EldercareABC Blog Carnival – Spring Edition

Sweet April showers
Do spring May flowers. -Thomas Tusser

Welcome to the EldercareABC Blog Carnival- Spring Edition. For those of you who are new to blog carnivals, there is a brief explanation of what a carnival is and how you participate at the end of this post.

Spring Treasures

Just as spring blossoms are treasured, so are the words that others take the time to share about caregiving.  Linda Abbit published Family Caregivers Communication Class - The Language of Dementia, Part 1 .

She shares:

Many of our aging parents (or Golden Oldies as I prefer to call them) will eventually develop some type of memory loss. It usually starts as the forgetfulness we have come to expect with normal aging, but then it may progress to dementia or Alzheimer’s disease (AD for short, which is the most common type of dementia). I’ve witnessed the full progression of memory loss with my mom as she has lived through the stages of Alzheimer’s disease so my perspective is that of a family caregiver for an aging parent with AD.

Visit Linda's Tenderloving Eldercare Blog to learn more about The Language of Dementia, Part 1 .

David Solie sent an oldie, but goodie with this wonderful post, Emotional Habits: Managing the Stress of Caring for Aging Parents:

He writes:

The drama of our aging parents takes place in an emotional landscape, an environment that can overwhelm us without warning or apparent logic. We seem to be bobbing corks on an angry ocean of feelings that ambush us time and again. No matter how composed we appear to be to the world, most of us wind up with what I term "emotional habits."

You will want to bookmark David's Aging Parents Insights:Insights to Understanding Our Aging Parents and Ourselves Blog for future posts.

Edie Dykeman shared a must read post, Foot Care Basics for Aging Seniors. She writes:

A number of years ago, my uncle died after having portions of both legs amputated due to complications from diabetes. My father was diagnosed with diabetes in the 1980s, and for quite some time he has faithfully followed a proper foot care regimen.

One of the most important steps he has taken is to visit a podiatrist every three months unless something occurs where he has to go in more frequently for follow-up or treatments. Several times over the years, the podiatrist and his staff have quickly and ably handled problems that could have led to serious complications.

Visit Edie's Eldercafe Blog to learn important signs to watch for and tips for protecting your feet.

Sheryl Karas, author of The Spirtitual Journey of Family Caregiving sent along Home Is Where The Heart Is -- What to Do When a Dementia Patient Keeps Asking to Go Home to share in this week's carnival.   You won't want to miss this wonderful post.  It touches on dementia in a heartfelt way that you won't want to miss.  Ms. Karas writes:

Dementing illnesses strip this safety away. Little by little and sometimes in large chunks the familiar becomes unfamiliar. The little things a person unconsciously counts on to clue them in to where they are, who they are, how they should act and what they should expect disappears. The family starts to hear "I want to go home" over and over. What this really means is "I don't feel safe anymore." "Nothing is familiar." "I want to go where I don't have to worry, where I can rest, relax, breathe deeply and know everything is alright."

Kim at EldercareABC shared 10 Hot Trends in Senior Care Services. She posted:

Entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations alike are jumping on the opportunity to develop senior services and products. Over 1.4 million seniors are currently receive in-home care, and those numbers will double by 2030. This growing population is a prime target for business opportunities.

Click on the title above to learn what the 10 Hot Trends are.

Eldercare in the News This Week

• Daniel Rubin: Elder-care aide shares a beat from the street, words to cheer wards
  
• Senior citizens will receive $250 under stimulus plan
• Wii and Senior Citizens
  
• In our view: Senior meals take priority over lobbyists
• Some taxpayers feel like the "meat" in the Sandwich Generation

Next Week

Thanks to all of this week's carnival participants!  Join the EldercareABC Blog Carnival next week by submitting a link to your post here.

Blog Carnival Explanation

EldercareABC Blog Carnival is a collection of blog entries from some of the best elder help bloggers from around the Internet.  You are invited to join the carnival!

How can you participate:

1. Write a great blog post that addresses the theme of eldercare
2. Link to the Carnival Invitation blog post somewhere in your post.
3. Submit the name of your blog post, the permalink (if you have one), and your name and email address http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_6644.html

Here are the details:

1. You must be the author of the content submitted
2. Commercial posts that are simply promoting a product or service are not allowed
3. The blog carnival editor has the final say as to which posts will be included
4. Please remember to link back to the carnival in your own blog once the carnival is published.