Find more information on home care in Phoenix give us a call:

Phoenix: 602-943-4321 or in Mesa: 480-833-8889. 

Today’s question is, how do I find the right caregiver? The first step in finding the right caregiver for you, is to find a good agency. When you find an agency, you want to make sure that their caregivers are actual employees and not contractors. And that the employees are bonded, have liability insurance, they have workers comp and they’ve been through background checks.

At that point, the agency will send an representative to your home, and they will sit down and meet with you and do an assessment and get a better understanding of exactly what you’re looking for. What kind of services are needed, and what kind caregiver or what skill level of caregiver might be best for you or your loved one.

At that point, it really comes down to personality or temperament. If you’ve selected an agency that’s properly screened and trained it’s caregivers, it comes down to finding someone who you will feel comfortable with, and you will enjoy having in your home.

Are you or a loved one looking to hire a home care agency? Call us today to ask how Care Corner can help.

Phoenix: 602.943.4321
East Valley: 480.833.8889
West Valley: 623.251.6474

Today’s question is why should I use a home care agency. When you tell your family and friends that you are going to look into in home care for your parent or loved one, they’ll probably say they know somebody who does that kind of work. Beware of that, we strongly advise that people go through a full service, legitimate agency, rather than hiring a caregiver directly. And here are the reasons why.

First of all, an individual consumer generally can not run a thorough background check on a caregiver the way an agency can. In addition the caregiver that you hire directly, is not going to have their own liability insurance, workers comp, they are not going to be bonded. And therefore, if anything happens on the job, if there is any kind of accident, injury, they hurt their back, whatever it is, they are going to look to you, the client, who is also the employer, to pay their medical costs. So this is a risk that you would want to be aware of if you hire a caregiver directly, rather than working with an agency.

In addition as the employer, the client is responsible for hiring, firing, training, and paying payroll taxes. Something that most people don’t want to get involved in, if they don’t have to. If the caregiver calls off or doesn’t show up your going to be in a situation where there is no caregiver. When you work with an agency and the caregiver can’t make it to work, that agency is always going to offer a substitute caregiver, if you would like one. Most people use agencies because they don’t want to have to worry about these additional concerns and they like the extra support and protection that they get from working with an agency.

Are you or a loved one going through a similar situation with an aging parent? Call us today to ask how Care Corner can help.

Phoenix: 602.943.4321
East Valley: 480.833.8889
West Valley: 623.251.6474

Transcription

Today’s question is, “How do I know if my parent needs home care?”

What you’re going to do is you’re going to look for signs, some of which may be more obvious than others. Do you see your parents struggling with physically demanding chores, such as grocery shopping, laundry, changing bed linens? One daughter realized that her mother was wearing the same stained shirt every time she saw her, for a week or two, and realized that laundry had gotten very hard for her mother to do, the bending and lifting, and so on. And realized that her mother was starting to need some help at home.

If you notice that your parent is having any balance issues. Are they unsteady on their feet, do they grab the furniture, sometimes, or hold on to the walls when they’re walking? If so, that’s something you want to talk to the doctor about to find out what’s going on, but it’s also an indication that they may need some assistance at home, so that they don’t fall.

Other signs include forgetfulness. If your parent appears to be very lonely or isolated, or you’re noticing increasing physical or cognitive changes that would make you feel a lot better if there were someone in that home, to be there with them to make sure that they’re safe.

Transcription

Today’s question is, what should I look for in a home care company? The first thing you want to ask when you’re looking for a home care company, is are the caregivers employees of the company, rather than independent contractors? That’s very important.

You want to make sure that the caregivers are bonded, fully insured and have passed thorough background checks. You want to ask about how long the company has been in business, because it’s best to go with a company that has an established track record.

You want to find out, how do they supervise their caregivers? In a good agency, they should be making regular visits to the home to make sure that the services are being provided as requested, and that you or your loved one are happy with the services being provided. We recommend that you use an agency that has established track record and, ideally, has an excellent rating with the Better Business Bureau.

 Elder abuse doesn’t always mean physical harm. In its financial form, it’s the exploitation of people to gain access to their property, investments, cash, or real estate.  As the recession drags on, some law-enforcement officials and attorneys say they’re seeing an uptick in reports of elder fraud committed by strangers. The scams include identity theft, telemarketing cons, stealing Social Security checks from outdoor mailboxes, and fraud by unscrupulous contractors and professional advisers. But relatives—sometimes those entrusted with the elder person’s welfare—also commit such crimes.

In 2010, the MetLife Mature Market Institute conducted a study to determine the extent and consequences of elder financial abuse.(1) The study found that:

• Women were nearly twice as likely to be victims of elder financial abuse as men. Most were victims between the ages of 80-89, lived alone, and required some level of help with either health care or home maintenance.
• Nearly 60% of perpetrators were males. Perpetrators who were strangers often targeted victims with visible vulnerabilities (limited mobility, displays of confusion, being or living alone, etc.)

 What is Financial Abuse?

Elder financial abuse spans a broad spectrum of conduct, including:

• Taking money or property
• Forging an older person’s signature
• Getting an older person to sign a deed, will, or power of attorney through deception, coercion, or undue influence
• Using the older person’s property or possessions without permission
• Receiving payment without delivering agreed upon products or services
• Promising lifelong care in exchange for money or property and not following through on the promise
• Scams (fraudulent or deceptive acts)
• Using the senior’s credit cards for unauthorized purchases

Who Commits Elder Financial Abuse?

Perpetrators may be family members, friends or neighbors; caregivers or helpers, either paid or volunteer; businesses or unscrupulous strangers. Whatever the relationship, individuals who exploit seniors exert undue influence when they are in a position of trust and take advantage of that individual to gain control of their money, property or life itself.

Undue influence is accomplished by abusers in many ways:

• Isolating the senior from (other) family, friends and society in general
• Controlling the senior’s mail, phone calls and visitors
• By threatening the senior that they will lose their house and be placed in a nursing home
• Convincing the senior that no one else cares for them except the abuser
• By threatening the senior with harm, neglect and abandonment

What are the warning signs?

Some of the warning signs or indicators listed below can be explained by other causes or factors and no single indicator can be taken as conclusive proof. Rather, one should look for patterns or clusters of indicators that suggest a problem.

• Unpaid bills, eviction notices, or notices to discontinue utilities
• Withdrawals from bank accounts or transfers between accounts that the older person cannot explain
• Bank statements and canceled checks no longer come to the elder’s home
• New “best friends”
• Legal documents, such as powers of attorney, which the older person didn’t understand at the time he or she signed them
• Unusual activity in the older person’s bank accounts including large, unexplained withdrawals, frequent transfers between accounts, or ATM withdrawals
• Belongings or property are missing
• Suspicious signatures on checks or other documents
• Changes in spending patterns

Protecting Seniors from Financial Abuse

 Watch for the above warning signs and be aware of what is going on with your loved one. The best prevention is perhaps the simplest, but it’s hard for many busy people: check in regularly with the older person. “Reducing isolation is the number one thing to do,” says Kathleen Quinn, executive director of the National Adult Protections Services Association. (2)

If hiring a caregiver, use a home care agency wtih W2 employees (not contractors) who are bonded and insured; that conducts a national background check, and has a supervisor visiting the home regularly.

 (1) The MetLife Study of Elder Financial Abuse; Metlife Mature Market Institute

(2) “Preventing Financial Elder Abuse” ConsumerReports.org

 Additional resources for this article: National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (www.preventelderabuse.org)

Not sleeping well can lead to a number of problems. Older adults who sleep poorly are more likely to have a depressed mood, attention and memory problems, excessive daytime sleepiness, more nighttime falls, and more use of sleep aids. Poor sleep habits, lack of exercise, unhealthy diet, untreated sleep disorders, and other medical problems can all contribute to sleeplessness in older adults. To improve your quality of sleep it’s important to understand the causes of your sleep problems and make the necessary lifestyle changes.

No matter what your age, sleeping well is essential to your physical health and emotional well-being. For seniors, a good night’s sleep is especially important because it helps improve concentration and memory formation, allows your body to repair any cell damage that occurred during the day, and refreshes your immune system, which in turn helps to prevent disease.

Common causes of insomnia in seniors
The most common causes of insomnia in older adults include:
• Poor sleep habits and sleep environment. Examples of poor sleep habits are irregular sleep hours, large or spicy meals before bed, consumption of alcohol before bedtime, and falling asleep with the TV on.
• Pain or medical illness. Pain can keep you from sleeping well. In addition, many health conditions such as a frequent need to urinate, arthritis, asthma, diabetes, nighttime heartburn, menopause, and Alzheimer’s can interfere with sleep.
• Medications. Seniors tend to take more medications than younger people. Combinations of drugs, as well as the side-effects of individual drugs, can impair sleep or even stimulate wakefulness.
• Lack of exercise. If you are too sedentary, you may not feel sleepy or feel sleepy all of the time. Regular aerobic exercise during the day, at least 3 hours before bedtime, can promote good sleep.
• Psychological stress or psychological disorders. Significant life changes like the death of a loved one or moving from a family home can cause stress. Anxiety or sadness can also keep you awake, which can, in turn, cause more anxiety or depression.
• Sleep disorders. Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) and sleep-disordered breathing such as snoring and sleep apnea occur more frequently in older adults.

Tips for Improving Sleep
• Exercise regularly. Exercise releases endorphins that can boost mood and reduce stress, depression, and anxiety.
• Expose yourself to sunlight. Bright sunlight helps regulate melatonin and your sleep-wake cycles. Try to get at least two hours of sunlight a day.
• Limit caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine. All are stimulants and interfere with the quality of your sleep. Alcohol may seem to make you sleepy, but it will disrupt your sleep.
• Make sure your bedroom is quiet, dark, and cool, and your bed is comfortable. Noise, light, and heat can interfere with sleep. Try using an eye mask to help block out light.
• Maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same times every day, even on weekends.
• Go to bed earlier.  Adjust your bedtime to match when you feel like going to bed, even if that’s earlier than it used to be.
• Develop bedtime rituals. A soothing ritual, like taking a bath or playing music will help you wind down. Relaxation and stress management techniques, such as deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation, take some practice but their benefits can be substantial.
• Limit your use of sleeping aids and sleeping pills. Many sleep aids have side-effects and are not meant for long-term use.
• Keep naps short and early in the day. Most people benefit from naps of 15-45 minutes. Any longer may make you feel groggy. Napping too late in the day may disrupt your nighttime sleep.
Excerpted from helpguide.org

ALS Walk – Saturday, October 22, 2011
Scottsdale Stadium
9am – Check-in Time
10am – Walk start time
ALS Team website: http://web.alsa.org/goto/carecorner

MS Walk – Saturday, November 5, 2011
Phoenix Zoo and Desert Botanical Garden
5:30am to 7am – Check-in Time
7am – Walk Start time
MS Team website: http://goo.gl/oE6b6

*Participants who raise a minimum of $50 before the day of the walk will gain free access to the Phoenix Zoo the day of the walk!

Photo from last year’s ALS event:

Team Care Corner

Scientists have long struggled to identify the underlying disease process of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) and weren’t even sure that a common disease process was associated with all forms of ALS.

In this new study, Northwestern University researchers said they found that the basis of ALS is a malfunctioning protein recycling system in the neurons of the brain and spinal cord. Efficient recycling of the protein building blocks in the neurons are critical for optimal functioning of the neurons. They become severely damaged when they can’t repair or maintain themselves.

This problem occurs in all three types of ALS: hereditary, sporadic and ALS that targets the brain, the researchers said.

The discovery, published Aug. 21 in the journal Nature, shows that all forms of ALS share an underlying cause and offers a common target for drug therapy, according to the researchers.

“This opens up a whole new field for finding an effective treatment for ALS,” study senior author Dr. Teepu Siddique, of the Davee Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurosciences at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a university news release. “We can now test for drugs that would regulate this protein pathway or optimize it, so it functions as it should in a normal state.”

This finding about the breakdown of protein recycling in ALS may also prove useful in the study of other neurodegenerative diseases, specifically Alzheimer’s and other dementias, the Northwestern researchers said. Currently ALS afflicts an estimated 350,000 people around the world.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about ALS.

Excerpted from article by Robert Preidt (SUNDAY, Aug. 21) HealthDay News Retrieved from healthyday.com

Examples of home modifications that make staying at home easier as we age include:

• lever-type doorknobs
• cabinet pulls that are easier to grab (i.e. “D” shape)
• improve/add lighting, such as hallways, stairs, and “task lighting” such as lighting under kitchen cabinets
• install higher toilets – currently used in many new homes
• low or no-threshold stall showers with built-in benches or seats
• grab bars in the bathroom
• wide doorways and hallways
• side-by-side refrigerators and raised front- load washers and dryers that minimize stooping and bending
• easily reachable electrical outlets and switches

Important home design features for safety and ease of use  are not just for staying in one’s existing home. Incorporating many of the above features at the time of construction add minimal to no cost, and reduce the need for modification later on.  Many features described above are becoming commonplace in new-home construction and remodeling jobs.(3) These homes providing “Universal Design” – design features that make good sense and “grow and age” with their residents – will hopefully make it easier and safer for future generations to “age in place” – at home.

(1)Administration on Aging, U.S. Dept of Health & Human Services

(2)Administraton on Aging, U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services

(3) National Assn. of Home Builders Survey, 2009, in AZ Republic 1/8/11

Falls are a tremendous threat to a senior’s ability to remain independent; 25% of those who fracture a hip end up needing life-long nursing care. (1) The statistics clearly indicate why it is so important to avoid falls among seniors.

• 2/3 of those who fall will fall again within 6 months;
• more than half of all fatal falls involve those 75 and over;
• among those 85 and over, one fall in 10 results in a hip fracture;
• 1/4 of those who fracture a hip die within six months of injury

Many falls can be prevented through relatively easy measures:

1. Exercise

Exercise increases your strength, balance and coordination, and makes you less likely to fall. Weak muscles and poor balance make one more likely to fall.

2. Home safety

• Remove items that you can trip over such as shoes or clothing on the floor and electrical cords.
• Remove throw rugs, or at least use double sided tape to keep rugs in place
• Install grab bars next to the toilet and in the tub or shower
• Improve the lighting in your home, indoors and outside the home. Use brighter bulbs. Use night lights around the house.
• Have an adequate number of phones so that you are not running for the phone when it rings

3. Medications

Some medications can make you drowsy, light-headed or affect your balance. Have your doctor or pharmacist look at your medications to determine if any of them could put you at risk for falls.

4. Vision

Have your eyesight tested. Some falls occur as a result of declining vision (including not wearing one’s glasses, especially at night).

Given the potential severity of falls and the likely recurrence once one falls, it is important to avoid falls at all costs. The above preventive measures go a long way towards avoiding falls and allowing seniors to remain independent in their homes. Some temporary occurrences such as a change in medication, weakness due to being hospitalized or post-surgery or related situations may increase one’s risk of falling for a limited period of time. In these situations, it is best to have a family member or caregiver nearby at all times in order to prevent falls and keep the individual safe. Devices such as walkers and canes may also provide some support if someone is not completely stable and steady on their feet. While there is sometimes resistance to using a walker or cane, it is a far better solution than the risk of falling.

(1) Colorado State University Extension Service 2011