by trevor@addfuelfire.com | Dec 8, 2016 | Caregiving, Uncategorized
The holidays can be a challenging time for Michigan’s family caregivers. Seasonal festivities such as shopping for gifts, wrapping presents, decorating the house and hosting parties are activities most of us look forward to all year. But for already overwhelmed family caregivers, the additional demands on their schedule can lead to burnout.
Not surprisingly, almost half of all caregivers say the holidays are just too much. If you find yourself struggling, these tips might be of help.
Managing Caregiver Stress during the Holidays
- Ask for and Accept Help: This can be difficult for family caregivers to do. Many see caregiving as a duty and they don’t want to ask for help. Remind yourself that if you suffer a health crisis of your own, as many caregivers do, you won’t be able to care for your loved one at all. Ask a friend who is going out shopping to pick up a few things for you. Talk to the staff at your church or synagogue to see if there are volunteers available to assist struggling caregivers. Enlist the support of an in-home caregiver from a home care agency. Or take advantage of respite services at a senior living community near your Michigan home.
- Be Realistic: Pinterest, Instagram and other social media channels have given most of us unrealistic expectations of what the holidays should look like. It’s important to step back and set more realistic expectations for the season. It might mean using gift bags to “wrap” presents in or purchasing gift cards online instead of shopping for the perfect present.
- Connect with Fellow Caregivers Online: Creating a support system of fellow caregivers who can relate to and sympathize with your struggles is another great way to manage stress. In addition to the emotional support, you will likely be able to pick up some tips from support group members on how to juggle all of the responsibilities you have. A few highly regarded online support groups and forums include ALZ Connected and the Family Caregiver Alliance.
- Exercise: While the very idea of adding one more thing to your schedule might seem unrealistic, exercise can actually give you a mental and physical boost. And researchers now know that breaking your 30 minutes of daily exercise up in to segments (i.e. 2- fifteen minute walks or a fifteen minute walk combined with fifteen minutes on a stationary bike) have the same health benefits as 30 minutes of continuous exercise.
Our final holiday survival tip for family caregivers is to give yourself permission to say “no.” When someone asks you to bring a casserole to the church fundraiser or help wrap gifts for a local shelter, you might feel guilty about not pitching in. Remind yourself that it is okay to just take care of you and your family this year.
Photo Courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net
by trevor@addfuelfire.com | Dec 2, 2016 | Caregiving, Uncategorized
The holidays are a time when many families plan a vacation together. If often includes three generations of loved ones. With careful and thoughtful planning, inter-generational getaways can allow busy families time to create long-lasting memories.
What can you do to make the trip more enjoyable for everyone?
Here are a few suggestions.
4 Tips for Planning an Intergenerational Vacation
- Research before Booking: The first step in planning your holiday getaway is to take time to research options. From the destination to the hotel and method of transportation, the details are important. Consider a hotel suite where your senior loved one has a quiet place to retreat to away from the sometimes noisy younger generation. If your loved one isn’t safe staying alone in the hotel, call the concierge at places you are considering staying to see if they can make arrangements for a respite caregiver. The concierge may have someone available or be able to help you enlist the support of a local home care agency.
- Be Considerate in Expectations: While your elders might not want to slow you down or cause you to incur additional expenses, sometimes it is necessary. For example, booking direct flights might be a little more expensive. But it is often the best way of traveling with both the older and the younger generations. If you are driving, be reasonable about how long you can all be in the car each day and plan rest breaks to stretch your legs. Also, remember to make special accommodations for both the younger and the elder generation at the attractions you visit. For example, all the walking at Disneyland or a national park can be tough on little legs and older knees. Call ahead or check the website to see if you can reserve a wheelchair and/or a stroller.
- Prepare a Medical File: No one likes to think the worst will happen during vacation. But planning ahead in case an older loved one has a medical emergency away from home is important. You can use an app like CareZone or MyMedical to make it easier. Both allow you to safely store medical information such as a medication list, medical history, and physician contact information. You can use your smart phone to quickly access it in the event of an emergency.
- Communication Shortcuts: Traveling with a senior who has Alzheimer’s disease or a related form of dementia brings unique challenges. One of which can be communicating when their verbal skills are lost. It might help to create small cards that quickly explain your loved one’s situation. Then use them to hand to TSA agents during the screening process, flight attendants and others. It can help with communication while protecting your family member’s dignity.
Respite Care in Michigan
If your senior loved one isn’t up for a holiday trip this year, a respite stay at one of our Michigan senior living communities might be the solution.
Your family member can stay with us and enjoy all of the benefits and support our residents receive. You can relax and spend time with your own family knowing the older adult you love is safe and happy with us!
by trevor@addfuelfire.com | Nov 30, 2016 | Caregiving, Uncategorized
One question we often hear from adult children across the state of Michigan is how they can tell if an aging parent is still safe behind the wheel of their car. The older a parent is, the more families wonder how they will know when it is time to encourage their senior loved one to hang up their keys for good.
National Older Driver Awareness Week 2016 is December 5th through 9th. We are joining our voice with other aging services providers across the country to share important information on older drivers and the unique challenges they face.
Does Aging Impact a Senior’s Ability to Drive Safely?
Part of the challenge in assessing a senior’s driving ability is that it can’t be determined solely by their age. While we all have some similar aging experiences, everyone ages differently. Your 82 year old father may be a much better driver than a 70 year old who lives with multiple chronic health problems.
Here’s what Michigan families should know about aging issues that can affect driving:
- Medication Side Effects: Some medications commonly used by older adults can cause drowsiness. A few of the worst offenders are pain medications, sleeping pills, antidepressants, and over-the-counter cough medicine.
- Flexibility: While many older adults are active and fit, they can still suffer from a loss of flexibility. This makes it difficult to turn and look over their shoulder to back out of a parking space or merge on to the freeway.
- Vision: Since 90% of decisions made while driving are based on visual information, vision impairments can make driving much more difficult. In general, the aging eye requires more light than a younger eye. This often makes driving at night unsafe for senior drivers.
- Reaction Time: Reacting to an emergency when you are behind the wheel of a car requires sensing, deciding and acting often within a matter of seconds. Age lengthens the time it takes the brain to react. It can put older adults at higher risk for an accident.
Overcoming Age-Related Driving Issues
In some cases, there are steps seniors can take to stay safer behind the wheel of their car:
- Make sure your senior loved one has a yearly vision exam. This makes it easier to spot and address potential problems early.
- Read medication labels. If your loved one takes any medication that warns of drowsiness or comes with the caution “Do not operate heavy machinery,” remind them to leave the driving to you or another family member.
- Encourage your senior driver to leave more distance between them and the car ahead of them, so they have more time to react to unexpected issues on the road.
- Remind your parent to minimize driving distractions, such as listening to the radio or talking on a cell phone.
- If traffic moves too fast on main highways and freeways, advise your older family member to take side roads instead. It also helps to schedule appointments and run errands during slower traffic times.
Our final tip is to encourage your aging loved one to take a class to refresh their driving skills. These courses will provide changes in traffic laws and offer other safe driving tips for seniors.
Being a good driver means being aware of and accepting changing abilities. These simple adjustments can help you keep the older drivers in your life safe.
by trevor@addfuelfire.com | Nov 26, 2016 | Caregiving, Uncategorized
Anyone who has watched a family caregiver struggle to manage all of their roles and responsibilities knows just how exhausting the job can be. It often leaves people worn out and stressed out.
Caregiving can also have an impact on the caregiver’s own family finances. It isn’t uncommon for them to have to cut back on their hours at work. This loss of income can be especially difficult because family caregivers incur additional expenses related to caring for their loved one.
The holidays can be a great time to show the caregiver in your life that you are thinking of them.
2016 Gift Guide for Michigan Family Caregivers
Here are a few suggestions for holiday gifts for the family caregiver you love:
- Maid Service: A great holiday gift for the caregiver in your life might be maid service. Because they are so busy caring for everyone else, their own home may be neglected. Whether you buy them a one day deep cleaning package or a monthly cleaning, it will no doubt be appreciated.
- Home Delivered Meals: Healthy, home delivered meals are probably a caregivers dream. If there isn’t a local option near the caregiver’s home, a variety of national meal services are available. Hello Fresh and Blue Apron are just a few.
- Day of Pampering: Time and money are often in short supply for a family caregiver. This is why they might really enjoy spending time being pampered with a friend. Whether it is at one of Michigan’s Spa Resorts or just a few hours at a local salon, the caregiver will benefit from a little bit of rest and relaxation. You might need to explore respite care services so your friend doesn’t have to worry about their loved one when they are taking a break.
- Gift of Time. For caregivers, there are never enough hours in the day. A gift idea they will truly appreciate is a coupon book full of vouchers they can use when they need a helping hand. Having a coupon to trade in might make it easier for them to ask for help. Create coupons for things like picking up prescriptions, preparing a home cooked meal, dropping their kids off at volleyball practice or picking up a few groceries. The gift of time is sure to be a hit with a family caregiver.
The bottom line is the best holiday gifts for caregivers are usually those that allow them time to slow down and enjoy themselves!
by trevor@addfuelfire.com | Oct 26, 2016 | Caregiving, Uncategorized
If you are the adult child of a senior who lives alone, safety is probably an on-going concern. For older adults, the bathroom can be especially dangerous. More accidents take place in the bathroom than any other room in a senior’s home.
From slippery flooring to poor lighting, it’s important to learn how to create a safer bathroom for a senior you love.
5 Tips for a Senior-Friendly Bathroom
Here’s what adult children and family caregivers can do to create a senior-friendly bathroom:
- Raised Toilet Seat: 85% of injuries in adults age 85 and older happen near the toilet. Make this area safer by taking down towel bars your loved one might be using to pull themselves up and around. Towel bars aren’t designed to support this type of pressure and may come loose causing your loved one to fall. Replace them with sturdy grab bars on both sides of the toilet. It also helps to install a raised toilet seat so the older adult is less likely to lose their balance transferring on to and off of the toilet.
- Install Good Lighting: Another safety feature you can easily add to your senior loved one’s bathroom is improved lighting. Good lighting helps older adults better distinguish objects around them. This helps the older adult avoid running in to things or tripping over objects.
- Step-free Shower: Seniors are also at higher risk for a fall when they are climbing in to and out of the bathtub. Even stepping over the side of it to take a shower can be dangerous. Have their current bathroom modified to create a step-free shower with grab bars on both sides. Purchasing a sturdy tub chair from a medical supply company can also help keep your loved one safer.
- Easy to Reach Supplies: Work with your senior loved one to store the supplies they use most often in easy-to-access locations. Try to avoid storing items in spots that require them to climb up on a step stool or get down on the floor to reach them. For people with strength or balance problems, these are activities that can increase the odds for a fall.
Our final suggestion is to purchase a medical alert pendant or bracelet your family member. While they aren’t always popular with seniors, they can be life-saving. And many newer models are smaller and less obvious than older ones.
Consider a Michigan Senior Living Community
If you are concerned that a Michigan senior you love is at risk for a fall, a senior living community might be an ideal solution. Heritage Seniors Communities are designed to help older adults stay active and healthy. We invite you to call the community nearest you to schedule a private tour.
by trevor@addfuelfire.com | Oct 22, 2016 | Caregiving, Uncategorized
When an aging parent lives alone, it isn’t uncommon for their adult children to spend a great deal of time wondering and worrying about their safety. This is especially true if the senior lives in an older home. Houses built many years ago typically weren’t designed with seniors in mind.
Older houses often have stairs to climb up and down, a laundry room located in the basement, and bathrooms with tubs instead of walk-in showers.
Conducting a safety assessment of your aging parent’s house is one of the best ways to identify potential hazards and come up with a plan to fix them before a crisis occurs.
Conducting a Safety Assessment of a Senior Loved One’s Home
Here are a few items to make sure you don’t overlook when you are assessing an aging loved one’s home for safety:
- Bathroom Hazards: More accidents occur in the bathroom than any other room in the house. Start by removing any towel bars your parent might be using or tempted to use to pull themselves up with. Towel bars are not safe or designed for this purpose. They can break away from the wall causing the senior to fall. Replace the towel bars with sturdy grab bars near the tub and toilet. It also helps minimize their risk for an accident if you reorganize the bathroom so the items used most frequently are stored within easy reach. Your goal should be to prevent your loved one from climbing on a stool or getting down on the floor to find supplies. It might also be necessary to renovate one bathroom to accommodate a step-free shower stall.
- Flooring Assessment: An often overlooked hazard in a senior’s house is the flooring. Older carpeting is more likely to have rips and wrinkles which create fall hazards. Thresholds between rooms can also be a concern. Make sure the flooring in every room is level and in good repair to prevent your loved one from tripping.
- Good Attention to Lighting: Vision problems are more common as we age. It’s one reason why good lighting is so important. Walk through your family member’s home room by room to evaluate their lighting. Pay close attention to lights at the top and bottom of stairways, in long hallways and in the rooms used most often.
- Fire Safety: Seniors are much more likely to be injured or lose their life in a fire. Many times it’s because their smoke detector doesn’t work or they have hearing loss and can’t hear the smoke alarms go off. Fire prevention experts say you should test smoke alarms each month and change the batteries twice a year. If you don’t live near your loved one, call their local fire department. Some offer this service at no charge to older adults. You might also want to invest in smoke detectors that vibrate and/or turn on a strobe light in the event of a fire.
- Exterior Assessment: Don’t forget to look for potential risks outside your loved one’s home and in their garage. Be sure the railings on outside stairs are in good shape and strong enough to hold the senior’s weight when they pull against it. Look for cracks in walkways and stairways. Also make sure there is a motion-activated light to illuminate the garage and path the senior takes after dark.
The Facts About Falls and Seniors
The statistics on falls among older adults are alarming. One in three adults over the age of 65 experiences a fall each year. These falls are the leading cause of disability among seniors. It’s why paying close attention to your loved one’s environment is so important.
If you think it’s time for the aging parent or senior family member in your life to consider a move to a safer location, Heritage Senior Communities invites you to stop by for a tour at your convenience.
