Here are a few ideas for elder care givers.

• Look through old photographs, talking about each one. Put them together to create a scrapbook; this is a great hands-on activity for you and your elder, and it serves as a wonderful keepsake to share for years to come.
• Read together. Reading is an important activity to keep the mind sharp. Read the latest newspaper to your elder. You can also share your favorite poetry and stories and take turns reading aloud.
• Play games. Board games and puzzles exercise the brain for people of all ages! These activities are also a great way for elders to bond with the younger generation of grandchildren or great grandchildren.
• Every once and awhile it’s nice to get out of the house and take short day trips. If the weather is nice, visit a nearby park or community garden. Trips to museums are a great choice for those rainy day excursions. Be sure to keep your elder’s abilities in mind when planning these activities. Keep them short in duration so as not to overwhelm or overwork your elder.
• Another great activity to involve members of the whole family is to bake together. Have your elder loved one stir the batter and help measure out the ingredients. Take into account the dietary restrictions of your elder so that they are able to enjoy the delicious goods as well!

These are just a few ideas for elder care givers to help aging parents keep their minds sharp; there are still so many other activities that you can enjoy together. For other ideas or elder care advice, contact us today.

Alzheimer’s, along with the other forms of dementia, debilitates not only the person diagnosed with the disease, but everyone who surrounds them. The caregiving needs are extreme, and the job never stops. That’s where services like Bass Eldercare come into the picture. Families need resources and elder care advocacy – but they also need hope.

Hope that the treatments and new medicines will slow the progression of this terrible disease.

Hope that there is a cure to stop or even reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s.

There are people who say there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, and that the condition is irreversible. But once upon a time – not so long ago, really – cancer was a death sentence. So was diabetes. Heart attacks were nearly always fatal. Today? We may not have cured all of these conditions, but we’ve learned to tackle more than a few – and we’re learning how to manage the others as chronic conditions.

The news that the US is Declaring War on Alzheimer’s feeds the hope that there will someday be a cure. As a strong supporter of elder care advocacy, I’m excited by what I read in this article, including the fact that there will be much needed dollars flowing into Alzheimer’s research.

Elder Care Givers Need Support

It’s my sincere hope that this initiative will also result in a heightened awareness of the hundreds of thousands of families that live with Alzheimer’s every day. Elder care givers don’t have an easy role to fill, but these families face a particularly challenging burden. By sharing our stories and finding ways to connect with elder care givers and promote elder care advocacy, we will be making meaningful change in our communities.

We’re all touched by Alzheimer’s, and we’d all benefit from seeing this disease eliminated. Every one of us can do something to help wage the war against Alzheimer’s. Something as simple as being there to enjoy a cup of coffee and some conversation can be so helpful against the isolation that impacts the person with Alzheimer’s and their elder care givers alike.

The Benefits of Curing Alzheimer’s

One of the biggest challenges in Alzheimer’s care is finding appropriate housing, as well as funding for that housing. At Bass Eldercare Resources, we work closely, on an individual basis, with all of our clients, to find the best housing solutions.

Some elders strongly prefer to live independently as long as possible. Our team helps foster that independence while coordinating a supportive safety net of health care oversight, daily living assistance, bill pay services and other essential tasks. Elder care givers often benefit from respite services: it can make life tremendously easier to have a trusted caregiving professional be there for the person with Alzheimer’s while the elder care givers go out to do the shopping, take care of errands, or simply have some time to relax.

When we find a cure for Alzheimer’s, or even ways to better control and contain this condition, what we’re also discovering is a way to reduce the challenges and costs for elder care givers as well. This has an immediate benefit for the caregiver and the community!

The following safety measures can serve as a checklist of items to employ while caring for seniors in your home or while safety proofing your elder’s home.

• If the home has stairs, install handrails on both sides on every staircase
• Make sure the entire staircase is well lit, particularly at the top and bottom
• Install strong, supportive hand rails and a slip-proof mat in tubs and showers
• Help keep the home free of clutter that may cause trips or falls
• Ensure all carpeting has a strong adhesive back and will stay in place
• Make sure furniture is out of the way providing a clear path to walk
• Keep hallways and common areas lit with a nightlight in case your elder must get up in the night for a glass of water or to use the restroom

Following these guidelines while caring for seniors will also serve as peace of mind for you. Knowing that you’ve taken the appropriate measures to make your elder’s home safe should make you feel more at ease. You can now spend more time enjoying each moment with your loved one rather than worrying about the safety of their home!

If you have any questions regarding how to keep your elder safe at home or are interested in further senior care help or advice, please contact us at Bass Eldercare.

How many times have you heard about a fall resulting in a broken arm, shattered pelvis or worse? There’s a reason for that. The aging process changes our bodies. We become less resilient. Bones break more easily. We bruise more easily. It takes longer to ‘bounce back’ and recover from even minor injuries.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. There are steps you can take to help aging parents prevent slips and falls. Read the below elder care advice to learn more:

Talk to the Doctor

There are several health conditions elders experience that can contribute directly to slips and falls. Gout, bursitis, arthritis, and similar conditions can make it difficult to maintain one’s balance, especially if you’re on uneven ground. It’s good to know what your elder is dealing with and what you can expect. Your doctor may provide additional elder care advice such as checking the side effects of prescription medications. They may make your elder dizzy or unsteady on their feet.

Check the Lighting

One reason elders fall is that they simply don’t see the obstacles that trip them up. Our vision changes as we get older. Cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and macular degeneration make it hard to see, especially in a low light environment. Help aging parents by making sure your elder is living in a well-lit area. Pay particular attention to staircases and entryways: two areas where many falls happen.

Help Aging Parents With The Housework

Clutter and debris that gets underfoot can contribute directly to your elder falling down. Most elders have the best intentions. They mean to keep their living areas clean and tidy. However, that isn’t always possible. Having someone help your elder perform the tasks of daily living helps ensure that they are in a tidy environment without the clutter that causes falls.

Check The Shoes & Slippers Your Elders Wear

Footwear choices can have a tremendous impact on the number of slips and falls your elder experiences. Check the shoes and slippers they wear. You want the soles to have good tread, making it easier to avoid slips and falls. Smooth bottomed shoes make it easy to fall! Replace worn out shoes and slippers regularly. This is also a great way to help cut down on the fungal infections that plague many elder’s feet! For elder care advice regarding appropriate footwear choices, consult with your elder’s doctor or podiatrist.

Embrace Adaptive Technology

There are many ways you can make your elder’s home safer. Installing handrails and grab bars in slip-prone areas, such as the bathroom, can make a tremendous difference. Something as simple as having a bar to hold onto while getting in and out of the shower can make independent living much safer for your elder. Stair lifts, chairlifts, and vertical platform lifts are all specialized lifts that can be installed in your elder’s home so they can travel from one floor to another without having to physically climb the stairs. This greatly reduces the risk of falling.

Every elder is different and has different needs. Bass Eldercare can help you assess which solutions are right for your family and provide targeted, specific elder care advice to meet your individual needs. Preventing slips and falls needs to be every caregiver’s goal, throughout 2012 and beyond!

We hope these holiday travel tips help reduce the stress so that you can spend less time worrying and more time enjoying the gift of family!

Elder Care Advice: Holiday Travel Tips

• Make a medical checklist – and check it twice! Travel with all medications in their original bottles or packages. Be aware of any current and past medical conditions of your senior… just in case. Keep a schedule on hand of when your senior needs to take their medications each day.

• Carry travel-sized hand sanitizer (3 ounces or less) and be sure to make frequent stops at restrooms to keep hands clean and free of germs and bacteria.

• Plan to arrive at the airport or train station at least two hours before your scheduled departure time. This gives both you and your senior time to get through security, collect yourselves, use the restroom and relax for a minute before the hustle and bustle of boarding begins.

• After passing through security, purchase plenty of water. Often times, the air inside the train or airplane is very dry. Make sure you have packed plenty of appropriate snacks, also. Caring for seniors while travelling means making sure that they stay hydrated and comfortable– and you as well!

For more information on caring for seniors during the holiday season, contact us at Bass Eldercare Resources for elder care advice and support.

Be Smart About Senior Travel

Before you buy any plane tickets, book the train, or get geared up for a two-hour car ride, it’s time to make a realistic assessment of your elder’s capacity to travel a great distance. If you’re providing daily New York area elder care, you’ll have a good idea of how well they’ll be able to tolerate travel. However, if you’re a distance away, you’ll want to talk with the team that is providing direct elder care help for your loved one. They’ll inform you of any cognitive or physical limitations that could make travel tricky.

Your elder may need to travel with a companion to ensure they arrive home for the holidays safely! Cognitive issues such as Alzheimer’s and dementia can contribute to confusion when an elder is in unfamiliar settings, such as an airport or train or bus station. Being aware of and prepared for this issue is the best plan.

In many ways, traveling with an elder can be like traveling with a small child. You must anticipate and be able to meet all of their physical needs. Having food, drinks, medication, access to comfort items and the bathroom can make any trip easier. Not having any one of these items can create travel nightmares! Talk to Bass Eldercare, the New York area elder care experts, if you’re concerned about the best way to arrange holiday travel and would like elder care help or elder care advice.

De-Stress Family Gatherings for Your Senior

Family gatherings are the highlight of the holiday season. For many elders, this may be the only time of year when they see children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Having everyone all together at the same time is tremendously exciting – but it also can become overwhelming.

Make sure that every family gathering has a quiet room or space where people can retreat to if things become too much. Keep an eye on your elder: the moment when grandchildren’s antics go from cute to chaos can happen in the blink of an eye. A change of scenery can help keep things calm and peaceful. As an added bonus, quiet spaces are great for other family members who need a little serenity: whether that’s a napping baby or a teen who’s had enough of Uncle Bob’s rendition of “The 12 Days of Christmas,” the respite will be appreciated.

Talk to children ahead of time about what they can expect from their visit with their elder. You don’t need to go into deep detail. Simply explain, on the child’s level, that everyone is different. Some grandparents and great-grandparents can play ball, read stories, or play video games, while others require more elder care help. Let them know if it’s okay to climb on a lap or give hugs. Giving kids a head’s up can help them know the best way to interact with their elder.

Sometimes our elders use oxygen or other medical equipment that can frighten or fascinate little children. Explaining this equipment in child-appropriate language (Great-grandma uses that hose to help her breathe easily – Grandpa uses that wheelchair to move around more easily) can help ease any fears. Keep little fingers away from all medical equipment to help your elder enjoy the holiday. There’s nothing more potentially terrifying than knowing a 3-year old is messing with your oxygen supply!

Know and respect your elder’s limitations. A short, enjoyable time spent with the family is much better than long hours that devolve into chaos. Planning, preparation, and realistic expectations are key to stress-free holiday gatherings for everyone! If you’re looking for elder care advice for the holidays, contact us today to speak with our experienced New York area elder care advocates.

The holidays are a time that brings families together to share in love and the joy of the season. When the spirits are usually flying high among family members, it’s important to pay attention to the behavior of your senior loved one, particularly if their attitudes and behaviors have suddenly changed. The holiday season can provide an opportune time to address your concerns and get help for elderly parents or loved ones – even if that means discussing touchy topics such as addiction.

Understanding the signs of substance abuse is the first step in getting help for elderly parents or loved ones struggling with addictions.

The signs of substance abuse among older adults include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Sudden lack of interest in their favorite hobbies and activities
• Becoming distant and easily agitated with loved ones
• Abnormal and frequent mood swings
• Repeated headaches
• Unusual reaction to prescription medications
• Difficulty holding a conversation and maintaining focus or concentration

Eldercare advocacy is essential – it’s not too late for your loved one to change their unhealthy behaviors. If you think your love one is struggling with addiction, express your concern and explain the signs and symptoms to their physician. For additional resources and eldercare advice, please get in touch with us.

Many of us only get to see our parents or other elders during the holiday season. The visit for Thanksgiving, Christmas or Hanukkah can provide the first clue that there’s something going on.

Help aging parents who may be struggling with addictions by watching for these clues:

The Signs of Addiction in Elders

The fact that your Mother enjoys holiday cocktails doesn’t necessarily mean she’s got a secret drinking problem. It’s important that we, as caregivers and loved ones, don’t jump to see problems where they don’t exist. At the same time, it’s important that we don’t ignore the very real changes in our loved one’s physical and emotional health that could be due to addiction.

Addiction is a disease. It is a disease your loved one may have had for many years, or that they may have developed now that they are older. There’s a tremendous amount of research being done on the mind-body connection and how that contributes to some people being trapped in the sticky web of addiction. Right now, we know that there are certain neurochemicals that are pleasurably stimulated when a person engages in an addictive behavior. It might be taking a drink, it might be taking painkillers or other prescription medication incorrectly, and it might be buying things on eBay: the behavior doesn’t matter to the addict’s brain as much as the pleasurable stimulation it receives.

Use your holiday visit to assess your elder’s behaviors and help aging parents who display signs of addiction. The signs of trouble can be very clear: finding your elder intoxicated repeatedly, for example, is a clue that there’s a problem. Other elders are more secretive about their drinking or medication abuse. That is why it is so essential to have alert, aware caregiver support focused on your elder’s needs. For eldercare advice regarding how to best approach these difficult issues, contact us at Bass Eldercare Resources LLC.

It’s A Blue Christmas Without You

Grief can have a very real role in an elder’s addictive behavior. Losing a spouse or life partner is always devastating. During the holiday season, the wounds are particularly raw. Even if you miss your loved one every day, the pain can be especially intense during the holidays. Elders who don’t have a strong support system really struggle to fill the void left by the loss of a loved one.

Alcohol and drugs won’t fill that void, but they can make the pain of the loss a little less sharp.
If you know your elder has experienced a significant loss, if they seem more isolated and alone than ever before, if they’re exhibiting signs of depression, or you see significant changes in their behavior, any addictive behavior can be a concern. This is a time when your loved one needs extra care and support. Holiday visits are a good start. Finding a compassionate, supportive way to encourage healthier choices through the grieving process is an essential next step.

It Is Never Too Late

It is never too late for your elder to have the best quality of life possible. If your loved one has been drinking, misusing prescription medication, or engaged in addictive behavior for most of their life, it may seem that change is impossible. However, it is possible for everyone to make healthier choices. Even if an addiction is not completely cured or eliminated, it can be possible to reduce the role of alcohol, prescription drugs and painkillers, and addictive behaviors in your loved one’s life.

Talking to your elder about their drinking, prescription drug misuse, or addictive behaviors such as gambling or shopping can be extremely difficult. It’s best to prepare with a skilled eldercare provider who can offer you experienced and compassionate eldercare advice and connect you with the resources needed to help aging parents face this problem. They don’t have to do it alone – and neither do you!

This means there’s a very short time left to review your elder’s coverage and get everything in order. Navigating the various Medicare coverage options and deciding on one that best suits the needs of your elder can be quite overwhelming. Remember, we’re always here for you to turn to!

There are additional resources that you can access for further information.

• The official Medicare handbook addresses the changes to Medicare this season.
• Medicare’s 2011 Open Enrollment calendar helps elder care givers plan and organize the process.
• The Medicare Plan Finder allows elder care givers to conduct a general or personalized search to help narrow your elder’s options.

If you’re feeling a little lost in the process, don’t hesitate to lean on us – that’s what we’re here for!

Every fall, Medicare’s Open Enrollment period allows elders and their families a chance to review coverage, explore new coverage options, and, if they wish, make changes to their plan. This is the only time of year when these changes can be made. That’s why I’m urging everyone who’s reading these words to take the time to go over your elder’s coverage and make sure everything is properly in place for the coming year.

There have been several positive changes to Medicare this year. Premiums for several plans have gone down. If you have Medicare Advantage, you’ll see premiums drop an average of 4%. Part D drug coverage costs are remaining steady, and if you reach the coverage gap, you’ll be eligible for a 50% discount on brand name drugs. This is important information to have when you’re helping your elder plan their budget. It seems like costs are going up everywhere. Any opportunity to save money is a good one!

Besides the premium changes, there are a number of benefits that every elder should know about:

• Medicare Advantage is now available through most of the country
• More preventative tests & screenings now available at no cost
• Annual Wellness Visit encourages health and preventative care

Medicare Planning: Resources For Making the Best Choices

Every elder is different. Individual health circumstances, financial situations, and personal preference play a role in determining what type of Medicare coverage is best for any elder. The fact that there are changes to the program every year doesn’t make the whole thing any easier!

Medicare does do a good job providing resources elders and caregivers can use to make informed decisions. The online Medicare Plan Finder is a great source of information, but it can be a little overwhelming. If you need help sorting through the tremendous amount of information and determining how it is relevant to your elder’s situation, give us a call. We’d be happy to help you!