Elder Care ABC Created by caregivers for caregivers

By Joy Loverde

Mom and Bill’s long-distance move from Florida to Chicago taught me numerous invaluable family-caregiving lessons which I wrote about in twenty-four blogs. I’d like to share with you the highlights of what I learned in the hopes that you can bypass some of the unexpected twists and turns of the aging parent relocation process.

• Don’t be surprised if you feel overwhelmingly helpless in the long-distance moving process from time to time. These feelings will pass as you slowly progress through each of the moving-related tasks.

• If one of your parents has a medical emergency and lands in the hospital, contact the hospital discharge planner first thing. It’s never too early to begin the process of planning for a patient’s exit strategy from the hospital. The question then becomes, where will the ailing parent live in the interim if he/she requires extended care? Read More

Welcome to the September 1, 2010 edition of  the  EldercareABC  Blog Carnival.

by Joy Loverde

We’ve all been raised to be polite, and never discuss the subject of money with our parents. Instead, we wonder, worry and wait. How will they pay for in-home care? How much of my own money am I expected to spend if they need help?

Sticker Shock

While parent-care expenses vary significantly by region, few people are prepared to pay the steep prices associated with living a long life:

• In-home care averages $150 a day.
• Assisted-living can run $6,000 a month.
• Home remodeling can run thousands of dollars for outdoor ramps and adjusting counter heights and door widths.
• Transportation vans when driving is no longer an option can run up a hefty tab
• And what about special diets, hearing aids, and dental care? Read More

Recently on one of our blog posts we had a comment regarding the 2011 contributions while in the Coverage Gap (Donut Hole) and how the total out-of-pocket expenses would be allocated until a beneficiary reached catastrophic coverage.

Medicare has changed some of its wording and makes reading a little more confusing as to what will actually be applied to your out-of-pocket expenses while in the donut hole. Read More

By Jenny Heart

In the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, more and more elderly citizens are choosing to “age in place” by hiring providers of home care. Durham NC residents have much available to them in the way of geriatric health and living services. From the run of the mill nursing facility to luxury retirement communities – seniors have a number of lifestyle options by the time they reach the latter years of their life and determine that they’re in need of more care than they themselves, or their loved ones, can provide.

Senior care, Clayton NC to Clayton MO, is not just another small, specialized area of health care – it is an expansive and lucrative business that is rapidly growing into a colossal industry as the Baby Boom generation continues to age, demanding a whole new slew of services – and lots of them. As the population of senior citizens here in North Carolina and across the nation skyrockets, the number of seniors using home care is expected to double – likely by the year 2030. Medical professionals, social workers, advocates for the elderly – not to mention the senior citizens themselves, are quickly discovering they’re more comfortable being cared for in their homes than relocating.

Home care services can be chosen based on the needs of the patient. Depending on where you live and what you have available, you can find round-the-clock care providers or nurses to come in just a few hours of the day, on all or just certain days of the week. You can have special needs tended to as long as you have hired an agency that can dispatch medically trained caregivers. And if you’re a cancer patient, an Alzheimer’s patient, or you’re on dialysis, for instance, you can find someone to come into your home to care for you and who has specialized training and experience with some or all of your unique medical conditions.

For sick and aging citizens who don’t require health-driven home care, there are plenty of providers that offer basic care services at the patient’s home. Lots of folks just need someone to help with things around the house and maybe run a few errands. Maybe your eyesight isn’t what it used to be and you’re no longer comfortable driving but sharp as a tack and still capable of performing most normal daily tasks. This is a scenario where a provider of home care, Clayton NC or wherever you live, would really work.

Major life decisions deserve a lot of consideration, particularly if they are costly and long-term. When, either alone or with their loved ones, seniors make the choice to age in place, it’s crucial that a great deal of thought is put into the hired caregiver. Choose a home care provider in the Durham area that is reputable, well-established and that just feels right to you. Conduct thorough interviews and ask to see credentials for both the agency and the caregiver. This may be the biggest decision you’ll ever make.

Written by Jenny Heart. Quality home care Durham: Receive home care Clayton, Alzheimer’s and elder care through senior care Clayton NC, Raleigh, Cary, Wake Forest.

By Becci Bookner

Imagine the plight of the busy career person struggling for success in the business world, while trying to effectively balance the responsibility of school-age children on the one hand, and in home senior care for elderly or housebound relatives on the other.

Child care has become almost a natural part of the working world and there are many facilities developing to provide a safe, supervised environment for children of all ages. In fact, many companies are providing child – care facilities or other assistance as an employee benefit. That is one of the great progressive achievements of our generation.

Unfortunately, less has been accomplished in providing in home senior care for the elderly, and the burden which this can become for a working family member is awesome. In home senior care can be a serious handicap to an otherwise productive employee, and often results in absenteeism, frequent phone calls and poor productivity for the employee who is constantly concerned and distracted by the needs of the elderly relative.

If the older family member resides in another area of the country, the problem for the employee becomes even more complex.

In home senior care for the sick and elderly has now become commonplace, and many organizations offer nursing care, therapy of various types, and other Medical Services. Few of the visiting practitioners can take the time to fill other needs of their patients.

Caring for my own senior family members made me see how critical some of these other needs can be, and how important a few simple services can be to a lonely, often housebound individual. Active, younger members of society do not usually realize how difficult basic activities can be for an older person.

A trip to the doctor’s office, to church, to the grocery store, can be a traumatic problem for the elderly. A leisurely drive in the country is often out of the question. Lunch in a restaurant is probably a fond but distant memory, as is an outing to the shop or taking in a movie or a ballgame on a sunny afternoon.

Such little things we take for granted can make a huge difference in the life of a lonely person, and in home senior care can provide this.

And, even more basic, elderly people living alone often do not eat right, have poor personal hygiene, and are not as careful as they should be about Home Security and safety. Many need help in performing simple household tasks for themselves.

We believe that older Americans who choose to live alone in their own homes are the most forgotten segment of our society, and those most in need of our attention and our compassion.

In a time when most households have to working members, there’s simply no one with the time to provide the level of in home senior care for the elderly that has always been an American tradition.

Our older Americans deserve more. After all, soon enough we will be among them.

Becci Bookner is no stranger to setting the standards in care. In 1993 she founded her first successful service company that addresses the needs of seniors. Becci’s latest book is Patterns of the Heart, Gentle Thoughts on Aging, which was published in 2007. Her website is http://www.familystaffing.com

You can pick up a newspaper or a magazine and you will find articles about diet and nutrition to help with the management of certain diseases.  Medicare covers Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) for people with diabetes or renal diseases to help them manage their conditions.

What is Medical Nutrition Therapy?

Medical Nutrition Therapy includes nutrition, therapeutic, and counseling services.  The intention is to help you learn to eat right along with medication management.

Medical Nutrition Therapy is NOT diabetes self-management training and education although the two services appear to be somewhat similar. If you have diabetes you might be required to take Diabetes Self-Management Training first, before Medicare will approve MNT.

Because these are different benefits under Medicare, you would be required to have a referral/prescription for both services. Read More

By Joy Loverde

Mom and Bill’s long-distance move from Florida to Chicago taught me numerous invaluable family-caregiving lessons which I wrote about in twenty-four blogs. I’d like to share with you the highlights of what I learned in the hopes that you can bypass some of the unexpected twists and turns of the aging parent relocation process.

• Packing up your parents’ belongings is only half the task. Make a plan ahead of time regarding who will unpack once the movers and boxes arrive at the new location.

• Don’t underestimate your emotional response to packing and unpacking your parents’ belongings. The grieving process has begun. Read More