Senior Housing and Assisted Living

One of the most difficult times you may ever have with your senior loved one is the discussion about having them move into a facility. Sometimes it goes easily, other times not at all. But once you have gotten through that difficult discussion it isn’t necessarily smooth sailing from then on. The next step can be almost as difficult. That is actually finding a facility that you can trust and that will take care of your loved one. There is no magic bullet for finding that perfect place but we have collect a few questions and ideas that should help the process along.

So you just walked into a facility and your beginning your tour. What’s the first thing you should do? Take a deep breath and smell the air. How does it smell inside? Every reputable, well run facility should smell good, full stop. If it smells musty or like a bathroom, it could be an indicator of a serious problem. If you don’t like the smell don’t ignore it. Ask the manager why there is a smell. If you don’t get a reasonable answer or the manager wants to deny the smell, move on. There are plenty of other places to look at.

You’ve breathed in and the place smells good! Good news. Now the next observation should be with your eyes. How does the physical facility look? What is the condition of the place. It should be well maintained in every way. The place should be spotlessly clean. The furniture doesn’t have to be new but it should be in very good condition and inviting to use. The bathroom fixtures should be functional with no leaks. Paint on the walls should be clean and not be peeling. Look closely, if you see multiple problems, there is a problem with the way the facility is run. If the owners aren’t concerned enough with the day to day tasks of running the building how concerned will they be about the day to day tasks of caring for your senior.

You’ve smelled and you’ve looked, everything seems fine. Now you can do some talking. You will have plenty to discuss with the manager but I want you to talk to at least one of the caregivers, maybe more. Don’t announce your intention before you get to the facility, let it be a surprise so nothing can be prepared. If the manager is uncomfortable with the idea, let them know that makes your uncomfortable. After all, what would they have to hide? Once you do get a chance to talk to a caregiver how easy is it to relate to them? Are they warm and friendly? Would you want them taking care of you? Is there English good enough to understand what your senior may want or need? How long have they worked there? If its been a short time, make note. Facilities with high turnover are a problem. Employees leave quickly because they are not happy working there. Either they aren’t paid a market rate or the manager is difficult to work with. It really doesn’t matter the reason because an unhappy caregiver is not going to do a good job with your senior.

Finally, ask for references when the tour is over. Yes the names you will get will be cherry picked but if there are real problems at the facility even the cherry picked references might leak out some important information to you. Its worth doing.

We could go on and on with questions and other things to look for but if you enter with the mindset of imaging that it was you that would be living there, you are well on your way to making a good decision. If you discover issues that make your uncomfortable, they are probably issues with your senior. Keep your eyes open and ask questions and you will do fine.

Has someone in your life been diagnosed with dementia? We can help in the difficult search for a perfect living space. Caring Senior Placement is a free referral service build around helping families find appropriate senior housing. Learn more at www.caringseniorplacement.com.

A young child recently remarked to his grandfather “Papa people are born; they get old, sick and die. Life is just like that. It’s sad but true. Life is just like that. And there is nothing you can do about it.” The question to Papa was where did that little fellow come up with such insight and wisdom? Every person’s life has its own end, specifically when one was forcibly hindered to perform daily task by disease or is often the case in a multifactoral model by any number of sets of different and even distinct diseases. Sadly often a Majority of the individuals afflicted by disease states often feel hopeless and useless as they can not participate in the society, including financial and emotional contribution to the family. The affliction of the sufferer increases when their environment failed to accept who they are including their relatives.

If one of your relatives had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, support is the patient’s primary source of energy to overcome the disease. However, there are no known medications to completely treat the illness. Alzheimer’s disease is found among people of the age of 65. But there are cases that the disease starts to develop among middle age individuals like 30s and 40s. Thus, members of the family must show affection to avoid the feeling of being numb among patient. Alzheimer’s disease cause several changes on the patients mind setting, behavior and temper.

Alzheimer’s disease is found among people over 65 years old. However, there are cases that the disorder develops on the middle ages like 30s and 40s. Expect several changes on patient’s mood and memory as on of numerous effect of Alzheimer’s disease to an individual. Most of them lost their memory and failed to do once have skills, including eating, taking a bath, writing and etc. In the end, the patients need to have special care to assist and provide all of his needs.

It is essential for continuous learning about the disease among family members to ease the pain of Alzheimer’s. Relatives must understand ground rules of the disorder, as well as the applicable medication to administer the disease without making the patient feel hopeless. Alzheimer’s disease might be confusing to some but it is not contagious if there is a tender care from relatives. As of now, there no known treatment to cure the disorder but with appropriate care and support, depression or other related mental burden will be reduced.

The patient is more emotional, as one of the several effects of Alzheimer’s disease. They do not need a normal assistance but what they need is tender care including the support and understanding from the whole members of the family. Majority of patient’s relatives do not feel comfortable on maintaining the sanity of the patient. They tend to set a distance to avoid the odorous smell. This is why some family avail an expensive professional care giver to provide the patient’s need on their behalf. Today, there are no known methods to overcome the disorder. Family’s support and affection is still the best medication to reduce the depression of the patient.

Dimebond

The irony is striking. Sitting there in the car, waiting to pick up a prescription at the drive through window of your local Walgreens pharmacy. And what’s the prescription for? High blood pressure? High cholesterol? Weight loss pills? To be sure, there are people who use the drive through who, due to injury or a handicap, may not be able to go inside to get their medicine. But I’m sure that a large percentage of people who go through that line each day are like many people these days: lazy and overweight.

I own a home care agency in St. Louis that primarily provides care for the elderly. And in this capacity, every day I see what happens to both our bodies and our minds as we get older. It’s also part of my job to stay on top of the latest research on aging. If the people sitting in their cars at the drive through see what I see each day and know what I know, they probably wouldn’t be sitting in that car!

There is really no longer any debate. Being active and exercising is probably the most protective medicine we have for our minds as we age. Several recent studies have shown improvement in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) when the subjects exercised regularly. This is important because about 15% of those with MCI can expect to progress to Alzheimer’s. And older adults who keep active have a nearly 40% reduction in even getting MCI. We are realizing that we need to focus on prevention of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s or, short of that, fighting them as early on as possible.

When someone is exposed to long term physical and mental stress, they suffer from something called oxidative stress. And suffering from oxidative stress makes the brain more susceptible to diseases such as Alzheimer’s, other forms of dementia and Parkinson’s.

You can protect your brain from the effects of oxidative stress, however, by regularly performing aerobic exercise. Besides the aerobic training, strength training is important also. For a recent study, researchers followed 1000 subjects, age 54 to 100, who were dementia free. The researchers followed these subjects for 4 years and assessed the strength of the subjects in nine major muscle groups. The results were incredible. Those who ranked in the top 10% for strength were 61% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than those in the bottom 10%.

And there’s more! A study published in 2008 in the journal Neurology detailed the findings of a study started in the 1960s and 1970s where the researchers measured the midsections of around 6500 adults. Researchers then followed up with the subjects 36 years later and found those with the largest midsections in middle age were three times more likely to suffer from dementia as compared to those who had the lowest amount of fat in their midsections.

Even as a normal brain ages, loss of neuronal connections, blockages of blood supply and decrease in nerve-signaling chemicals all factor in to decline of brain function. For a long time we thought it was impossible to grow new brain cells. Turns out this is not true. Studies by Fred Gage, Ph.D. and colleagues at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have shown the more physical exercise you get, the more brain cells you grow, the longer they live and the better they connect with other cells. Brisk walking for just 40 minutes four times/week increases the blood flow to areas of the brain that are able to grow new brain cells. He has concluded that movement is so vital to brain health that a lot of the cognitive decline we conclude is inevitable due to the aging process is really due to being couch potatoes.

Hopefully this will give you reason to pause the next time you start to pull into the Walgreen’s drive thru. Next time I challenge you to park at the far end of the lot and walk in to get your medicine. Who knows, if you keep up that mindset, one day you may not even need that prescription!

Theanna Zika founded Saint Louis senior care company, Heavenly Helpers, in 2004. She shares tips, strategies and advice about caring for seniors that she has learned over the years on the blog at her company’s website. The site also features a helpful list of Saint Louis senior resources for seniors and their families in the Saint Louis Metro area.

Alzheimer’s disease is one the most common type of dementia which accounts to 60-80% of all reported cases. Alzheimer’s is a brain disorder that has a slow onset but causes a decline in functioning such as loss of motor function, loss of speech, and profound personality and behavioral changes such as hallucinations, paranoia, delusions, inattention to hygiene and belligerence. With these in mind, we can now see the big picture of how the disease impacts the patient’s life and the people responsible for the patient’s care.

Even at the onset of the disease, care giving could be whole day task. It is necessary for caregivers to be flexible, patient and understanding in dealing with their loved one’s changed behavior and personality. Having a support group through family members, friends and professionals is essential to reduce the stress levels and avoid care giving burnouts. You as a friend, co-worker or relative can be a part of this support group to show your care for the primary caregiver and with the diagnosed patient as well.

The caregiving task can be stressful at times and caretakers tend to forget about themselves often. Studies have found out that Alzheimer care providers experience health issues related to care-giving. Encourage caregivers to take care of themselves. Advise them to eat healthy, exercise regularly and have sufficient rest and sleep to stay fit. To help prevent burnout, give the caregiver a break. Volunteer yourself to be the day’s caretaker of the person with Alzheimer’s so the caregiver can run errands, attend a support group meeting, do a favorite activity or attend religious activity. We all recognize the significance of personal time.

Give them a hand on chores you can do such as with cleaning, laundry and other hard-to-get -task. Adjusting to the new life situation could make them less organize; suggest to make a to-do-list and delegate the tasks wisely. Most of the caregivers loose their personal time because of the huge demands of care giving. If you have plenty of time, try share some by looking after the Alzheimer’s patient so that caretakers will have some time to do errands, get some rest, attend a support group gathering and etc.

Lastly, lend your ears if someone among the care-giving family wants to speak out and tell you their stories; sometimes caregivers just need someone to talk to. We feel relived when we try to bring out things inside us. Just let them talk and try not to interrupt or contradict. Establish a supportive environment. You don’t need to give answers, being a listener is sometimes enough.

Alzheimer Association Disease

It can be said that the hardest part for the suffering of family and friends of Alzheimer’s disease patients is to watch their loved one’s deteriorate. In the case of one wife it was to have her husband shriek at her, obviously referring to his World War experiences “Cannot you see the bodies” in the trench. To another it was to decide to tell their father only one time that his wife had passed on. To explain the event and circumstances to him any more than one time would, they decided be cruel. After all, their father had no long term, only short term memory. Each and every time they explained to him as to where “Be mother” “the answer that seemed to suffice to their father, who after all in a progressively deteriorating state of his Alzheimer’s was that “Mother is out shopping” or “At the store with the caregiver”. Such are the events and lives not only of the ill person but also family and close friends who live with the specter of this illness of the aged.

Alzheimer’s disease has an abnormal tissue that contains neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques. It can affect a person’s thinking and behavior. The illness has different kinds of attacks; however, its symptoms are tough to differentiate because they vary from every individual.

It also has three different stages with different behavior approaches. Person suffering from an early stage Alzheimer’s disease are having difficulty in speaking, perception and execution of movements. Middle stage patients are having problems in memory, frequent crying, resistance to care giving and wandering. The last stage is a severe stage of Alzheimer’s disease. The person has totally lost his ability to speak, apathy, and exhaustion. There are said to be the most demanding Alzheimer’s disease patient. They need assistance on every task they will do, including feeding themselves.

As the Alzheimer’s disease developed, several symptoms can be seen on the patient. It includes aggression, mood swings, confusion, irritability, and memory loss. Some of these patients are having trouble using their senses. They can not speak and failure to recognize their relatives. There are treatments and regimes for Alzheimers disease available. There are also a lot of lay and “quack” medications available. Families seem to be able to spend anything to stop their agony and the suffering of the Alzheimer’s patient. They are desperate plus mentally and emotionally exhausted. Several facts must be understood by the Alzheimer’s family and friends when it comes to treatment options. First the patient can never get better – the brain is damaged itself and is beyond repair.

Alzheimer’s disease is one subset of mental dementia and mental faculty deterioration in the elderly. There are other forms and causes of brain dementia and loss of memory function in the aged. Yet at least with Alzheimer’s disease the pathology can be identified – there are plaques, there are damaged brain tissue areas. Diagnosis is done through a process of elimination by the medical specialist or medical neurological

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