There is a great debate surrounding long-term care insurance; at what age to apply? While most insurance carriers recommend that you purchase long term health care insurance around age 50; Consumer Reports thinks it should only be necessary to purchase LTC insurance around age 65.

There are many factors to determine when the right age to purchase long-term care insurance is; seniors should look at their family history of medical problems and chronic illnesses since insurance premiums may be higher or seniors ineligible if they apply once health problems are already present. It is never recommended to apply for long-term care insurance after age 65, because often at that stage in life, seniors are beginning to demonstrate health problems which could cause them to fail the mandatory medical assessments required during the LTC insurance application process.

While the right age to apply for LTC insurance may remain up for debate; senior care experts agree that all aging Americans should invest in long-term care benefit policies to cover their long-term health care and custodial care needs; which 74% of seniors over 65 do require at some stage in their lives. Without long-term care insurance, seniors are often stuck funding elderly care services that they can’t afford, especially with limited assistance available from Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare only provides insurance coverage for some categories of medical long-term care, but never provides assistance with custodial care; and Medicaid long-term care insurance gives limited options regarding the long-term care facilities and types of care they receive.

Before purchasing into any LTC policy, seniors should research their options thoroughly to ensure that they select a plan that is suitable for both their budget and their long-term care insurance requirements; for federal government employees, there is federal long-term care insurance available.

Seniors nearing the age of 65 should start securing their future in long-term care by looking into insurance options available to them.

Sources: http://www.ltcfeds.com/whyFLTCIP/index.html
http://www.medicare.gov/LongTermCare/static/Home.asp
http://www.longtermcarelink.net/a9insurance.htm
http://www.helpguide.org/elder/long_term_care_insurance.htm

Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

For many seniors, a trip to the doctor’s office for a checkup or prescription refill can be a laborious task. Physical limitations, illnesses, aches and pains and lack of access to transportation can make even a routine doctor’s visit a challenge. For these older adults, home visits by a physician can be the best way to get the medical care that they require. Many healthcare agencies around the United States specialize in home doctor’s visits for elderly patients. The staff of these house call organizations are medically trained doctors and nurses, who often have had specific expertise in geriatric care. The idea of in home doctor’s visits is to bring all the medical services a senior would typically receive at their physician’s office, without ever leaving home.

When physician’s and nurses pay house calls to seniors who are homebound, they are prepared to complete routine checkups to assess the elderly patient’s health. They are also able to write prescriptions, manage IV’s, complete lab work, administer x-rays and EKG’s and assess and monitor illnesses.

Medicare does offer coverage for in home medical care for those who receive Part A benefits. In order to receive Medicare benefits for doctor’s visits at home, seniors must be classified as homebound, due to specific limitations that relate to physical and mental capabilities. In some cases, Medicare will provide coverage for patients who are not isolated to their homes, provided their situation justifies in home care by a medical practitioner. Doctors who also specialize in providing house calls to the elderly also mention that Medicare covers services documented due to immobility, the need to assess in home caregiving and safety in the home, and other reasons that may prevent a senior from going to a medical office.

Medicare will not cover home visits by a physician for senior assistance with Activities of Daily Living or for those who are chronically ill. Those who do not qualify for coverage of home visits by a doctor should consider hiring an in home, non-medical caregiver for assistance with the Activities of Daily Living that they’re finding to be too much for them.

Sources: http://www.aahcp.org/homebound.shtml
http://www.seniorresourcesonline.com/articles.iml?category=Medicare
http://www.drshomevisits.com/services.html
http://www.housecalldoctorstexas.com/services.asp

Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

Q1 – Why should seniors read?
A1 – Reading offers an escape for seniors which let’s them use their imaginations, build their vocabulary, requires memory and problem-solving.

Q2 – Is there an additional benefit for seniors who join book groups?
A2 – Having the opportunity to discuss reading materials with someone else that has read them uses problem-solving and builds cognitive skills through friendly debate.

Q3 – Are there options for seniors with vision problems?
A3 – Seniors who enjoy reading, but have challenges due to their vision can buy large-print books or audio recordings on CD.

Q4 – Are there magazines that address senior issues specifically?
A4 – There are a number of magazines on the market that are written specifically for seniors. Some cover a variety of topics, like the well-known AARP magazines, while others focus on specific areas of life, including exercise and health, retirement, travel and more.

Q5 – Why should seniors read publications that specialize in writing for them?
A5 – Of course seniors have the ability to read publications suited for any age, but by reading things made for their demographic they learn about things that impact them specifically, have insight into other’s reflections on aging and help to support the senior community.

Q6 – Where can I find books that are good for seniors?
A6 – SuddenlySenior.com put together a comprehensive list in 2006 that provides recommendations for seniors, including both fiction and non-fiction publications.

Sources: http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Cultures_and_Groups/Seniors/Magazines/
http://seniorwriter.blogspot.com/2008/06/poetry-especially-for-seniors-book.html
http://www.suddenlysenior.com/books2004.html

Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

Back up care for working families:

Below are key findings from the 2008 Back up Care Survey conducted by Work Options Group. 

The question asked was, “If back-up care was not offered, what would you have done?”

• 71 percent would have missed work to provide care for their loved one
• 14 percent would have conducted an independent search for short-term care
• 13 percent would have asked friends or family to provide care for their loved one
• 2 percent said they worked from home, changed their work schedule or brought their child to work.

Work Options Group serves as a third-party liaison to link employees of companies with a network of service contractors who can help them provide back-up care for loved ones of any age – from infants and school-aged children, to adults and seniors.

One of those contractors who works on behalf of seniors is Home Instead Senior Care, an international franchise company with 800 offices worldwide.  The company’s CAREGivers go into the homes and care communities of older adults to keep them independent.  Through these types of relationships, you could locate the help you need in a moment’s notice.

For more information about Home Instead Senior Care Florida, please contact us at the number below. For more information about the survey, log on to http://www.workoptionsgroup.com/press_release_survey.html.

Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

In most cases, seniors and decision-makers wait too long before addressing the need for senior care.  The result of this is that health may decline either quickly or progressively because the senior may not be taking their medications correctly, eating a well balanced diet or following the orders of their health care professionals.  The other possibility is that they will grow weak and have a fall causing them to be hospitalized.  All of these problems can be avoided if families see the signs of decline and move swiftly to ensure they have the help they need at home.

Two-thirds of seniors report obtaining care after they have what they describe as a “pivotal incident.”  A pivotal incident is commonly defined as a fall or other kind of accident.  However, in most cases the incident is actually the result of a chronic condition sucn as arthritis or dementia that should have been addressed much sooner.

In the course of dealing with chronic and persistent conditions, there is a tipping point where decision-makers decide that care has grown beyond their capacity.  The age of the senior when this tipping point is usually reached may be anywhere between 70 and 90, depending on a wide variety of individual factors.  A relatively small number of seniors, 10 percent are under 70 when they are recommended for senior home care.

Average Age Recommended for In-Home Senior Care:

Age:                          % Recommended:

50-60                        2%

60-70                        7%

70-80                        43%

80-90                        49%

90+                            0%

By working with either an independent care manager or a professional, who understands the changes that seniors go through that lead up to needing either assisted living or assistance at home, families can stay ahead of their seniors needs.  Home Instead Senior Care can conduct in home assessments to help with the process of understanding the maze of options available.

Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

San Francisco nursing home diabetes care is a critical avenue to study and explore. The Centers for Disease Control says that one out of three people born in the United States in this century will develop the disease in his or her lifetime.

Looking at the data reveals that there is a lack of a systematic approach to diabetes treatment in the facilities studied. The findings demonstrated that practice guidelines for this population must be developed in order to offer optimal care standards to nursing home residents.  And considering that the general population of Appalachia has two to three times the national incidence of diabetes, as diabetes rates increase, the number of elderly diabetics in nursing homes will also increase.

Read the full story.

Training people to avoid falls by repeatedly exposing them to unstable situations in the laboratory helped them to later maintain their balance on a slippery floor, according to a University of Illinois at Chicago study.

The research could eventually help the elderly, for whom falling is an important health concern, according to a Science Daily report.

Researchers used a moveable platform that could be operated to disrupt a person’s balance. Previous studies showed that people could quickly learn to maintain balance and avoid a fall with a short training period on the platform. This study looked at whether training on the platform could transfer to prevent a fall on a slippery floor.

Study participants were compared against a control group, who did not receive any training on the platform. Researchers found that none of the trained participants fell on the slippery floor and seven of the eight never lost their balance. The trained subjects were able to transfer the skill and avoid a fall on the slippery floor because they were better at controlling the landing foot (the foot that is on the ground during the slip.) They slowed down the movement of the foot as it began to slide forward. The landing foot of the people in the untrained group went out from under them much faster.

Research so far indicates the effects of one training session should last for at least four months and perhaps much longer to protect against backward falls.

Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

Many boomers dream of owning a second home as they head into retirement.  But instead of caring for a vacation house, they find themselves helping an aging mom and dad avoid the safety pitfalls of the family home.

There’s no doubt where seniors want to be as they age.  The majority of seniors polled in recent industry surveys – typically 90 percent – say they want to stay at home.  But in a 2007 AARP independent living study, two-thirds of Boomer women surveyed said they are concerned about their parents’ ability to live independently as they get older, with 43 percent being very concerned and 26 percent somewhat concerned.

It’s a legitimate fear.  Many seniors and their families don’t think about the fact that homes must adapt to the changing needs of seniors as they age until an accident happens, there are many potential pitfalls that we’ve seen during the home safety reviews that our company conducts before starting service in a client’s home.  Our reviews cover 50 different items throughout a home including the entrance, living areas, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and stairways. 

Many home safety improvements are simple and inexpensive, experts say.  Convincing seniors, on the other hand, is another story.  Danise Levine, assistant director of the IDEA Center at the SUNY (State University of New York) Buffalo School of Architecture, said that denial often comes into play with seniors. 

We see a lot of seniors who don’t want to admit they’re getting older so they don’t want to make changes in their homes,” Levine said.  “Secondly, consumer education is an issue.  If older adults do need help they often don’t know where to go or how much things cost.”

Unfortunately, many home makeover changes are responsive rather than proactive. It’s important for a senior-care professional to conduct a home review to identify various safety pitfalls from poor lighting to the need for adaptive devices in a home. 

That first, important step is to review what needs to be done to keep them at home. It’s one of the most important services that Home Instead Senior Care Walnut Creek provides. Call us for a free home safety checklist - 925-280-9688.

Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

Are you having a difficult time juggling work and caregiving? Are the demands of both stressing you out?  I know when sitting at my desk and researching elder care topics for mom and dad was extremely time consuming. And then my manager wondered out loud… “productivity is dropping, Carol.”  But at the time it wasn’t so nicely said.

That was my struggle.  Balancing my mom and dad’s health and needs with my employer and also with myself! After all; I had a life too!  Some helpful hints, especially when working full-time:

1. Don’t keep it a secret - Let your employer/manager/HR know of your dilemma and needs around caring for aging relatives

2. Listen up - There are many family caregivers at work who face those dreaded challenges too. Develop your own caring support group at work.  Believe me, when walking the halls at work, (discreetly) pay attention to a few phone conversations - you’ll be surprised how many of us are facing same issues.

3. Build that support group - meet up during lunch hour (if you’re not running an errand for your loved one) and ask for advice or referrals… family caregivers usually have a notebook full of valuable phone numbers and aging service referrals. Support is needed, so ASK FOR HELP!  You are not alone.

Hope these spark a few ideas in your over-worked brain.  I find these 3 tips to be very useful. Also, sign up for our free Newsletter… it’s loaded with good “how to” juggle work and caregiving. Go for it! Sign up here.

Thank you and come back for more Useful Tips on Caring!