Caregivers In Need of Some Care
By Michelle Singletary

WASHINGTON – America is facing a crisis that will make the federal budget deficit look like a simple bank overdraft fee.

If we don’t figure out how to provide financial support to the millions of family members taking care of seniors with chronic conditions or disabilities, we will have caregivers so overwhelmed that they will be forced to stop helping their elderly relatives. That cost of care will then transfer to the government, and this would mean astronomically higher health care costs or more people being placed in nursing homes, according to a new report from AARP’s Public Policy Institute.

In 2009, about 42.1 million family caregivers provided assistance to an adult with limitations in daily activities such as going to the bathroom, preparing meals or making it to a doctor’s appointment. The AARP report estimates the economic value of family caregiving at $450 billion in 2009, based on those 42.1 million caregivers age 18 or older providing an average of 18.4 hours of care per week at an average value of $11.16 per hour.

Just imagine if much of this voluntary care were gone.

Historically, providing care to the elderly wasn’t such a dire public policy issue.

People didn’t live as long as they do now. But what happens when the need for long-term care goes on for years or decades?

The long-term care needs of many of our elderly are straining families, just as family structures have changed and during one of the worst economies in decades.

There are more women in the workforce, making it harder for them to provide care.

Almost two-thirds of family caregivers are female. More than eight in 10 care for a relative or friend age 50 or older.

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The caregivers at Andelcare are available to talk with you and your family about all of your live-in home care needs. Andelcare is a home care agency providing quality and affordable home care in Seattle and the surrounding areas. Call 888-788-3051 for more information.
 

Home Care Seattle WA: How to Help Someone With Dementia Make Restaurant Choices

By Paula Spencer Scott, Caring.com senior editor

Does the person you’re caring for hesitate or seem perplexed by a long menu?

Difficulty making choices is common in early- and mid-stage dementia. What was once simple has become more challenging due to a combination of memory loss, loss of judgment and the ability to process options, and fear of saying something wrong.

Some ways to help:

    Don’t mistake respectfulness for helping. It might seem kind to wait patiently while your companion orders, but this can actually heighten his or her anxiety and confusion. 

   Instead, gently preempt a choice by stepping in with a suggestion: “Look, today’s special is your favorite: salmon.” Or, “I’m having salmon. You, too?”

    Alternately, narrow the many options on the menu to just two: “Which sounds better to you: salmon or chicken?”

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For more information about how the caregivers at Andelcare can help your family with your home care needs, call 888-788-3051. We are a home care agency providing quality and affordable live in home care in Seattle and the surrounding areas.

Family Caregivers Part I: “I Feel Good That I’m Able To Help”
Written by Melissa Galvez

What will happen to Mom when she can’t care for herself? Every year, millions of Americans join the ranks of family caregivers to look after an aging parent, spouse or other relative.

They take on several unpaid jobs they never applied for — chauffeur, financial adviser, personal care attendant, nurse. They spend hours in relatives’ homes and at doctors’ offices. Caregivers often report real satisfaction in knowing that Dad is eating right or that Grandma has her medicine. But they also report high levels of stress, financial difficulties and health problems.

In this special series from News21, five families describe the worries and rewards of long-term care.

Silvia Ortiz, Houston, Texas
Silvia Ortiz spends her days ensuring that her mother has eaten properly and that her father has taken a walk. Ortiz lives in Houston’s Greater Fifth Ward, down the street from her parents, Maria Guadalupe Perez, 68, and Gregorio Perez, 67.  Her mother has diabetes, arthritis and depression; her father has had knee surgery and heart problems.

The Perez family works with a case manager from the senior program at Neighborhood Centers Inc. Ortiz, who’s 41, has held a paying job for just three years, choosing instead to focus on her children — now all attending or graduated from college — and her parents.

Though she is relatively young for the role, Ortiz is hardly alone. Estimates of the number of caregivers in America vary widely, but AARP has calculated that at any point in time, 42.1 million Americans provide care for an adult with “limitations in daily activities.” That care can include anything from driving and paying bills to helping someone out of bed or to the bathroom.

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For more information about receiving care for your loved one at home. Contact the caregivers at Andelcare. We can help your family with all of your care needs. We are a home care agency providing quality and affordable live in home care in Seattle WA and the surrounding communities. Call 888-788-3051.

Plumber Understands Aging In Place Modifications

(WiredPRNews.com) As you grow older, your body and abilities change along with your social needs. Having a plan for moving from your senior to elderly years can facilitate greater control, quality of life, and independence. Local area plumbers are learning how they can help you set this plan in motion through aging in place services.

Simply put, aging in place is electing to live in the place of one’s choosing as they age while having necessary support services available as personal needs change over time. With home health care services on the rise, many elderly and other people of need are finding comfort in choosing to stay at home instead of move into a retirement facility or other type of care center. Home health care affords individuals the convenience of having nurse care on site.

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For more information about how the caregivers at Andelcare can help your family with your home care needs, call 888-788-3051. We are a home care agency providing quality and affordable live in home care in Seattle WA and the surrounding communities.

5 Must-Do Rules for Preventing Medication Mistakes
How to protect yourself in advance from drug interactions
By Melanie Haiken, Caring.com senior editor

If 1.5 million serious medication mistakes happen every year, and 100,000 people die from them, how do you make sure you and your loved ones aren't among the casualties? Take these five steps to make sure medication mistakes don't happen to you.

1. Be prepared.

Make a list of prescription drugs, nonprescription drugs, and any supplements such as vitamins, minerals, or herbs that you and your family members are taking. Keep a copy in your wallet, and update it regularly.

2. Have regular medication reviews.

At least once a year, have your general practitioner or primary doctor review your list of medications to make sure there are no dangerous combinations, incorrect dosages, or medications inappropriate for your age and circumstances.

Remember, as time goes by, your body changes, and a medication that was perfectly fine five years ago may not be healthy — or even necessary — today.

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If you or someone you know needs help with elder care in Bellevue WA or the surrounding area, contact the caregivers at Andelcare. We provide quality and affordable in-home care for many disabled and elderly loved ones in our community. Call us at 888-788-3051 for more information.

The Awkward Talk: Engage parents in planning for old age
By Angela Hill, The Oakland Tribune

It's the age-old question: When and how do we have "the talk?"

No, not that one, but the dialogue on the other side of the lifetime spectrum, often just as difficult and delicate – the one about an aging family member's driving abilities, housing transitions, costs of long-term care and even end-of-life instructions.

Most of us, on either side of the discussion, would rather chew on nails than delve into these subjects. Yet as more and more baby boomers step into senior citizen territory and life expectancies continue to increase, such issues loom large.

Even so, these talks don't always have to be harrowing. While each individual, each family, each situation is different, most in the field of geriatric care agree the process is easier the earlier you start – when all parties are fully engaged – and say you should approach loved ones with respect and compassion, appreciating an individual's need to retain independence.

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If you need help with answers to caregiving questions, call the caregivers at Andelcare. We help many individuals who wish to remain at home with home care. We are an in home care agency dedicated to providing quality and affordable home care in Seattle and the surrounding communities. Call 888-788-3051.

9 Investigates: The Soaring Costs Of Medicaid

WFTV investigated the soaring costs of Medicaid, and government watchdogs said one simple change could save hundreds of millions of dollars.

Michael Claudio has trouble remembering basic tasks after encephalitis damaged his brain. The state could have spent $5,000 a year for in-home care, or $65,000 a year to send him to a nursing home. State Medicaid managers chose the nursing home and would have sent taxpayers the bill.

"I went on a waiting list for over two years just for some kind of assistance," said Michael Claudio.

Without help, Claudio's wife Linda kept serving as his full-time caregiver for as long as she could.

"My house is in foreclosure now, but I made a choice. He mattered more," said Linda Claudio.

The same situation happened to Carmen Martinez, who wanted a home health care aide to help with laundry and meals for her elderly father. Medicaid wouldn't pay for the help, but it would have payed up to 13 times more to send Martinez's father to an institution.

"The help I need, I don't have it," said Martinez.

An AARP survey showed that 84 percent of seniors prefer home care over a nursing home, and the group Florida Taxwatch said the state could save up to $397 million a year by switching more patients to in-home care.

The nursing home industry lobbied against it.

"I believe that some industries have a stronger voice when it comes to policy-making than maybe the average family has," said Mary Ellen Grant of Share The Care nursing home.

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For more information about home care for your loved one, contact the caregivers at Andelcare. We help many elderly, disabled and veteran loved ones with quality and affordable home care in Seattle and the surrounding communities. Call 888-788-3051.

Who’s Gonna Care for the Aging Boomers? 
by Shani O. Hilton

“You can’t breathe, you can’t sleep,” said White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, as she described the stress of worrying about an aging parent who needs assistance, and explained the comfort she gets from knowing her own parents now have a live-in caregiver.

Without that caregiver, Jarrett says that she would have had to leave the Obama administration and move back to Chicago.

Yet the three million professional, long-term home caregivers today are faced with a rapidly aging Baby Boomer population and a lack of adequate support, compensation or respect. Yesterday in Washington, the National Domestic Workers Alliance held what they called a Care Congress, an event where they introduced a campaign to “transform long-term care.” The campaign is designed to push legislative changes to Medicare and Medicaid—creating jobs by increasing the amount of money eligible people can spend on at-home care and allowing a rapidly aging population to avoid institutionalization.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis praised the work of home care workers—a group comprised primarily of immigrant women: “In Spanish, we call these women luchadoras, because they are fighting. They are strong women who fight and let nothing stand in their way.”

Solis spoke directly to the audience full of caregivers, saying, “You are their friend, you are someone who listens, you give so much of yourself—physically as well as emotionally. You are professionals, and you should be treated as such.”

Workers in California experienced a victory earlier this month when a key state senate approved the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, legislation that the NDWA says would extend “basic, humane labor protections to thousands of nannies, caregivers, and housecleaners and improves the quality of care for California’s families.” The law can also increase wages for workers—a mixed blessing, since so many elderly are on fixed incomes. New York State passed the first such law in the nation last year.

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At Andelcare, we recognize that there are many reasons why a loved one may need home care. From seniors with Alzheimer's Disease, to patients with disabilities, to caregivers needing respite care, we are here to provide quality and affordable home care in Seattle and the surrounding communities. Call us for information 888-788-3051!

Natural Chemical Found in Grapes May Protect Against Alzheimer's Disease

ScienceDaily (July 15, 2011) — Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that grape seed polyphenols — a natural antioxidant — may help prevent the development or delay the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

The research, led by Giulio Maria Pasinetti, MD, PhD, The Saunder Family Professor in Neurology, and Professor of Psychiatry and Geriatrics and Adult Development at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, was published online in the current issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

This is the first study to evaluate the ability of grape-derived polyphenols to prevent the generation of a specific form of β-amyloid (Aβ) peptide, a substance in the brain long known to cause the neurotoxicity associated with Alzheimer disease. In partnership with a team at the University of Minnesota led by Karen Hsiao Ashe, MD, PhD, Dr. Pasinetti and his collaborators administered grape seed polyphenolic extracts to mice genetically determined to develop memory deficits and Aβ neurotoxins similar to those found in Alzheimer's disease. They found that the brain content of the Aβ*56, a specific form of Aβ previously implicated in the promotion of Alzheimer's disease memory loss, was substantially reduced after treatment.

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At Andelcare, we recognize that there are many reasons why a loved one may need home care. From seniors with Alzheimer's Disease, to patients with disabilities, to caregivers needing respite care, we are here to provide quality and affordable home care in Seattle and the surrounding communities. Call us for information 888-788-3051!

Bearing Through It: How Caregivers of Mentally Ill Loved One Can Cope

ScienceDaily  — Caring for a family member with a mental illness can be a taxing experience marked by personal sacrifices and psychological problems.

A new study from Concordia University, AMI-Québec and the University of British Columbia has found family caregivers can experience high levels of stress, self-blame, substance abuse and depressive symptoms — unless they refocus their priorities and lighten their load.

"Being the principal caregiver to a mentally ill family member is a stressor that often creates high levels of burden and contributes to depressive symptoms," says lead author Carsten Wrosch, a professor in the Concordia University Department of Psychology and a member of the Centre for Research in Human Development.

"Caring for a relative with a mental illness can be strenuous — such caregivers can even be more burdened than caregivers of dementia patients," Wrosch continues. "That said, even in this situation, caregivers can experience high levels of wellbeing if they adjust their goals and use effective coping strategies."

Published in the May issue of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the investigation followed family caregivers over a 17-month period and found those who reset priorities fared better. The research team expected that caregivers who are capable of adjusting important life goals (e.g., career, vacation, etc.) would cope better with caregiving stress and that this resilient process would protect their emotional wellbeing.

"We found participants who had an easier time abandoning goals blamed themselves less frequently for problems associated with caregiving and used alcohol or drugs less frequently to regulate their emotions," says co-author Ella Amir, a Concordia graduate and executive director at AMI-Québec, a grassroots organization committed to helping families manage the effects of mental illness.

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Quality home care is so important for our aging loved ones. That is why the caregivers at Andelcare take pride in providing quality and affordable home care in Bellevue and the surrounding areas. Call us at 888-788-3051 for all of your live in home care needs.