Home Care CareGivers

Posts Tagged ‘Elderly Care’

By David Lowell, MD

The holidays can be a time of renewal – renewal of friendships through visits and cards, renewal of family relationships through gatherings and shared meals, and renewal of one’s faith. But the holidays also are a time that can be particularly challenging for a family caregiver. It is a time during which the changes in one’s life are highlighted and there are additional demands placed upon on an already stressed life.
The holidays are always a whirlwind and this is especially true for caregivers. During the holidays it is important for caregivers to seek a balance – between caring for someone else and caring for oneself; between celebrating good memories of past holidays while not dwelling on what might have been lost. Here are ideas to keep in mind for both the caregiver and the care receiver as the holiday season arrives:
Ideas for the Caregiver:
1. Don’t try to do it all. In the past you may have prepared Christmas dinner for 20 and created hand-made gifts for all of your relatives. Ask other members of the family to carry on specific family traditions. Dividing the responsibility will help you manage your stress level. 
2. Don’t attempt to travel long distances by car if your loved one is not used to it and tires easily. You will both be exhausted by the time you reach your destination, and you will have a difficult time enjoying yourself. 
3. Ask family or friends to provide respite care. Make time to enjoy holiday decorations or window shopping. Just a few hours of time by yourself or with a friend can be renewing and help combat a sense of isolation. 
4. Avoid comparisons with past holidays. It is often emotionally draining to look upon change as loss. “Life is change” can be a helpful concept to hold onto. 
5. Create new traditions that can be carried on year to year, rather than dwelling on old traditions that your loved one can no longer participate in.
Ideas for Your Loved One:
1. Find a way to have your loved one participate in the holidays, whether its making decorations or counting the days on an Advent calendar
2. Decorate your loved one’s room or living area for the holidays. Incorporate symbols and decorations that are meaningful. 
3. Stimulate all of your loved one’s senses with the sounds, sights, smells and tastes of the holidays. Ideas include holiday music and decorations, a favorite dessert and familiar scents.
4. Familiar holiday foods are a nice way to evoke positive memories.
5. If your loved one is in a care facility, extend traditions to other people in the facility. For example, pass out holiday cards or make a traditional dessert to share.

For families caring for elder loved ones at home, respite care can be a great relief during the holidays. It can be a great relief for the family caregiver as well as the senior. There are two options. First the caregiver can stay with the senior at home while the family members take a break. The other option is to take the senior out for an outing.

For Home Care in the Phoenix area contact Care-To-Go (480) 284-8611 Care-To-Go.com

Phoenix CareGiver Shows How The Population Is Changing As Boomers Age

Here’s what happening: America’s population is aging rapidly thanks to the baby boomer generation. The group is living longer as a whole than any generation in our history. As this group ages it becomes a blessing and it’s also a problem that creates worries and stress for the adult children of our elders.

When family members don’t live in the same town as their parents or who simply don’t have the time to attend to them, need to be assured that their needs are getting the level of attention essential to maintain their quality of life.
Assisted living facilities and rest homes can be too expensive for most families, especially in these difficult economic times. There are professional agencies that offer many of the same services as assisted living or residential communities while the elderly retain the independence that comes with remaining in their own homes. Most seniors relish their independence and struggle to maintain it. Staying in their own home is a major component in keeping their independence.

Here are some ways that a good Home Care provider can provide peace of mind for families and seniors.

A Caregiver can assist the senior at home, running errands and accompanying the senior to doctor appointments. At home the tasks are commonly called activities of daily living (ADL)
These activities include help with cooking, cleaning, shopping, dressing assistance, performing daily hygiene routines as well as many other household activities. Home care CareGivers can help with bathing, dressing, grooming, dental care, and more when seniors need a little extra assistance. For many elderly people, simply getting in and out of the tub can be dangerous, home care caregivers are there to keep seniors safe as well as maintaining a fulfilling lifestyle.
Home care professionals can also be trusted companions, providing empowering conversations and various therapies to enhance a senior’s day. These Home Care CareGivers can also take care of other tasks that may be difficult for some seniors such as: walking dogs, answering phones, meal preparation, laundry, and more. In some cases, live in and full housekeeping services are available.

Transportation Services

Transportation for seniors falls into two categories, local errands and extended trips.

Locally a senior needs go to appointments for eye glasses, hearing aids, dentists and other medical appointments. There is also a regular need for shopping trips or visiting the local senior center for lunch or bingo. All of these can be taken care of by the CareGiver using the clients car or the Caregivers’ car.

When a senior needs to travel on a longer trip by air, rail or ship, the services of a Personal Travel Companion are required. Paid Travel Companions are skilled in travel services as well as CareGiving.

For the family of a senior, the services of a Home Care CareGiver or a Paid Travel Companion can provide peace of mind knowing that their senior is well taken care of and safe.

Phoenix Home Care can be found at Care-To-Go.com and Travel Companion services can be found at CareToGoTravel.com

Phoenix CareGiver Explains How To Keep Track Of Medications

As we age doctors prescribe more and more prescriptions. There are so many kinds, side effects, restrictions and cautions that it becomes difficult to keep it all straight and be safe. Your caregiver can help with forms to keep track. You should have a master list, a log of drugs taken each day, and a separate sheet for medications that have serious side effects or special instructions. Included here are 5 Medication Tips to keep it all straight.

The Medications List

This form should have the basic information about the medication including times to be taken and description. The information included should have name, doctor’s name, doctor’s phone and address, pharmacy phone and address. The date of birth and social security number should be here because this is how pharmacy computers identify the patient for refills.

The Medications Side Effects Sheet

This form is just what it says. The patients name, address and phone should be here of course. There should also be a listing of drug names, dosage, frequency, and classification. There should be plenty of space for side effects, special instructions and cautions. There may be one drug per page.

7 Tips For Medications

Medication Tip #1

Keep your lists of medications current as prescriptions are added and removed. Keep several copies for your reference and be sure to take one with you for each doctor visit. Another helpful idea is the list the medications by which ones are taken in the morning, at dinner, and at bedtime.

Medication Tip #2

Be sure the medications are taken the way your health provider tells you to. Your medications are intended to help improve your health now and to prevent health problems in the future.

Medication Tip #3

Be sure to take your medications even if you feel fine. Some medications are intended to run for a specific amount of time and some take a step down process to stop the medication. Most medications however, are intended to help you feel better so don’t stop without consulting your health care professional.

Medication Tip #4

• Keep organized.
• Have your medication list with you at all times and posted around the house where you take medications, Kitchen, bathroom etc.
• Keep your list divided into AM, PM, and bedtime if you have medications taken at several times a day.
• Use a pill box organizer laid out for a week and labeled for each day. You still have to mark which ones are for different times a day.
  

Medication Tip #5

Always talk to your pharmacist and health care provider about your entire list of medications. Often times you will have medications prescribed by several different health care providers. Be sure they all know your entire list of medications. Your pharmacist can also coordinate all of your medications in one place for you. This is especially important when you add a new one.

Medication Tip #6

Check your medication bottle label. Verify that the medication is the correct one, correct dosage and note any special instruction. The label will also tell you how many times you may refill it, the date it was filled and the date the prescription was written.

Medication Tip #7

When you need help understanding your medications, take an advocate with you to the doctors’ office and the pharmacy. Your CareGiver should be at each appointment with you. As an advocate, your CareGiver will be sure all instructions, side effects, and cautions are understood and written down. The CareGiver can then help with the lists you will keep as will as organizing you pill boxes for each week.

Be absolutely sure you understand everything about your medications. It is your responsibility to regulate your own health so if you don’t understand everything at the doctors’ be sure to have an advocate with you.

Medication Summary

• Learn about your medications and why you take each one.
• Talk with your health care provider and pharmacist about all your medications.
• Keep your medication lists up to date and handy.
• Organize your medications using a pillbox.
• Read and understand your medications labels.
• Take a CareGiver with you as an advocate to doctors’ appointments and to the pharmacy.

A Caregiver or in home companion is able to assist a veteran id refilling his prescriptions on line from the veterans website. On the site is a phone number where prescriptions can also be filled.

The following is a list of services that veterans and their caregivers can do for prescription refills and tracking.

MyHealthVet is an online website for personal health records and prescriptions refills and a multitude of other medical services for the veteran. There are also some great veteran assistance tools to use for veterans and their caregivers.

The website offers veterans access to veteran health care information anytime, anywhere, as well as refills on veteran issued prescriptions. Caregivers or veterans don’t have to be put on hold on the phone or wait in line when trying to refill their veterans’ prescriptions. Rather they can go to myhealth.va.gov and refill their veteran issued prescriptions.

Vets and their caregivers can:

• Refill veteran prescriptions online without waiting
• View active veteran prescriptions on line
• Choose an active prescription to be refilled
• Have the prescriptions delivered to the veterans home
• Check the status of a refill order anytime
• View, track and print veterans prescription history
• Review and print specific information about a single prescription, using the details option.

This is a tremendous service offered by the Veterans Administration for veterans. The side benefit is that a caregiver can do the refilling from the convenience of a computer and have the prescriptions delivered to the home.

In the Phoenix area Care-To-Go provides Platinum caregivers to assist seniors.  Beth Bates and Care-To-Go can be reached at 800-818-0407 or at http://Care-To-Go.com