Car keys mean freedom, Taking away keys tough but ...

News - newsjournalonline.com

What You Need to Know

Taking the keys away from a parent or loved one with Alzheimer's, dementia or similar diseases can be difficult. Here are tips to make the task easier:

WARNING SIGNS

· They forget how to locate a familiar place and get lost.
· They fail to observe traffic signals and signs.
· They become angry and confused while driving.

HOW TO LIMIT DRIVING

· Ask a doctor to write a "do not drive" prescription.
· Have them tested by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
· Offer to drive or arrange other transportation.
· Have someone the person respects and trusts recommend they stop driving.
· Park the car on another block or in a neighbor's driveway.
· Hide the car keys or disable the car by removing the distributor cap or battery as a last resort.

BE PREPARED

· If the person wanders, he or she can get lost while driving, so register them in the Alzheimer's Association's Safe Return Program. Call 1-888-572-8566 or go online to alz.org and click on "medic alert + safety center" on the right-hand side of the home page.

SOURCE: Alzheimer's Association

Feel closer with voice and video calls

Free internet calls with Skype-to-Skype calls

Free calls It’s what Skype is made for.

Using Skype to call another person who also has Skype is totally free. Yep, absolutely nothing. Zip. Zero. Zilch

You’ve downloaded Skype, and so has your friend. Now you can get started on the really cool stuff – such as making completely free and great quality calls from your computer. That’s the great thing about Skype, you can use your internet connection and turn your computer into an internet phone and make free Skype-to-Skype calls.

You and your friend will need to have a headset (or use your computer’s built-in microphone and speakers) to talk to each other. You can really improve the sound quality of your calls with a headset, or take your calls to the next level with free video calls.

You can also use Skype to make terrific value calls to phones and mobiles.

Pleasantries Adult Social Day Services

Pleasantries Adult Day Services - Home Page

Pleasantries is an Adult Social Day Services program located in a comfortable residential home at 195 Reservoir Street in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

Pleasantries has beautiful views where guests can enjoy nature by taking walks, fishing, gardening, and having a picnic with their peers.

Moving Aging Family Member into Your Home .. sure?

Joy Loverde addressed Moving Aging Parents into Your Home on the EldercareABC Blog

Joy's information is applicable if you were to substitute "Aging Parents" with Brother, Sister, In law, Relative. What can start as a loving arrangement can turn very sour as we age and what was done on a handshake is hammered by fading memories, assumptions, and unforeseen changes in the needs of everyone.

Verbal contracts are bound to be regretted. After you read Joy's excellent article do not do anything until you have had a family meeting with a elder affairs attorney and review every point she raises. Then put the results in writing with signatures of the principles and your attorney. There is nothing so difficult as a house guest who comes to live in your home without a written agreements, who won't accept consequences of lifes changes, your health needs, your needing to relocate, selling your home and all the emotional, financial and other dynamics of living together.

Don't skip any of Joy's questions or suffer the consequences. They are available on line.

Dave Mainwaring.
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Moving Aging Parents into Your Home Are you sure?
Sep. 17th, 2009 By Joy Loverde

"When times are tough, like they are now, sometimes well meaning caregivers of aging parents insist that their parents Moving aging parents, eldercare, senior helpmove in with them without full consideration of what can happen. The most serious stories include elder abuse and neglect, the fastest growing crime in America today. The arrangement of sharing one’s home with aging parents often stirs ambivalent feelings for everyone involved."

"We mean well when we ask our loved ones to move in with us; but we may not realize the potential negative consequences – emotionally, financially and otherwise. For example, if parents move in and contribute to the cost of remodeling the house to accommodate their needs, do they gift their portion of the house to the caregiving child? How do siblings feel about this financial arrangement? Should parents have a contract in which they pay the children for caring for them? How does this living arrangement affect a person’s eligibility for Medicaid?"

"I’d like every caregiver who is currently thinking about this under-one-roof lifestyle for them and their aging parents to take a deep, deep breath and proceed cautiously and slowly. If you have already exhausted the multitude of senior-housing options I offer in my book, The Complete Eldercare Planner, and you have made the decision that combining households is the best option, then promise me before anything else that you’ll take a family consensus as the final checklist before the move."
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She is 1000% on target when she said:
The arrangement of sharing one’s home with aging parents is not for the faint at heart. If you succeed, you are beating the odds!

Dealing with Incontinence, products

Discover information and advice for caregivers of those with incontinence - TENA

What would you like to know about caring for someone with incontinence?

Understanding and discussing bladder weakness can be the first step to successfully managing it. So we’ve pulled together some useful information to help you and your loved one get incontinence into perspective and under control.

Product Finder

Loosing contact, personal letter is a thing of the past

The personal letter is quickly becoming a thing of the past - The Boston Globe

Last lines
As the longtime practice of writing personal letters by hand to family and friends is quickly becoming a thing of the past in the age of cellphones, text messaging, and e-mails, Globe writer Milton J. Valencia sat down and penned his own letter to the lost art.
By Milton J. Valencia
Globe Staff / September 20, 2009

The number of unpaid family caregivers in the United States now tops 65 million

The Secret Caregivers

The Secret Caregivers

By Gail Sheehy, May & June 2010

Men care for their loved ones more often than we know. Why do they hide it? Inside their silent burdens and bittersweet rewards

The number of unpaid family caregivers in the United States now tops 65 million, involving more than three in ten households, according to "Caregiving in the U.S. 2009," a report conducted by the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) in collaboration with AARP, and funded by the MetLife Foundation. Despite a common stereotype that caregiving is women's work, one third of American caregivers are men, the report reveals.

NFCA, National Family Caregivers Association

The National Family Caregivers Association educates, supports, empowers and speaks up for the more than 50 million Americans who care for loved ones with a chronic illness or disability or the frailties of old age. NFCA reaches across the boundaries of diagnoses, relationships, and life stages to help transform family caregivers' lives by removing barriers to health and well being.

Membership is free to family caregivers, and includes a quarterly, e-mailed newsletter. For those who would rather receive a print copy of the newsletter, NFCA offers an upgraded, Family Caregiver Plus membership at the special introductory rate of $10/year. Click here to join on-line.

Raise your hand if you're a caregiver.

How Can Doctors and Caregivers Work Together?

from: HealthBridge's In-Home Care Blog

Dr. Pauline Chen took an insightful look at this topic in her "Doctor and Patient" column in the New York Times. She writes:

For all our assertions about the importance of caring in what we do, doctors as a profession have been slow to recognize family members and loved ones who care for patients at home. These “family caregivers” do work that is complex, physically challenging and critical to a patient’s overall well-being, like dressing wounds, dispensing medication, and feeding, bathing and dressing those who can no longer do so themselves.

Many of these caregiving tasks were once the purview of doctors and nurses, a central component of the “caring professions.” But over the past century, as these duties increasingly fell to individuals with little or no training, doctors and even some nurses began to confer less importance, and status, to the work of caregiving.

The end of the office... and the future of work - The Boston Globe

The end of the office... and the future of work - The Boston Globe


We love to hate the workplace, but we’ll miss it when it’s gone

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Work Without Boundaries Networking facilitates working around the world.
http://groups.google.com/group/wwboundaries_network

Communities are ill-prepared to meet the need for senior services

Communities south of Boston face dramatic increase in senior population, demand for elder services - The Boston Globe

“Tomorrow’s seniors are not your father’s grandfathers,’’ said Timothy G. Reardon, senior regional planner for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, which analyzed demographic trends including births, deaths, and migration and other factors to forecast the changes in populations. “COAs and other organizations that work with seniors must rethink the types of services they provide. It’s not going to be all meals on wheels and Sunday suppers at the COA hall.’’

gift choices | useful, needed and something won't complicate their lives.

TIME GOES BY | Gifts for Elders on Your List... by Ronni Bennett

Gifts for Seniors on Your List....and perhaps as hints for family members who might not know what you would like to have.

A Study of need for services when reaching age 65

Comparing Costs For In-Home Care, Nursing Homes, RCFE Assisted Living And Adult Day Care | Elder Care Residential Services

A 2008 long term care study done by Prudential insurance has some surprising information regarding the costs of care for services needed as we age. This is information is important to assist in making plans for the “golden years”.

The study shows that the average cost of a nursing home can exceed $70,000 a year for a semi private room. A break down of the daily charges is $194 per day. A private room can exceed $79,000 a year or $217 a day. These costs will, of course depend on the area of the country you live in. Some areas will be more and some less. It was also noted that there has been a 7% increase in the cost of living in a nursing home over the past 2 years. Nursing home costs have had an increase of over 30% in the past 5 years.

Assisted living facilities have seen the greatest increase in costs over the past 2 years. The average for living in an assisted living facility rose to nearly $39,000 per year. This is an average daily charge of just over $100 per day.

There was an average of a 15% increase in rates for the assisted living facility that provide care for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients.

In -home care has had the smallest increase rate of all the service providers. The rate of in-home care has had an increase of 5% over the past two years and only 17% over the past 7 years.

The average cost for a certified nursing assistant providing in-home care is $21 per hour. The services provided by a certified nursing assistant are bathing, dressing and care provided under the supervision of a register nurse. These services are ordered by a physician and generally covered by insurance. These services are only provided intermittently and for a limited amount of time.

The 2008 Genworth Financial study of cost of care also covers the non skilled in home care. This is a growing segment of the in-home care services, as many individuals want to remain in their homes as long as possible.

The average cost for homemaker services is $18 an hour. The rate of these services has increased by 4% over the last year. A homemaker provides companionship, light housekeeping duties, assistance with cooking and running small errands.

In- home care also provides home health aides. These individuals are able to provide basic assistance with personal care, but are not permitted to perform and medical tasks.

The average rate of a home health aide is $19 an hour. This is an increase of 3% over the past year.
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This lengthy article is well worth the read. http://ow.ly/15YGwf

NOTE: they show average values, you will find costs in your area may differ wildly.

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I suggest following the blog http://ow.ly/15YGwf provided by:

Elder Care Residential Services

Mailing address:
610 Cypress Street
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
805-473-7400
FAX: 805-473-4704

Cell: 805-452-3225 9am TO 5pm Pacific Time

info@eldercareresidentiaservices.com

Visit Fifty-Plus Zone | http://www.listenzone.com/

Are you exploring living concepts-options, residence options, adult routine care, assistance, and access to services, avoiding admission to nursing homes or assisted living facilities, finding autonomy, individuality, social relationships and dignity? Everyone wants to avoid loneliness, helplessness and boredom.

"Enjoy the World, hobbies, crafts, creative pastimes, e-mail,web based Conversations, Blogs, Articles"

The Retirement Community website has a extensive directory of subjects retirees will want to browse: Active Adult Communities, Adult Day Services, Assisted Living, Alzheimers Care, Continuing Care, Home Care and Hospice Care, Independent Living, Senior Centers, Choosing a Retirement Community, Driver's Licensing, Medicaid Regulations by State, Property Taxes By State, Retirement Glossary, State Elder Affairs Agencies, Taxes By State, and Types-of-Senior-Housing.

Senior Centers and Adult Day Care activities

Browsing the Web to see what many adult day care programs and Senior Centers were offering. I found the following:

Active floor and table games
Art Therapy,
Arts
Bingo
Card Games
Chair exercises
Chorus & Music Therapy
Cooking
crafts,
Daily Exercise
Discussion groups (books, films, current events)
Discussions: contemporary and devotional
Entertainment
Exercise classes personalized for individual levels of activity and ability.
Gardening
Group discussions on a wide range of subjects
Guest speakers from community organizations
Health awareness talks
health monitoring by a nurse to meet individual needs. There is a
Holiday and birthday celebrations
Horticultural Therapy
individual counseling,
Inter-generational Programs
Kosher Lunch
Local outings.
Mental stimulation games such as BINGO
miniature golf course on site
Music
Musical entertainment and sing-a-longs
nutrition education,
Nutritional Snacks
meals and snacks individualized for specific dietary needs.
field trips,
On Site Library
Organized games of bridge, bingo, cards and trivia,team events
personal care,
Pet Therapy
podiatry care,
Poetry Class
Pottery
quiet rooms with rest areas and television
recreational classes,
Relaxation time
Reminiscing
Spiritual Program
Stretching or other gentle exercise
Student Interns
Tai Chi Class
Talking about current events
Transportation
Volunteers
Weight Loss Club
Woodworking Shop

Motivation And Improving Health In Older Adults, Medical News Today

Boosting Motivation And Improving Health In Older Adults, With The Use Of A Simple Tool

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have identified a tool, the "Getting-Out-of-Bed (GoB) measure" to assess motivation and life outlook in older adults. The study, which appears in the October issue of the /i>Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, shows that the tool has the potential to be an easy-to-use measure to bolster motivation and thus, improve health behaviors and outcomes in the growing population of older adults.

Reverse mortgages may be the next subprime crisis

Reverse mortgages may be next crisis - The Boston Globe

NEW YORK - Reverse mortgages may be the next subprime crisis, according to the National Consumer Law Center.

Some of the same US lenders that helped drive the real estate boom with loans to home buyers who could not afford the payments are now targeting senior citizens, the center said. Brokers, who are given financial incentives to sell the loans, may be making misleading claims, according to a report titled “Subprime Revisited,’’ released yesterday by the Boston-based NCLC.

“This market is designed to serve seniors, so when we find abuses cropping up and migrating from the subprime market to the senior market, that sounds an especially loud warning bell,’’ said Rick Jurgens, an advocate at the NCLC who contributed to the report.

Reverse mortgages enable people 62 and older who are looking for extra cash to use the equity in their homes and receive lump-sum payments, periodic checks, a line of credit, or a combination of the three. Lenders are repaid from the sale of the home when the borrowers die or move.

<snipped>

Kohl and McCaskill released a government report in June that said some lenders falsely market reverse mortgages as “lifetime income’’ and sell mortgages coupled with other financial products, such as annuities, even though Congress banned so-called cross-selling in 2008.

The center’s study recommended enhancing borrower counseling prior to taking out a loan and holding lenders and brokers to a suitability standard.

Ten Facts About the Child and Dependent Care Credit, IRS Tax Tip 2009-46

Top Ten Facts About the Child and Dependent Care Credit If you paid someone to care for a child, spouse, or dependent, you may be able to reduce your tax by claiming the Child and Dependent Care Credit on your federal income tax return. Below are the top ten things you need to know about claiming a credit for child and dependent care expenses.

1.
The care must have been provided for one or more qualifying persons. A qualifying person is your dependent child under age 13. Additionally, your spouse and certain other individuals who are physically or mentally incapable of self-care may also be qualifying persons. You must identify each qualifying person on your tax return.

2.
The care must have been provided so you – and your spouse if you are married – could work or look for work.

3.
You – and your spouse if you are married – must have earned income from wages, salaries, tips, other taxable employee compensation or net earnings from self-employment. One spouse may be considered as having earned income if they were a full-time student or they were physically or mentally unable to care for themselves.

4.
The payments for care cannot be paid to your spouse, to someone you can claim as your dependent on your return, or to your child who is under age 19, even if he or she is not your dependent. You must identify the care provider on your tax return.

5.
Your filing status must be single, married filing jointly, head of household or qualifying widow(er) with a dependent child.

6.
The qualifying person must have lived with you for more than half of 2008.

7.
The credit can be up to 35 percent of your qualifying expenses, depending upon your income.

8.
For 2008, you may use up to $3,000 of the expenses paid in a year for one qualifying individual or $6,000 for two or more qualifying individuals.

9.
The qualifying expenses must be reduced by the amount of any dependent care benefits provided by your employer that you exclude from your income.

10.
If you pay someone to come to your home and care for your dependent or spouse, you may be a household employer. If you are a household employer, you may have to withhold and pay social security and Medicare tax and pay federal unemployment tax. For information, see Publication 926, Household Employer's Tax Guide.

For more information on the Child and Dependent Care Credit, see Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses. You may download these free publications from IRS.gov or order them by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

Home safety for elder care or alzheimer's patient

Preparing the Home for an Alzheimer's Patient from http://www.webmd.com/

Preparing the Home for an Alzheimer's Patient

Caring for an Alzheimer’s patient at home can be difficult. In taking the proper steps to become a successful caregiver, it is essential that you prepare your home for your loved one's arrival. Likewise, if your loved one's Alzheimer's is mild and they still live on their own, it is important that you ensure that their living environment is safe.

Not only must space often be reorganized, but every room in the house that your loved one will be using should also be made as accident-proof as possible. There are many basic guidelines that can be followed in order to provide safe and effective caregiving in the home.

In order to ensure a thorough approach, a room-by-room checklist can be very helpful. The following guidelines can be used for the caregiver's own home if the loved one is living with the caregiver, or for an elderly loved one's home.

Creating A Safe Home by Anne Marie Mills

Creating A Safe Home

Creating A Safe Home. Santa Clara Signal staff writer, Anne Marie Mills

One of the simplest modifications involves creating a “barrier-free” home. According to Santa Clara Signal staff writer, Anne Marie Mills in her article, “Is Your Home Safe?” what this means is that the home has no barriers prohibiting people with disabilities to freely navigate the home. For example, a person in a wheelchair needs to have door opening sizes increased from the basic 29 inch to 30 inch width to as much as 36 inches to 42 inches. Carpets need to be commercial-contract carpet similar to the type used in banks and office buildings, rather than the traditionally thicker home carpets so that a person in a wheelchair or using a walker will have no problem walking on them.

In addition, there are three other key areas of focus for modifying your home for your elder--lighting, the bathrooms and home furnishings.