senior care
Easing stress in caring for an elderly relative: it’s a family affair
Feeling all alone and overwhelmed is not unusual for family members who care for an elderly loved one. Often the majority of care falls on one person’s shoulders—and frequently that person is the eldest daughter or the adult child who lives closest to parents. Not surprisingly, 31% of those caregivers feel they’d like more help. About 25% feel some resentment toward other family members who don’t assist with care.
So just how can family caregivers approach other family members, especially siblings, in a way that will get them the help we need? The following approaches are some possibilities:
- Be specific: Give everyone a responsibility, such as inviting your elderly parent to dinner once a week, driving her or him to a medical appointment once a month, or calling once a week.
- Divide and conquer: Break down tasks and assign them according to everyone’s talents and skills. For instance, one sibling might pay bills, while another might spend one Sunday a month cooking several meals to be frozen.
- Communicate and share: Keep your siblings, other extended family members, or family friends in the loop about concerns and needs. They can’t help if they don’t know what you need. You may wish to set aside a specific time to do this each week or month.
- Be open to other effective care options: If you don’t have siblings (or even if you do), think about joining a support group, turning to friends or members of your faith community, or considering a professional home caregiver for assistance.
Another important step in easing stress, of course, is simply recognizing it. Sometimes, we can get so involved in providing care and fulfilling our other responsibilities that we don’t realize just how stressed we are. The “Caregiver StressMeter” is a short, interactive quiz that will help you determine your stress level. Once you’ve done that, you can decide which of the hints above you need to get the support you need:
What happens when senior caregivers become seniors themselves?
Any of us who are home caregivers for elderly relatives know how much planning and work is involved in meeting their needs. We also come to realize how helpful it would be for our own kids or other family members if we planned ahead for our senior years.
It’s true that this planning takes time and money, but it can make our later years much more secure and happy. Planning is also a lot easier when you can do it in advance, at your leisure, instead of when an urgent need arises.
The recently published Stages of Senior Care: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Making the Best Decisions (Paul and Lori Hogan, McGraw-Hill, 2009) provides some useful hints on organizing your future:
- Prioritize your needs beyond the essentials of housing and food. Is continuing education important to you, or annual vacations with family, or a property that allows you to garden?
- Ensure that your home is “elder-friendly” for the years to come. If you’re moving, for instance, keep in mind that you may not want to climb a lot of stairs in 15 years.
- Plan your estate and make sure your will is in order.
- Prepare an advance directive that details your wishes if you cannot make medical decisions yourself.
- Assign a power of attorney in case you are disabled by illness or an accident.
- Provide your family with instructions about your final wishes when you die.
- Research long-term care protection. A policy can help pay for professional nonmedical home care or other care needs.
Having plans in place for your own future will mean you have one less thing to worry about in your busy life. That can help decrease stress and increase everybody’s quality of life as you care for your own parents.
Senior Care is personal to us. Request information about our home care services in Northern Colorado, OR call us at 970-494-0289.
Help seniors stay independent and prevent frailty with physical, mental, and spiritual activity
If you asked your elderly parents what they feared most, they would likely say, “Losing my independence.” In fact, the Boomer Project, a recent national survey of 523 seniors and 1,279 adult caregivers, showed that 90% of seniors say a loss of independence is their greatest fear.
Frailty—a syndrome of weakness, fatigue, and declining physical activity—is one of the major contributors to seniors’ loss of independence. There are different causes of frailty for different people. A health crisis, like a heart attack or stroke, may be responsible. In other seniors, weight loss and falls may signal frailty.
Fortunately, there are ways family caregivers and professional nonmedical home care providers can help prevent or even reverse frailty in elderly loved ones. The first step is recognizing the signs that frailty may be an issue for older people:
- Has their interest level in activities and people changed?
- Are they less physically active and moving more slowly than usual?
- Has their appetite decreased? Do they show signs of losing weight, such as needing a smaller size in clothing?
- Do they have increased difficulty with balance? Are they unsteady on their feet?
Of course, if you notice any of these signs, it’s worth talking to your relative’s doctor so that any medical problems can be found and treated. Finding ways to help elderly people stay physically, mentally, and spiritually active is also valuable. Card and memory games, making changes in daily routines, gentle physical exercise, keeping a scrapbook of memories, and tending a garden all are ways to ward off frailty and maintain a sense of independence.
You can find an activity calendar and a booklet with other practical ways to help seniors stay active at http://www.getmommoving.com/activities-mind-body-soul/.
More information on the Boomer Project is available at http://www.boomerproject.com.
Senior Care is personal to us. Request information about our home care services in Northern Colorado, OR call us at 970-494-0289.
Community care centers give seniors social and intellectual stimulation
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- Northern Colorado,
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- social day care,
- nonmedical home care,
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Seniors living in their own homes or in a family caregiver’s home need opportunities for social contact, intellectual stimulation, and physical exercise. Professional non-medical home care is one option, as trained caregivers offer companionship, can play card and board games with a senior, and can accompany her or him on walks or during other activities. In addition, community care centers are available for day-time activities.
A range of care centers are available. In Northern Colorado, the Larimer County Office on Aging can give detailed information on community care centers near you: http://www.larimer.org/seniors/lcoa.htm.
In general, these are the types of care centers:
- Senior centers—for people over 55 who are in good health and can dine, exercise, take classes, learn new hobbies like pottery or painting, and go on outings with those of their own age.
- Adult-care centers (ACCs)—for seniors with age-related disabilities. Often these people are the ones who also have professional nonmedical home care, but may benefit from interacting with others. Health day care services at ACCs ensure seniors follow their prescribed therapies and take medications.
- Social day care—for seniors who are not independent enough for senior centers, but without serious handicaps.
There are also specific dementia day care services for people who have non-advanced Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. These not only provide appropriate activities and care for the senior, but give family members a needed break from caregiving.
Senior Care is personal to us. Request information about our home care services in Northern Colorado, OR call us at 970-494-0289.
Parents’ senior home care depends on family involvement
Knowing where to start can be the biggest hurdle when you’re planning your parents’ senior care. What do they want? What can they—and you—afford? How do you find the resources and support you need for successful home care?
Breaking the planning process down, step by step, can make decisions on home care more manageable and less stressful:
Talk to your parents. Ask them what they want and think they need. You can find pointers on starting the conversation at http://www.4070.talk.com- Find local resources. In Northern Colorado, visit the websites of the Foundation on Aging for Larimer County and the Larimer County Office on Aging.
- Assist your parents with a health assessment. This should cover physical, emotional, and mental health.
- Include other family members. Make sure you have the input and support of siblings, other family members, and close friends.
- Consider the options. Think of various services your elderly parents may need. Keep an initial care plan flexible.
- Remember that aging is an ongoing process. Think about the types of care your parents may need in future.
- Consider finances. Be aware of your parents’ finances and think about ways to fund care. Speaking to a financial planner may be helpful.
- Help your parents stay in their own home for as long as possible. Consult the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) for information on home adaptations for aging in place.
- Think about end-of-life decisions. Everyone should have a will and make end-of-life decisions well in advance of the time that these are necessary.
- Be sure you have support. Seek support from family members and friends, or visit http://www.caregiverstress.com for assistance.
Senior Care is personal to us. Request information about our home care services in Northern Colorado, OR call us at 970-494-0289.
Options for coping with senior care costs
There are so many things to consider in providing good home care for our elderly relatives, and an important consideration is how to finance this care.
While anything to do with finances is complex and depends on individual circumstances, it’s useful to have some background knowledge of the resources generally used to pay for senior care. 
- Savings: Some people fund their own elder care, but this requires considerable assets. For example, an investment portfolio worth over $1 million might be needed.
- Long-term care insurance: This method of financing home care is increasingly popular. Policies can be individualized to cover various benefits, which may range from limited to comprehensive in scope.
- Medicare: Medicare covers a large portion of medical costs, but not nonmedical care such as home care. The exception is up to 100 days of a nursing home stay (100% of costs for the first 20 days, and partial costs for the next 80), as long as the person is in a skilled rehab program.
- Medicaid: This means-tested program assists with nursing home costs once someone over 65 has exhausted all or almost all her or his own means. Unfortunately, assets have to be “spent down” until the senior has only about $2,000.
- Reverse mortgage: If seniors’ mortgages are paid off, they can enter an agreement with a bank so that it pays them a kind of income-tax-free mortgage. The seniors can stay in the house as long as they live or wish to stay there. The seniors are still responsible for real estate taxes and upkeep expenses.
Senior Care is personal to us. Request information about our home care services in Northern Colorado, OR call us at 970-494-0289.
