may want to check out this article and the corresponding links from the National Association for Home Care and Hospice.   They list some great questions to ask when interviewing home-care agencies as well as a database of agencies.

Whether hiring a private home-care provider OR an agency, here is a list of questions to consider as well.  This article provided by the Mayo Clinic breaks down the questions depending on whether you are going with private care or agency care.  This is a good article to read in helping you to decide which course of care to take.

Finding the best home care for your loved one can be a daunting task, but if you are armed with the proper information and questions, it will make the job a bit easier.  Remember to involve your home care aides in the use of the genusConnect™ App.  Their use will provide you with the best up to date information on the care of the patient as well as provide you with tools to make your job easier.   The home-care workers will love the feedback you can leave them within the app.  genusConnect™ provides you with a valuable communication tool to help you provide the best care, together.