Is Your Dad’s Confusion Dementia or Too Many Prescriptions?
by Carol Bradley Bursack, Editor-in-Chief

Many adult children find themselves worried about their parent’s failing memory or balance issues only to discover that the parent is taking an armload of drugs prescribed by different doctors. Once all of the drugs are examined by one doctor and many of them eliminated, the parent is often back to a normal pattern of life. Keeping all of the prescriptions at one pharmacy can also help.

As people age, they generally have more health issues than when they were younger. This often means more doctors become involved in their care, which can mean more prescriptions.

Unfortunately, if the elder sees different doctors, especially those at different clinics and hospitals, prescriptions are not always tracked efficiently. This can lead not only to over-prescribing, but interacting drugs and increased side effects, where doctors are unknowingly prescribing one drug to counteract the side effects of another drug. Add to this the fact that the aging body often is generally less tolerant of drugs than the younger body and there is the potential for serious negative results.

More than once I’ve had someone talk to me about their parent’s balance problems or their “foggy brain.” The adult children chatting with me about these issues are often the out-of-town siblings of the in-town caregivers. The families are generally close, and there is typically one person who keeps an eye on mom and dad because they live in or near the parents’ home town.

The in-town caregivers see their parents regularly, and the changes are often gradual, so they aren’t always aware of the more subtle changes in their parents’ health.

Elder Care and Prescriptions: A Fresh Set of Eyes

Then the sibling who hasn’t been home for a year shows up and is appalled. She notices Dad is hanging onto whatever he can grab when he gets up from a chair and sees that he is uncertain when he walks. He wasn’t like that last year. The visiting sibling also notices Mom has gotten forgetful and that everyone around seems to automatically cover for her.

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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 in home care in Seattle WA and the surrounding communities.

Avoiding Slips And Falls By Using Home Care Services

When it comes to preventing falls in the home, you want to make sure that you take all necessary precautions to ensure that the person you’re caring for. The fear of having someone or yourself fall is something that you might think comes with aging, but it is not. Learn how home care can help protect your loved one.

More than 1 in 3 people fall each year that are age 65 or older, and the falling risk is greater for women than men. When the body ages, it decreases the bone density which contributes to these falls and can result in serious injuries if not properly prevented or cared for when it comes to senior care. Elders who fail to exercise regularly is one of the leading contributions since this brings about loss of bone mass and flexibility and a decrease in muscle tone and strength. If you work in home care, or are a home caregiver, preventing falls should be one of the highest priorities on your list.

Factors to Consider to Prevent Falls in the home

• Are medications causing dizziness on a day to day basis? Are they sleeping medications?
• Do they get up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water or perhaps use the bathroom without supervision or help?
• Do they feel off balance throughout the day from time to time or regularly?
• Have they fallen before, or almost fallen before?
• Do they grip and hold onto items as they walk around the home?

Safety Factors to Prevent Falls

Improve the lighting in the home. There should be enough lighting throughout the house so when it is dark, and they need to get up to use the bathroom or get water, they can easily access a light. This includes adding railings to stairwells that they might have to go down during the middle of the night. Nightlights are a perfect addition throughout the home that can provide an adequate amount of light.

Install handrails and grab bars throughout the home where necessary, such as by stairs or in the shower.

Move any and all items from top shelves so they are easier to access. Use non skid floor mats and rugs on the floors to create slip resistant areas to walk on, and try not to wax the floors. Remove any rugs or mats that are in direct walkways throughout the home.

Put the thresholds down lower in the doorways to prevent any trips or falls that might occur. Use low and thin piled carpeting throughout the home. You do not want the person to trip and fall on the carpets because they were too thick and make sure they are not worn out or torn up.

Any and all cords and wires should be off the floor since these can cause anyone to trip, not just a person in senior care. They shouldn’t even be placed under rugs since this creates a roll in the rug.

Chairs and furniture around the home should be easy to get up out of, and into without a lot of effort. They should not propose a risk because they are too deep or too low to get in and out of.

Remove clutter to avoid blocking passage ways throughout the home. Have a phone in each and every room with emergency numbers by them or programmed just in case something was to happen.

It does take some effort to make one’s home safe for an aging loved one, but it is worth it.

If you or someone you love needs help with in home care in Seattle or the surrounding area, please contact the caregivers at Andelcare. We are a home care agency providing care and assistance to seniors, veterans and the disabled. Call us at 888-788-3051.

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.

Keeping Seniors Safe: Know the Signs of Dehydration in the Elderly

While summer means pools, vacation, and tanning for most, it can also mean overheating and dehydration for others. Summer can be a dangerous season for all ages, but it can be especially dangerous, even fatal, for the elderly. One of the most common, yet deadly, concerns for seniors can be attributed to dehydration. Dehydration is the result of insufficient liquid in the body for proper functioning. Dehydration is a larger concern in the summer due to hot temperatures, which consequently leads to more sweating. If an adequate amount of water is not consumed to balance the water lost in perspiration, dehydration can set in.

In seniors, dehydration is much more common than younger people. The older you are, the less fluid that is contained in the body. Elder people have as much as 10% less liquid than that of a healthy adult. There are several symptoms and side-effects of dehydration that can be taken into consideration if you suspect it in an older family member or friend. Signs of dehydration include, but are not limited to: confusion, weakness, constipation, dizziness, fever, increased heart rate, weight loss, less urine, and disorientation. In more severe and progressed cases, one may experience sunken eyes, severe diarrhea, severe fever, and fainting spells. The sooner you suspect dehydration, the better. If these symptoms are visible and you suspect dehydration, it would probably be in your best interest to consult a doctor or other qualified physician. The sooner dehydration has been brought to one’s attention, the easier it is to manage and cure. If dehydration is permitted to progress in an older patient, there is a much higher chance of further medical complications including kidney failure, electrolyte imbalances, heart diseases, shock, coma, and even death.

Fortunately, dehydration is a preventable sickness that no one should fall to if the correct measures are taken. Be sure to drink plenty of water and other nutritious drinks that are high in electrolytes, sodium, and potassium. Even consuming foods that are high potassium are encouraged to be eaten, as these provide extra electrolytes for the body. In the summer, when dehydration becomes more of a concern, it is recommended to increase the amount of fluid intake even more. While the heat and sun can help lead to dehydration, it is also your own personal responsibility to make sure you and/or the people the around you maintaining healthy levels of liquid intake.

As your parents, friends, or other family grow older, it is a great idea to consider hiring home care or other professional help. If nursing homes are out of the question, it is certainly a good idea to find someone that can check on a loved older person daily. You yourself can provide daily checkups and visits to the household. If this is not an available option, there are definitely other people to turn. Professional home care is a service that is certainly on the rise now that more and more people from the “Baby Boomers” era are growing old and handicapped. While you may not need to hire someone for constant care, checkups are certainly a great idea and can help prevent accidents and other ailments, like dehydration. In order to prevent dehydration, have someone stop by daily to record weight and fluid intake. Daily monitoring can detect miscues in weight and BMI, which can lead to earlier detection of dehydration. Give the person providing the home care a schedule of fluid intakes at a given time interval. Dehydration is a preventable sickness, and should never have to threaten the lives of family, friends, and other elderly people.

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.

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.

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.

Falls Could Signal Early Alzheimer's Disease
Staywell Custom Communications

(HealthDay News) — Compared with older people with no signs of Alzheimer's, those whose brains show early signs of the disease are twice as likely to experience a fall, researchers have found.

In the new study, investigators looked at brain scans of 125 older adults who were participating in a study of memory and aging. The seniors were also asked to keep track of how many times they fell over the course of eight months.

An increased risk of falls was noted among individuals whose scans showed early signs of Alzheimer's. The study authors suggested that falls could indicate the need for an evaluation for the memory-robbing disease.

"To our knowledge, this is the first study to identify a risk of increased falls related to a diagnosis of preclinical Alzheimer's disease," study author Susan Stark, an assistant professor of occupational therapy and neurology at Washington University in St. Louis, said in a news release from the Alzheimer's Association International Conference.

"This finding is consistent with previous studies of mobility problems among persons with very early symptomatic Alzheimer's or mild cognitive impairment. It suggests that higher rates of falls can occur very early in the disease process," Stark added.

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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.

Living with Alzheimer's : When memory slips away, caregivers are challenged
Written by Mary Beth Hislop – Staff Writer/marybethh@latc.com  

Roger Strom didn’t think much about his wife’s forgetfulness – the times she forgot morning conversations about evening plans, the errands she didn’t remember during the day. But in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Jane had her hands full raising three young boys in Los Altos. Of course, it would be easy to forget a dinner party or to pick up the dry cleaning.

And then there were times Jane would struggle to find words and speak clearly. But the subtle changes in her behavior were so minute, Strom just got used to them.

“I didn’t question her short-term memory issues because she was perfectly healthy and young,” he said. “She was vitally involved in our life together making a home for our family. She was an awesome full-time mom.”

In 2006, Jane became trapped inside a locked stairwell while visiting the grand opening of Los Altos’ Whole Foods Market – but, not really.

“Eventually, a store employee helped her, but the stairwell wasn’t actually locked,” Strom said.

The following year, he noticed that Jane was increasingly withdrawn in social situations. A doctor’s visit and subsequent memory test elicited a diagnosis of depression with perhaps sleep apnea. A summer 2008 visit to Jane’s family in Wisconsin triggered worry among her sisters.

“‘What is going on with her?’” Strom said they asked. “They were intensely concerned. They strongly disbelieved the depression diagnosis.”

When Jane was more than an hour late after a designated time to meet him outside a shop in Boston in September, Strom became truly alarmed.

“My Jane came walking around the corner with the most scared look on her face. She had lost track of the time and (had) become disoriented,” he said. “I knew something was very wrong.”

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Alzheimer’s caregivers at Andelcare are available to talk with you and your family about care needs for your loved one, including, how to reduce caregiver stress while providing better, affordable care. Andelcare is a home care agency providing Alzheimer’s Home Care in Seattle WA  and the surrounding communities.