The Caregiver's Secret

Video: Medication Management in Care Facilities

Elizabeth Swider — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:30:09 +0000

Medication Management for Caregivers

In the third of 6 videos for caregivers and health care providers, learn how medication is usually dispensed in an institution, where to find medication management and caregiver help on the web.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the United Hospital Fund’s Next Step in Care campaign collaborated on a series of six videos called “Helping Patients & Family Caregivers Take the Next Step in Care: Medication Management.” Many of the videos refer to Next Step in Care Family Caregiver guides, which are available on the Next Step in Care website.

These videos are wonderful resources for families who are managing the care of their loved ones. For the other videos in this series, see the“Managing Medications” Category on The Caregiver’s Secret.

To contact Care is There Geriatric Care Management for a free consultation for services in Charlottesville and Staunton Viriginia, call Elizabeth Swider at 434.326.5323 ext 2, email her at elizabeth@careisthere.com, or visit our website at www.careisthere.com.

Video: The Role of Family Caregivers in Managing Medications for Elderly Loved Ones

Elizabeth Swider — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:30:21 +0000

Helping Caregivers Manage Medications

In the second of 6 videos for caregivers and health care providers, learn what medication reconciliation means, the roles of family caregivers and health professionals, and the problems reconciliation can identify.

Video: Helping Caregivers Manage the Medications for their Elderly Loved Ones — Introduction

Elizabeth Swider — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:30:54 +0000

Caregivers Must Often Manage Medications for Elderly Loved Ones

Managing medications can be one of the most important roles of a caregiver. Doctors can prescribe medications, but it is up to caregivers to help patients take the medications as they are prescribed.

Each video covers an important topic for family caregivers and health care providers. They can be used separately or in order. The topics include medication risks during transitions in care setting (such as hospital to home, medication reconciliation (comparing old medication lists with new prescriptions), ongoing medication management, monitoring compliance with the medication regimen, how to get help paying for medications, and medication management for family caregivers. Many of the videos refer to Next Step in Care Family Caregiver guides, which are available on the Next Step in Care website.

These videos are wonderful resources for families who are managing the care of their loved ones.

Here is the introduction video.

For the other videos in this series, see the “Managing Medications” Category on The Caregiver’s Secret.

The Doctor Will See You Now – How to Get an Appointment Sooner

Elizabeth Swider — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 15:31:53 +0000

Getting a doctors appointment sooner

Tips for getting a quick appointment with the doctor for your elderly loved one:

This is a great article from Agingcare.com, discussing advice from Marion Somers, Ph.D., a geriatric care manager and author of the book, Eldercare Made Easier. As Care is There geriatric care managers we often use this collaborative, professional approach.

Her tips are summarized as follows, but don’t miss the full article about How to Get an Appointment Sooner:

Be friendly
Make it official
Speak up
Communicate
Don’t wait

Aging in Stride: Geriatric Care Managers Fill a Growing Need

Elizabeth Swider — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 13:56:59 +0000

Geriatric Care Managers Fill a Growing Need

Many families don’t realize that geriatric care managers – like us at Care is There Geriatric Care Management - can take a heavy load off their shoulders when it comes to caregiving — especially long distance caregiving.

We all want our elderly parents to be independent and we also want them to be safe and to be assisted in whatever living activities are becoming a struggle.

This article from “Aging in Stride” called “Geriatric Care Managers Fill a Growing Need” discusses the services that geriatric care managers provide and the benefits they can bring to you and the senior citizens in your life.

Respite for Caregivers – the Daily Living Center in Waynesboro

Elizabeth Swider — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:45:37 +0000

Daily Living Center in Waynesboro Va is an excellent resource for both caregivers and care receivers. Daily respite services provide a valuable and resonably priced way for caregivers to go to work, run errands, or just take time for themselves. I urge caregivers to give these services a try and see the difference it can make in everyone’s lives!

Daily Living Center provides adult day health care services for adults who are limited in their ability to fully live independently – due to phyical or memory impairment - but do not require 24-hour nursing care.

The Center allows family and friends to attend to their daily lives knowing that their loved one is being taken care of in a positive, safe, caring environment. They serve clients from Waynesboro, Staunton, and throughout Augusta County from Churchville to Crimora.

Daily Living Center provides activities for loved ones

Daily Living Center offers:

A Secure environment
Socialization and Recreational Activities
Health monitoring by licensed professionals
Nutritious hot meals and two snacks
Bathing , additional cost
Hair Salon by appointment only

Adult Day Health Care Center Hours, Fees, and Transportation

Open 5 days a week, 7:30 am to 5:30 pm
Accepts adults 18 years and older without regard to race, religion or natural origin
Can provide wheelchair accessible transportation
Offers a Caregivers Support Group meeting on the third Monday of every month
Accepts Private pay, Medicaid, VPAS (Valley Program for the Aging Services) and is Veterans Administration certified. Some scholarship fees may be available.
Current cost is a reasonable $65.00 a day, transportation extra

Daily Living Center Contact information

Daily Living Center provides a secure environment with many services

540.949.4151
Terry Team, Director

990 E. Hopeman Parkway
Waynesboro, Va. 22980

www.dailylivingcenter.com
dailylivingc@ntelos.net

For More Resources

The geriatric care managers at Care is There can help you find the resources you need to care for your elderly loved ones. Call Elizabeth at 434.326.5323 ext 2, or visit the Care is There website.

For more resources, ideas and reflections:

Aging in Place

Communicating with Senior Citizens

The Art of the Medical Emergency

Elizabeth Swider — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:42:07 +0000

You can be in charge of your own emergency!

My client’s medical emergency is beautiful. My client is beautiful and she is the master of her emergency. Here’s why and how.

She is of 81 years; a Ph.D. in sociology; a painter. Gracious, generous, and thoroughly competent, a friend said she “should be running the United Nations.” Quite. Her health is better than most people half her age.

And she is better prepared for a medical emergency than anyone I know. All her paperwork is done, and she hired us at Care is There to be her advocate if a medical emergency occurs.

Being prepared can be beautiful

Why is she so prepared? Certainly not out of fear or concern since she has little of either. Her preparedness is a gift she has chosen to give to her out-of-town children: she doesn’t want them having to drop everything and rush to her side if she has a sudden medical problem.

But I also think it is the mark of a life well managed and beautifully arranged. If circumstances require that she pay sudden host to the rescue squad, they will find everything they need for pleasant and efficient visit – posted on the refrigerator door just as they like it. If she is whisked away to the emergency room, she can take the kit she keeps by her bed, inside what looks like a lovely red handbag. And Care is There will be with her, making sure the medical team knows who she is and what she needs and keeping her family informed about her care and well being.

Design your care to suit your preferences

So many people avoid planning for emergencies. Perhaps they avoid the dreadful thought that they may lose control of their bodies or their lives. I wish they could have tea with this grand lady and see how lovely it can be to plan your own care. After all, when we asked her what she would like us to bring to hospital if she were admitted, she included: ”I do like music particularly the symphonies, string quartets and concerti of Beethoven and Brahms. The poems of TS Eliot and Robert Frost would be of interest. Some fruit and nuts would be welcome.” And, parenthetically, “You might add a good cookie.”

She shall have it.

If you want to be as prepared as this impressive woman, here is a list what to do. The flair must be your own.

Write down this information, keep it up to date, and share it with loved ones and your near-at-hand emergency contact. Also post it on the door of the refrigerator since that is where emergency responders are trained to check:

Medications you are taking, including nonprescription ones
Medical history
Insurance information
Contact information for your primary care physician
Contact information of your loved ones
Contact information for your chosen emergency medical care advocate
HIPAA form or statement listing people you authorize to be informed about your health care
Advance medical directive
Do Not Resuscitate order (PDF), if you have chosen to have one
Power of Attorney documentation, if applicable
A list of comforts you would like if you admitted to the hospital (reading glasses, etc.)

Love Plus Velcro Equals Dignity for Aging Loved Ones

Elizabeth Swider — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:42:27 +0000

Supporting your aging loved ones in their desire to live with independence, dignity and normalcy can sometimes be as easy as Velcro buttons and bendable straws.

Velcro button conversion kits can help people with arthritis

I recently visited the Universal Design exhibit at James Madison University in Harrisonburg Virginia. The exhibit highlighted easy ways to make simple tasks accessible to everyone.

One of my favorites from the exhibit is a button conversion kit from the Velcro company. This ingeniously simple invention leaves a shirt looking “normal” but allows it to be fastened with Velcro instead of buttons. This is a boon to help people who have lost fine motor skills — due to arthritis or other concerns — to deal with buttons but want to dress as they are used to dressing.

Bendable straws are fun and playful and they can help elderly people reach their drink

Another lovely option – bendable straws to help the drink find an easier way to the person. And they are fun!

Below is a video of my visit to JMU’s lovingly-built exhibit on universal design and a video explaining how the Velcro button conversion kit works.

Just look around your home and community. There are lots of ways to make living easier, more joyful, and more “normal” for your elderly loved ones!

Caregiving Resolution: This Year We Celebrate!

Elizabeth Swider — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:48:41 +0000

This is the year to celebrate the one you love!

Here’s a powerful mind trick: pretend you are sitting at the funeral of the elderly person you love. Now that they are gone, what are you treasuring about them? What is lost now that they are gone? What do you wish you had done or said? Now: snap your fingers and you have a second chance!

Caregiving – even long distance caregiving - can be grinding and wearying so it is easy to forget what we love until it is gone from us. This year you can celebrate your loved one and it could be the best year of your lives together.
Here are some ideas to help start your celebration:

Give up one source of guilt and one source of resentment. Just give them up because they do nothing but bring you both down. You will feel like a new person – trust me.
Record the old stories and label the old photographs. Surely you’re tired of hearing the same stories over and over. But one day you will remember them fondly. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a recording of those stories in your loved one’s own voice? And what about all those old photos? Who will put the names and stories with the faces when your loved one is gone? Doing this process together can create new memories too.
Have generational family pictures taken. Not only will you treasure a family portrait, but your children will too.
Schedule a “quality time” visit. Schedule a visit apart from a crisis or a holiday. Consciously create the visit you want to remember fondly. Tip: read “How NOT to Have the Same Old Conversation with your Elderly Parents.”
Schedule a caregiving break. Put that vacation on your calendar and find people or services to cover your caregiving duties.
Do the thing you would regret not doing. What will you wish you had said or done? Do it NOW and make it a celebration!

For help managing your caregiving needs in central Virginia – Charlottesville, Staunton, and Harrisonburg – call Care is There at 434.326.5323 or visit our website at www.careisthere.com.

How Not to Have the Same Old Conversation with your Elderly Parents

Elizabeth Swider — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:09:54 +0000

Tired of the same old conversation with Mom or Dad?

It’s that time of year – time to visit the elderly parents!

You’re glad you’re going because, you know, you love them and all and they may not be around forever. But are you already getting antsy thinking about sitting around in that dusty house having the same conversation you’ve had for twenty years?

Time to shake things up – for the better!

I didn’t grow up with your parents — so they are interesting and funny to me. Can they be so to you?

Here are some out of the box conversation starters:

What’s the craziest thing you ever did?
What’s the craziest thing you think I ever did?
What did you hide from your parents when you were young?
Have you ever loved to dance? Make art?
Any family skeletons in the closet that you’d like to share? No? Shall we make some up?

My favorite way to get out of the conversation rut is to make a fresh compliment:

I’ve gotta hand it to you for still being willing to cook for us when we visit. Can I sneak a peek at that recipe?
You always look so fresh and put together. Thanks for showing the world what well-dressed looks like!
I never told you how I admired you for sticking to your physical therapy after your knee replacement. When I have mine done I’ll have a high bar to reach!

So go forth to this visit like you were going to a cocktail party. Who are these mysterious guests, what are their unique experiences, and what surprises lay in store?