When family caregivers ask us how they can make their jobs easier and improve the quality of care of their elderly loved one, one of the top caregiver tips that we recommended is to use a daily care log. Using a daily care log, is a great way to communicate important messages between multiple caregivers that might be providing care for a senior, and create a permanent record of a senior’s medical history and routines as they pertain to his/her care. For those providing elder care, a daily care log can also reduce caregiver stress, because family and professional caregivers start each and every day with a background on the senior’s physical and mental health and any new caregiving challenges they should be aware of.

The information that an elderly care professional or family caregiver records on the log helps improve the senior’s care while making their jobs easier through increased understanding. Each day a caregiver enters the senior’s home, or assisted living facility where they reside, they can record the tasks and activities they completed, any challenges they had to overcome with the senior physically or mentally, and during the first visit; write down the areas they feel the senior requires assistance from a caregiver. A caregiver log should also include any changes they’ve seen in the senior; in particular, if they need help with a task they could complete independently before. Creating a daily care log can be a great way to assess a senior’s care needs, and communicate between multiple caregivers and the family, to ensure the highest quality of care is always being delivered.

If you would like a copy of the daily care log that Home Instead provides to it’s clients please call your local Home Instead Senior Care office.

Sources:
1.    The Eldercare Team
2.    Grownups

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.

When a family takes control of caring for elderly parents, tension and conflict often develops between siblings, because one takes on the majority of the care responsibilities for the aging parent.

Caregiving for a parent can reignite old conflicts and sibling rivalry in some siblings, while others may grow closer while coming together to determine the best way to care for their elderly parents. It’s also not uncommon for the sibling who plays the largest role in family eldercare to become resentful of their siblings, because they feel like the rest of their family isn’t making a big enough contribution to the care of their elderly parents.

In order to share responsibilities, siblings need to define clear roles and responsibilities. While one sibling may become the primary caregiver for the aging parents, other siblings who live nearby should offer to provide respite; by bringing mom or dad to appointments, or coming over to allow the primary senior caregiver a night out, all siblings can do their part. It’s also important that all siblings are aware of decisions regarding the care and health of their parents; through communication all members of the family remain involved, however, the primary caregiver should ultimately be responsible for making decisions if all siblings cannot come to an agreement. In these cases, the rest of the family should work to support the decision and play their role.

With planning and communication, siblings can come together to ensure quality care for their elderly parents.

Sources:
1.    Oregon State University Extension Service
2.    Senior Truth  Helen Dennis

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.

When you don’t like your doctor as a senior retrieving treatment or the family caregiver for an elderly relative, you need to try and do your part to strengthen the relationship between doctor and patient and then assess if your personal grievances are affecting the level of medical care you’re receiving.

If you feel your doctor isn’t listening to your desires regarding your healthcare; speak up and get directly to the point. If you don’t like the side effects of a medication you’re taking, tell them. If they don’t get the hint that you’d like to take a different medication, ask them exactly what other medications are available that would offer similar treatment. It’s also important to establish yourself as an equal, who plays a role in his or her own health; look your doctor straight in the eye, ask questions, and don’t be afraid to share your knowledge or concerns. If you find that your doctor still doesn’t listen to you or treat you with respect on a regular basis, it might be time to find a new doctor to take charge of your senior health issues.

It might be the right time to find a new doctor when:

1)    Your doctor doesn’t like it when you ask questions – a doctor should respect your knowledge and answer any questions you have.
2)    Your doctor doesn’t listen to you – a doctor should make time to address the concerns of every patient directly
3)    A doctor doesn’t speak your language – a doctor should explain your senior health issues using terms you understand
4)    Going to the doctor makes you feel down, even after you’ve left the office
5)    There’s a personal grievance – not everyone’s personalities click; if your doctor just doesn’t seem to like you, or you don’t like them; get a new one.

Sources:
1.    Carol O’Dell Caregiver Blog
2.    CNNHealth.com Elizabeth Cohen

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.

Hiring a professional caregiver to help out a senior at home, can be a big decision. Hiring a caregiver from a professional caregiving agency has its benefit over hiring a private caregiver for a number of reasons. Even though caregiving agencies can be more costly, the piece of mind a caregiving agency can offer is well worth the expense. A professional caregiving agency, like Home Instead Senior Care, helps mandate the care provided by its caregivers; it dictates exactly what role the caregiver will play in the home and care of a senior, and helps to select a caregiver that will best fit the care recipient’s lifestyle, needs and personality. With a professional caregiving agency, elderly home caregivers receive comprehensive training in non-medical care techniques, so families can feel confident that their seniors are receiving quality care.

While hiring a private caregiver might sometimes save money, the hassles that come with making that care decision aren’t generally worth the savings. Unless you hire a private caregiver who files their taxes as an independent contractor, families become the caregiver’s employer, which requires that you pay Social Security, Employment and payroll taxes.

Sources:
1.    Caregiver’s Home Companion
2.    Elderlaw Cincinnati

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.

Q – I’ve been thinking of moving my elderly mother in to the house I share with my husband and children, is this a good idea and what can I expect?

A – There are many pros to having your elderly mother live with you from a care perspective, especially if she is struggling with independent living. But it will also be a challenging experience for both your mother and the rest of your family, who are not used to co-existing under the same roof.

Pros:
•    Having your mother living under your roof will allow you to care for your elderly parent around the clock
•    When living in the same home, you are available should a medical emergency or accident occur with your mother
•    Your mother won’t have to worry about maintaining a home (cooking, cleaning); she can pitch in with tasks she’s capable of
•    Not having to travel to provide care to your mother will be more convenient for you and your family

Cons:
•    Roles in your household could change along with family dynamic
•    Your mother may not adjust well to the functioning of your household, and may attempt to interfere with the raising of your children
•    You might feel you need to look after your mother full-time when living under the same roof, so the caregiver structure may be more stressful
•    There may be disputes over family finances if clear expectations aren’t set

Sources:
1. Associated Content
2. Women Today Magazine
3. US News.com

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.

Gadgets for seniors have come a long way, and today’s elderly technologies benefit the lives of older adults by improving their safety and making day-to-day tasks easier for them. A number of new elderly equipment devices were unveiled at the 2009 Consumer Electronic Show in January.

Many of the electronics seem designed with the independently living senior in mind; devices like motion detectors and sensors can be installed in seniors’ homes in order to alert family members about falls and other in-home emergencies; other senior electronics like Clarity’s C900 mobile phone has a panic button that automatically dials 5 emergency contact numbers when triggered.

Other innovative technologies for seniors help them with Activities of Daily Living; smart pill dispensers remind seniors when to take their prescription medications and ensure that they take the prescribed amount; and robotic vacuum cleaners take away the strain of housekeeping by automatically cleaning up floor surfaces within a senior’s home. Seniors can also receive around-the-clock health monitoring with technological devices that monitor vital signs and alert family or medical practitioners when the status of their health changes. The Vital Jacket by Biodevices is a new fashionable senior gadget which is designed to monitor vital signs without bulky equipment, and while it is not yet available on the market, it hopes to improve medical care in homes and hospitals around the world.

Sources:
1.   InventorSpot.com Beth Hodgson
2.    Business Week
3.    Tender Hearts
Image:www.bigbuttonremotes.com
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.

Historically, 57% to 75% of family caregivers for seniors have been women of a certain demographic; but as gender roles change, so does the family caregiving structure; and more men are becoming involved in the care of an elderly parent or family member. However, statistics do show that many of these male caregivers aren’t caring for elderly parents; they are providing care for their spouse who is suffering from an illness or injury. When it comes to caring for an older relative, men continue to play a decreased role compared to their female family members; they provide support, but women still spend 50% more time caring for a senior.

However, as many women hold careers that are just as demanding as their male spouses and men are playing a greater role in the care of their children, we might begin to see an increase in the numbers of male family caregivers as the family structure continues to change and adapt. And, according to studies, an increase of male presence in home and community care for seniors will have its benefits. Male caregivers can initiate greater large motor activities, due to physical strength; might encounter fewer workplace injuries due to the strain of lifting senior care recipients; and might be able to handle more strenuous housekeeping duties.

If you know a male that is a family caregiver we would like to hear from you… please send us a comment about your experience and we can post it on our blog.

Sources:
1.    Onkar Caregiver’s Training Institute
2.    Family Caregiver Alliance
3.    MedicineNet.com

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.

When hiring a private home caregiver, without going through an agency, families, as employers, are often responsible for the costs of medical care if the caregiver is injured while performing their caregiver duties, unless the caregiver has comprehensive liability and workplace injury insurance. According to statistics, workplace injuries in private caregivers are substantial, with one in eight becoming injured on the job; 70% of which occur when lifting or physically supporting a patient.  If a caregiver does not have liability coverage, any task they are performing as part of their caregiver employment results in an injury, then families become legally responsible as employers to pay the medical bills. Workplace injuries for caregivers can include falls in the home, or even car accidents that take place when running errands for their elderly employer.

Since private caregivers not hired through an agency typically work as private contractors, many may not carry liability insurance; so when an injury occurs during senior care, medical bills may cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars, plus in some cases, compensation for lost wages due to the injury. Private caregivers may also be a greater liability for senior care injuries, since they may not receive the same training in proper lift techniques and other safety measures when caring for seniors as their agency counterparts. When hiring a caregiver, families need to take liability into account; because while private caregivers may charge less by the hour, the expenses derived from liability might last a lifetime.

Sources:
1.   Strength for Caring.com
2.    Seniors Resource Guide
3.    Liebertonline

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.

We know you appreciate everything that your long-term caregiver does for your aging family member, and believe that sometimes it’s appropriate to say thank you with a gift. If a family caregiver is responsible for senior care, sometimes the best gift to give them is a break. By providing them assistance with their responsibilities, they will have the opportunity to focus on themselves for a change. Everyone deserves a break; so offer to take your elderly relative shopping, prepare a meal. Another welcome gift for family caregivers is to pre-pay for a service that is typically an expense from their own pocket; buy a gift certificate for grass cutting, or house keeping to save them the expense.

If you want to show a senior caregiver hired from an agency that you appreciate them, first check with the agency for their policy on gift-giving. Many senior care agencies do not allow their caregivers to accept monetary gifts, but a small token of your appreciation; like flowers, a gift basket or a gift certificate for a nice meal can be great ways to say “thank you” to a long-term senior caregiver if they can accept the gifts.

Whether a caregiver who cares for an elderly family member is paid for their services or not, it’s important to remember how great their impact is on enhancing the lives of seniors; it doesn’t take much to say “thank you”, even if only in words.

Sources:
1. Area Agency on Aging
2. Caregiver’s Care Station

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.

When it comes time to make decisions regarding senior care services for your aging parent, one of the major factors to consider is affordability. Believe it or not, in home care services are one of the most affordable options for seniors who are struggling to live independently in their own homes. Hiring a caregiver to help out in your aging parent’s home can cost anywhere from $12 to $25 an hour, depending upon the services provided by the agency and the state that you live in. Compared to a traditional nursing home or long-term care facility, which cost on average of $153 per day in the United States, the costs of in-home care are substantially lower, especially because of the flexibility it offers. With in-home caregiving services, families can decide the amount of care required by an in-home caregiver, which can start at a few hours a week to 8-hour long caregiving days. This can be determined both on care requirements of the senior, and the finances they have available for home care.

In order to determine if senior services are affordable for the senior in your family, take a close look at both their income and expenses; ensuring that their budget allows them to continue to put away 10% to fund future medical and housing needs. Medicare and Medicaid do not typically cover in-home care services, but many private insurance policies do; so ensure you determine which home care costs would have to be paid out of pocket and make sure that all the numbers add up to figure out if home care is an affordable option.

Sources:
1. Business Week, Beth Piskora
2. The Federal LTC Insurance Program
3. Senior Living Today

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.