Old? Elderly? Senior? No, Just Aging
At what age do you become an elderly person or a senior citizen?
By Jane Glenn Haas

A few days ago, a young gal asked me if I wrote about "senior citizens." I told her I hadn’t written about them in years. In fact, I rarely even write about "seniors" anymore.

I’m not alone.

In its recent magazine, AARP avoided the word "seniors" until a health piece about "An ER for You" forced them to talk about a 65-plus facility designed for "seniors."

There might be references to "Medicare recipients" and other indicators of age, but that nasty word "senior"—made even nastier when followed by "citizen"—is carefully avoided.

Wondering why? Go back and check out that definition of "senior citizens"—the one we operated under for years. It says people 60-plus are "elderly." Indeed, until 2000 the U.S. Census classified anyone 54-plus as "near elderly" and those over 60 as "elderly."

Now there’s nothing wrong with being elderly. I hope I am some day.

Continue reading from silverplanet.com…

Visit Andelcare for all of your care and assistance needs in the Bellevue WA area.

School’s On for Seniors
By: Michelle Seitzer

Senior citizens who still yearn to learn may have the opportunity to do so free of charge, a welcome prospect for seniors crunched in the currently stressed economy.

Here’s a brief rundown of several programs available across the US:

For a state-by-state breakdown, consult www.seniorresource.com

In Union County, New Jersey, the LIFE (Learning is ForEver) Center invites Union County residents above the age of 62 to register for an unlimited number of courses, held at places and times convenient to these sophisticated learners. Biology, government, art, Shakespeare, and American foreign policy are among the diverse offerings. Find out more here.

In the Money section of US News & World Report.com, writer Emily Brandon gives a bird’s eye view of general information on tuition waivers, auditing courses, scholarships and more. According to the article, 84% of community colleges present free courses specifically for students age 50 and older, so grab your phone book (or get on Google), find the community college nearest you, and give them a ring to see what’s on the roster for senior students. Review the facts.

A recent piece at CantonRep.com points Ohio residents to audit the course of their choice through Kent State University’s Stark campus. The Senior Guest program there allows anyone 60 and up to take a course free of charge, so long as there are open seats. Get the scoop.

For more information, continue reading here…

For information about how Andelcare can help your family care for a loved one in the Seattle area, visit www.andelcare.com.

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.
Stanley Horowitz

Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.
Albert Camus

It’s important to prepare for possible disasters and other emergencies. Natural and human caused disasters can strike suddenly, at any time and anywhere. There are three actions everyone can take that can help make a difference …

Get a kit.   Make a plan.   Be informed.

Be Red Cross Ready Checklist
_ I know what emergencies or disasters are most likely to occur in my community.
_ I have a family disaster plan and have practiced it.
_ I have an emergency preparedness kit.
_ At least one member of my household is trained in first aid and CPR/AED.
_ I have taken action to help my community prepare.
 

Get a kit

At a minimum, have the basic supplies listed below. Keep supplies in an easy-to-carry emergency preparedness kit that you can use at home or take with you in case you must evacuate.
•Water—one gallon per person, per day (3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home) • Food—non-perishable, easy-to-prepare items (3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home) • Flashlight • Battery-powered or hand-crank radio (NOAAWeather Radio, if possible) • Extra batteries • First aid kit • Medications (7-day supply) and medical items • Multipurpose tool • Sanitation and personal hygiene items • Copies of personal documents (medication list and pertinent medical information, proof of address, deed/lease to home, passports, birth certificates, insurance policies) • Cell phone with chargers • Family and emergency contact information • Extra cash • Emergency blanket • Map(s) of the area 
 

Consider the needs of all family members and add supplies to your kit.  Suggested items to help meet additional needs are:
• Medical supplies (hearing aids with extra batteries, glasses, contact lenses, syringes, cane) • Baby supplies (bottles, formula, baby food, diapers) • Games and activities for children • Pet supplies (collar, leash, ID, food, carrier, bowl) • Two-way radios • Extra set of car keys and house keys • Manual can opener

Additional supplies to keep at home or in your kit based on the types of disasters common to your area:

•Whistle • N95 or surgical masks • Matches • Rain gear • Towels •Work gloves • Tools/supplies for securing your home • Extra clothing, hat and sturdy shoes • Plastic sheeting • Duct tape • Scissors • Household liquid bleach • Entertainment items • Blankets or sleeping bags
 

Make a plan
_ Meet with your family or household members.
_ Discuss how to prepare and respond to emergencies that are most likely to happen where you live, learn, work and play.
_ Identify responsibilities for each member of your household and plan to work together as a team.
_ If a family member is in the military, plan how you would respond if they were deployed.

Plan what to do in case you are separated during an emergency
_ Choose two places to meet:
  • Right outside your home in case of a sudden emergency, such as a fire
  • Outside your neighborhood, in case you cannot return home or are asked to evacuate
_ Choose an out-of-area emergency contact person. It may be easier to text or call long distance if local phone lines are overloaded or out of service.

Everyone should have emergency contact information in writing or programmed into their cell phones.

Plan what to do if you have to evacuate
_ Decide where you would go and what route you would take to get there. You may choose to go to a hotel/motel, stay with friends or relatives in a safe location or go to an evacuation shelter if necessary.
_ Practice evacuating your home twice a year. Drive your planned evacuation route and plot alternate routes on your map in case roads are impassable.
_ Plan ahead for your pets. Keep a phone list of pet-friendly hotels/motels and animal shelters that are along your evacuation routes.
 

Be informed

Learn what disasters or emergencies may occur in your area. These events can range from those affecting only you and your family, like a home fire or medical emergency, to those affecting your entire community, like an earthquake or flood.
_ Identify how local authorities will notify you during a disaster and how you will get information, whether through local radio, TV or NOAAWeather Radio stations or channels.
_ Know the difference between different weather alerts such as watches and warnings and what actions to take in each.
_ Know what actions to take to protect yourself during disasters that may occur in areas where you travel or have moved recently. For example, if you travel to a place where earthquakes are common and you are not familiar with them, make sure you know what to do to protect yourself should one occur.
_ When a major disaster occurs, your community can change in an instant. Loved ones may be hurt and emergency response is likely to be delayed. Make sure that at least one member of your household is trained in first aid and CPR and knows how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED). This training is useful in many emergency situations.
_ Share what you have learned with your family, household and neighbors and encourage them to be informed.

Emergency Contact Cards for All Household Members
Get your cards online at http://www.redcross.org /prepare/ECCard.pdf.

_ Print one card for each family member. _ Write the contact information for each household member, such as work, school and cell phone numbers.
_ Fold the card so it fits in your pocket, wallet or purse.
_ Carry the card with you so it is available in the event of a disaster or other emergency.
 

Let Your Family Know You’re Safe
Tell your loved ones about the American Red Cross Safe andWellWeb site available through RedCross.org. This Internet-based tool should be integrated into your emergency communications plan. People within a disaster-affected area can register themselves as “safe and well” and concerned family and friends who know the person’s phone number or address can search for messages posted by those who self-register. If you don’t have Internet access, call 1-866-GET-INFO to register yourself and your family.

It is sad to see summer go when it seemed so short. Try and take advantage of our mild fall weather and go see the Seattle Art Museum’s Sculpture Park in Seattle if you have a chance. It’s a great outdoor adventure.

Things at Andelcare have not slowed down and we have had some exciting things happen – we were featured in the Puget Sound Business Journal “Growing Your Business” section and we were just named one of the top 100 fastest growing businesses in Puget Sound !

September is National Preparedness Month. Since fall and winter storms are fast approaching we all need a good reminder to be ready for any kind of emergency. Please read the following article from the Red Cross to ensure you and your family are ready. This information is especially important to a senior. I know I need to do some updating to my emergency plan.

Technologies Help Adult Children Monitor Aging Parents
By HILARY STOUT

IN the wee hours of July 14, Elizabeth Roach, a 70-year-old widow, got out of bed and went to the living room of her Virginia ranch home. She sat in her favorite chair for 15 minutes, then returned to bed.

Michael Murdoch remotely tracks the well-being of his mother, Elizabeth Roach, from his home in Aurora, Colo.

She rose again shortly after 6, went to the kitchen, plugged in the coffee pot, showered and took her weight and blood pressure. Throughout the morning, she moved back and forth between the kitchen and the living room. She opened her medicine cabinet at 12:21 and closed it at 12:22. Immediately afterward, she opened the refrigerator door for almost three minutes. At 1:36, she opened the kitchen door and went outside.

All this information — including her exact weight (126 pounds) and blood pressure reading (139/98) — was transmitted via the Internet to her 44-year-old son, Michael Murdock, who reviewed it from his home office in suburban Denver.

All was normal — meaning all was well.

“Right now she’s not home,” Mr. Murdock said. That he deduced because the sensors he had installed throughout his mother’s home told him that the kitchen door — which leads outside — had not been reopened since 1:36, more than an hour earlier. The opening of the medicine cabinet midday confirmed to him that his mother had taken her medicine. And he was satisfied that she had eaten lunch because the refrigerator door was open more than just a few seconds.

In the general scheme of life, parents are the ones who keep tabs on the children. But now, a raft of new technology is making it possible for adult children to monitor to a stunningly precise degree the daily movements and habits of their aging parents.

The purpose is to provide enough supervision to make it possible for elderly people to stay in their homes rather than move to an assisted-living facility or nursing home — a goal almost universally embraced as both emotionally and financially desirable. With that in mind, a vast spectrum of companies, from giants like General Electric to start-ups like iReminder of Westfield, N.J., which has developed a system to notify families if loved ones haven’t taken their medicine, are looking for a piece of the market of families with an aging relative.

…continue reading from nytimes.com

If you need help caring for a loved one in the Bellevue area, please visit www.andelcare.com for more information.

Mental Wellness
From Healthy Aging®

If you think old, you ARE old.

A decline in memory is not always a function of serious disease, like Alzheimer’s. Sometimes memory loss is caused by factors that can be changed — such as diet, medication misuse, depression, etc… At the National Institute on Aging, research is showing that memory may be like other parts of the body. Research showed that the very gradual declines in memory take place until age 70 — when the pace increases, but not so much as to impair us. The conclusion?

The processes of normal aging do not rob you of your memory.

The greatest enemy to the healthy senior mind is depression. New activities, hobbies, and exercise are wonderful anti-depressants. If you truly are depressed, don’t bear it alone — SEEK HELP!

    Stay active doing things that use your memory:

• Take a class, play games, be with people
• Pick up the phone now and call someone, just to "chat"
• Volunteer your time. Get involved with a cause you believe in or in something that interests you
• Seek out variety and challenge in your daily life

… continue reading from healthyaging.net
 

To learn about Andelcare and how we can help you care for an aging loved one, visit www.andelcare.com for more information.

I wanted to share this article from agingcare.com. If you have a friend or family member who may be suffering with Alzheimer’s, we know how stressful and lonely this disease can be. For information about help for a senior loved one in the Seattle WA area, visit us at www.andelcare.com.

Caregiving For Alzheimer’s Patients

It is an understatement to say that taking care of a loved one who is stricken with Alzheimer’s Disease, also known as ‘AD’, is a tough job.

(AD is an illness which results in the progressive loss of brain nerve cells, leading to a gradual decline of mental functions and is the most common cause of dementia).

AD is considered to be among the most stressful illness a family caregiver can face and one of the most physically and mentally exhausting situations in a person’s life.

The demands are so stressful that many studies show that caregiving impairs caregivers’ immune function, escalating the risks of both physical and emotional health problems. Another study indicates that up to 47 per cent of family caregivers experience depression.

As AD progresses in patients, so does the burden of care with a myriad of emotions such as frustration, anxiety, anger and helplessness bottled up among caregivers.

…Continue reading from www.agingcare.com

Drug Assistance Programs Keep Seniors on Track

Irene Mooney survived four heart attacks and still copes with high cholesterol, persistent indigestion and heart problems. Recently, she developed some dangerous new symptoms — suspicious bruising all over her body and severe fatigue. "I could barely put one foot in front of the other," she says. A pharmacist discovered the culprit: some of the very medications Mooney was taking to manage her medical conditions.

The pharmacist met with Mooney, examined her 13 medications and then contacted her doctor, who cut the dosage of one drug and replaced another, reducing her risk of uncontrollable bleeding. Mooney, 82, one of the devoted card players at her seniors’ complex, soon noticed the change. "I’ve been so much better," she says.

…continue reading from usatoday.com

For information about in home care and assistance in the Bellevue WA area, visit www.andelcare.com.

Putting Home Care in Seattle WA  in Perspective

The Evolution of Home Care

In the first century of our country’s history there was no such thing as nursing homes or assisted living. Society was mostly rural and people lived in their own homes. Families cared for their loved ones at home till death took them.

In the latter part of the 1800’s because of an increasingly urban society, many urban families were often unable to care for loved ones because of lack of space or because all family members including children were employed six days a week for 12 hours a day. During this period many unfortunate people needing care were housed in County poor houses or in facilities for the mentally ill. Conditions were deplorable. In the early 1900’s home visiting nurses started reversing this trend of institutionalizing and allowed many care recipients to remain in their homes. Nursing homes or so-called rest homes were also being built with public donations or government funds. With the advent of Social Security in 1936, a nursing home per diem stipend was
included in the Social Security retirement income and this government subsidy spurred the construction of nursing homes all across the country.

By the end of the 1950s it was apparent that Social Security beneficiaries were living longer and that the nursing home subsidy could eventually bankrupt Social Security. But in order to protect the thousands and
thousands of existing nursing homes Congress had to find a way to provide a subsidy but remove it as an entitlement under Social Security. In 1965 Medicare and Medicaid were created through an amendment to the Social Security Act. Under Medicare, nursing homes were only reimbursed on behalf of Social Security beneficiaries for short-term rehabilitation. Under Medicaid, nursing homes were reimbursed for impoverished disabled Americans and impoverished aged Americans over the age of 65. It has never been the intent of Congress to pay for nursing home care for all Americans. The nursing home entitlement for all aged Americans was now gone.

Over the last 40 years, there has been a gradual change away from the use of nursing homes for long-term care towards the use of home care and community living arrangements that also provide in-house care.

With Proper Planning People Could Remain in Their Homes for the Rest of Their Lives

We are seeing a trend towards working conditions like those in urban America in the early 1900’s where both husband and wife are working and putting in longer hours. We are also seeing a return of the trend in the early
part of the 20th century where outside visitor caregivers are becoming available to replace working caregiver’s and allow the elderly to receive long-term care in their homes. In addition there is a significant trend in the
past few years for Medicaid and Medicare to pay for long-term care in the home instead of in nursing homes.

…continue reading from www.longtermcarelink.net

For information about how Andelcare can help you and your family care for a senior loved one in the Seattle area, visit www.andelcare.com.