Many people with Alzheimer’s disease live alone – and are left to fend for themselves. In a report this year, the Alzheimer’s Association noted:

An estimated 800,000 individuals with Alzheimer’s – more than one in seven – live alone.

Of those who live alone, up to half of them do not have an identifiable caregiver.

People with Alzheimer’s and other dementias who live alone are exposed to higher risks – including inadequate self-care, malnutrition, untreated medical conditions, falls, wandering from home unattended and accidental deaths – compared with those who do not live alone. An important message to share with your readers:

Home Instead CAREGivers are specially trained to help clients who have Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias remain in their home settings. In addition to companionship, a CAREGiver is trained to manage the challenging behaviors of those with Alzheimer’s or other dementias.

For more about Alzheimer’s and other dementias, go to http://www.helpforalzheimersfamilies.com/.

Our CAREGivers also help with light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders and transportation needs.

Please call Home Instead Senior Care in the San Francisco Bay area for a free in-home care assessment at 415-333-3944 or 650-877-8009.

People with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia become increasingly unable to take care of themselves. Physical challenges can also develop. By being aware of possible dangers and taking ongoing preventative action you can reduce the likelihood of accidents and injuries.

The best way to avoid a hazardous situation is to closely examine your loved one’s living situation and make modifications. This is not just a one-time activity either. Others or your loved one may bring or move items that could cause concern. Generally hazards to watch for fall into one of three categories:

• household
• physical
• financial

Some common financial mistakes include forgetting or overpaying bills or misunderstanding the mail. For example, your loved one may fall for a gimmick that prompts them to send money or cash for items that never arrive.

Make sure your loved one has a durable power of attorney for finances, a will, and a revocable living trust.

Stay in contact with their financial advisor, CPA and/or tax attorney.

You don’t want your loved one’s utilities to be shut off due to unpaid bills.

Prevention of hazardous situations begins with awareness. Every room and item in your loved one’s house is a potential safety concern. This is especially true as the Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia progresses. Use the Home Instead Senior Care® network’s PREVENT system to help you keep your loved one safe.

A Self Care Tip for the Family Caregiver:

Our CAREGivers also help with light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders and transportation needs.

Please call Home Instead Senior Care in the San Francisco Bay area for a free in-home care assessment at 415-333-3944 or 650-877-8009.

A recent study from the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior suggests that using yoga to engage in brief daily meditation can lead to lower levels of depression for caregivers of those with Alzheimer’s disease. Many of your readers know that loneliness, exhaustion, fear, stress and depression takes a toll on caregivers.

Dr. Helen Lavretsky, professor of psychiatry at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, and her colleagues report a further benefit: a reduction in stress-induced cellular aging.

On average, the incidence and prevalence of clinical depression in family dementia caregivers approaches 50 percent, Dr. Lavretsky said.

While medication can improve depression, many caregivers may be opposed to the use of medication because of the associated cost and drug side effects. That consideration motivated Dr. Lavretsky and her colleagues to test a brief mind-body intervention for stress reduction.

Often depression sneaks in slowly, as breathing patterns change from too much stress, age, or illness. The deep, invigorating breath techniques of Yoga bring large amounts of fresh oxygen to the brain and other parts of the body.

A regular practice of Yoga will protect you from depression and help you stay bright-minded, while recognizing the signals that depression is giving you. To begin with, choose three exercises that appeal to you, and do them every day. Then, as you get more comfortable, expand your routine to give yourself more of a challenge and increase the beneficial effects.

Family caregivers who are tending to senior loved ones with Alzheimer’s or other dementias can turn to a Home Instead CAREGiver in the San Francisco area who is specially trained for the task – call 415-333-3944 or 650-877-8009.

For more about Alzheimer’s and other dementias, go to http://www.helpforalzheimersfamilies.com/.

Our CAREGivers also help with light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders and transportation needs.

Please call Home Instead Senior Care in the San Francisco Bay area for a free in-home care assessment at 415-333-3944 or 650-877-8009.

Dementia can test the unity of even the most cohesive families, and many know that well. “Alzheimer’s is very stressful because of the behavioral changes,’’ said caregiving expert Dr. Amy D’Aprix, who served on an expert panel to develop content for the Home Instead Senior Care network’s Alzheimer’s Disease or Other Dementias CARE: Changing Aging Through Research and Education Training Program.

Here are tips for families to share when dealing with Alzheimer’s disease:

Get an accurate diagnosis

Communicate regularly

Confer with professionals

Learn skills and techniques

Expect change and learn to manage it

Ask for help if you’re the primary caregiver

Tune into the main caregiver’s needs

Assign tasks for family members

Consider the family legacy

Tap into resources

Remember you don’t have to go solo while trying to care for a senior loved one who has Alzheimer’s. A Home Instead CAREGiver can help with medication reminders, light housekeeping, meal preparation, transportation, errands and companionship.

For more resources to help Alzheimer’s and other dementias, go to http://www.helpforalzheimersfamilies.com/.

For personal home care in the San Francisco Bay area call 415-333-3944 or 650-877-8009.

Alzheimer’s experts suggest that a family caregiver should try managing a difficult behavior three times in three different ways to achieve the best results. Remember our CAREGivers are trained in working with seniors who have Alzheimer’s or other dementias, can assist them and their senior loved ones.

For more on Alzheimer’s and other dementias, go to http://www.helpforalzheimersfamilies.com.

Our CAREGivers also help with light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders and transportation needs.

Please call Home Instead Senior Care in the San Francisco Bay area for a free in-home care assessment at 415-333-3944 or 650-877-8009.

These tips are part of the Answering the Call program, which can help family caregivers prepare for an emergency with their senior loved ones.

Keeping seniors safe from medication mishaps involves candor at the doctor’s office. Seniors must know the important information to give their physician including the medications they are currently taking, along with any allergies, illnesses or health problems. Such detail is particularly important if the senior sees several doctors.

When a family member accompanies a senior loved one to the doctor’s office, remember to provide important information to their doctor.  If you cannot attend a doctor visit with your loved one, Home Instead CAREGivers are available to help your senior during the doctor’s visit. Doctor visits for seniors often generate more prescriptions. If that occurs, your loved one must understand:

Why the doctor is prescribing a medication

What the medication is supposed to do and the correct dosage

How the medication must be taken – with or without food

When it should be taken and possible side effects

In order to avoid medication mishaps, it is important for a family member or friend be available to go with their loved one to the doctor. Home Instead CAREGivers are available for doctor visits in the San Francisco Bay area, if a family member is not available to be there for that older adult. We can be reached at 415-333-3944 or 650-877-8009.

Check out our resources  that are a part of the Senior Emergency Kit by visiting www.SeniorEmergencyKit.com for more information.

The Home Instead Senior Care Answering the Call program features a Senior Emergency Kit that can help family caregivers keep track of medication and doctor’s instructions – all tools that may make a doctor visit go more smoothly for an older adult.

Our CAREGivers also help with light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders and transportation needs.

Please call Home Instead Senior Care in the San Francisco Bay area for a free in-home care assessment at 415-333-3944 or 650-877-8009.

Home Instead Senior Care® network’s Alzheimer’s Disease or Other Dementias CARE: Changing Aging Through Research and Education Training Program benefits family caregivers dealing with Alzheimer’s in their families. The CARE approach revolves around the concept of the “best friends approach,” developed by Alzheimer’s expert David Troxel and Virginia Bell, authors of “The Best Friends Approach to Alzheimer’s Care.”

Troxel said the approach helps the caregiver live in the senior’s world, not the reality that individual can no longer manage. “For instance, if Mom says President Eisenhower is doing a great job, her caregiver shouldn’t say, ‘I saw Ike and Mamie at the store last week!’ Instead say, ‘Tell me about President Eisenhower.’ You can keep some integrity to the conversation. If your senior is worried about someone in the backyard, check to make sure no one is there and then let the senior know. Reassure him that he will be safe.”

The training and skills of our Home Instead CAREGivers can take your loved one’s care to a higher level by managing difficult behaviors. Help from our CAREGivers in the San Francisco area can come in the form of companionship, meal preparation, medication reminders, light housekeeping and transportation.

Alzheimer’s experts suggest that a family caregiver should try managing a difficult behavior three times in three different ways to achieve the best results. For more on Alzheimer’s and other dementias, go to http://www.helpforalzheimersfamilies.com or call 415-333-3944 or 650-877-8009.

Our CAREGivers also help with light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders and transportation needs.

Please call Home Instead Senior Care in the San Francisco Bay area for a free in-home care assessment at 415-333-3944 or 650-877-8009.

One of the most common frustrations among family caregivers is the propensity for people with dementia to be repetitive. Other behaviors include refusal, delusions (or false beliefs), aggression, false accusations, wandering and agitation.

Such behavior can try family caregivers to the breaking point, Alzheimer’s expert David Troxel confirms. These are techniques from the Home Instead Senior Care network’s Alzheimer’s Disease or Other Dementias CARE: Changing Aging Through Research and Education Training Program to help families manage these challenging behaviors:

Redirect. The first time a question comes up, take a few moments to answer the question fully and provide reassurance that all is well.

Physically move items or the senior from the environment. If an object or his or her surroundings are causing frustration, remove that item or the senior from that situation.

Offer simple choices. If a senior resists bathing, a simple choice would be: “Would you like your bath now or in one hour?” or “Would you like to take a bath or a shower today?”

Apologize and take the blame. Apologizing or taking the blame in a situation takes the attention off of the older adult. It may help them calm down if they believe something was not their fault.

Alzheimer’s experts suggest that a family caregiver should try managing a difficult behavior three times in three different ways to achieve the best results. Remember our CAREGivers are trained in working with seniors who have Alzheimer’s or other dementias, can assist them and their senior loved ones. For more on Alzheimer’s and other dementias, go to http://www.helpforalzheimersfamilies.com or call 415-333-3944 or 650-877-8009.

Our CAREGivers also help with light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders and transportation needs.

Please call Home Instead Senior Care in the San Francisco Bay area for a free in-home care assessment at 415-333-3944 or 650-877-8009.

With severe weather season upon us in the U.S., older adults may be among the most vulnerable victims when disasters strike. That’s why Home Instead Senior Care, the international caregiving company with more than 800 locations in 15 countries, has issued a disaster safety preparation checklist to help prepare seniors for the possibility of natural disasters.

Home Instead Senior Care’s Disaster Prep Checklist For Seniors:

____Tune in. Contact the local emergency management office to learn about the most likely natural disasters to strike your area. Stay abreast of what’s going on through your local radio or television.

____Take stock. Decide what your senior can or can’t do in the event of a natural disaster. Make a list of what would be needed if a disaster occurred. For example, if your loved one is wheelchair-bound, determine an evacuation strategy ahead of time. Prepare for whatever disaster could hit the area.

____ To go or to stay? When deciding to evacuate, older adults should go sooner rather than later. By waiting too long, they may be unable to leave if they require assistance.

____ Make a plan. Schedule a family meeting to develop a plan of action. Include in your plan key people – such as neighbors, friends, relatives and professional caregivers – who could help.

____ More than one way out. Seniors should develop at least two escape routes: one to evacuate their home and one to evacuate their community. The local emergency management office can tell you escape routes out of the community.

____Meet up. Designate a place to meet relatives or key support network people outside the house, as well as a second location outside the neighborhood, such as a school or church. Practice the plan twice a year.

____Get up and “Go Kit.” Have an easy-to-carry backpack including three days non-perishable food and water with an additional four days of food and water readily accessible at home. Have at least one gallon of bottled water per person per day. Refresh and replace your supplies at least twice a year. And don’t forget the blanket and paper products such as toilet paper.

____Pack extras and copies. Have at least a one-month supply of medication on hand at all times. Make ready other important documents in a waterproof protector including copies of prescriptions, car title registration and driver’s license, insurance documents and bank account numbers, and spare checkbook. Also take extra eyeglasses and hearing-aid batteries. Label every piece of important equipment or personal item in case they are lost.

____Your contact list. Compile a contact list and include people on a senior’s support network as well as doctors and other important health-care professionals.

____If you can’t be there. If you’re not living close by to help your loved one, enlist the help of family or friends, or contact a professional caregiving company.

Home Instead CAREGivers complete a comprehensive training program including a safety curriculum to prepare them for potential senior caregiving emergencies. For personal home care in the San Francisco area, please check with your local office by calling  415-333-3944 or 650-877-8009.

Please call Home Instead Senior Care in the San Francisco Bay area for a free in-home care assessment at 415-333-3944 or 650-877-8009.

New research links “silent strokes” — small spots of dead brain cells, found in about 1 of 4 older adults—to memory loss in the elderly. “The new aspect of this study of memory loss in the elderly is that it examines silent strokes and hippocampal shrinkage simultaneously,” explained researchers at the Columbia University Medical Center in the January 3 Neurology.

For the study, 658 people aged 65 and older and free of dementia were given MRI brain scans and tests that measured  memory, language, speed at processing information, and visual perception. A total of 174 of the participants had silent strokes. In some cases, memory loss among seniors may be due to so-called “silent strokes,” research suggests. Such strokes, which may not cause noticeable symptoms, result in small pockets of dead brain cells and are found in about 25 percent of older adults, according to a study.

The research, which was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, appeared in the journal Neurology. Participants underwent MRI brain scans, as well as testing to gauge capacities in memory, language skills, thinking speed and visual perception.

The brain scans revealed that 174 of the 658 participants had experienced silent strokes, and the investigators found that these seniors did not perform as well on the memory exams.

Researchers said that study results also support stroke prevention as a means for staving off memory problems.

When dealing with memory loss, remember that a Home Instead CAREGivers could help your senior who has memory loss in many ways, including:

Companionship

Light housekeeping

Meal preparation

Medication reminders

Transportation or errands

Here are more resources for you when addressing Alzheimer’s Disease or Other Dementia CARE: Visit HelpforAlzheimersFamilies.com.

Please call Home Instead Senior Care in the San Francisco Bay area for a free in-home care assessment at 415-333-3944 or 650-877-8009.

At Home Instead Senior Care, we are actively changing the face of aging. What does that mean?

It means we are working to abolish perceptions about the burdens of growing older and tapping in to the talents and contributions of older people such as wisdom and experience. It also means we are enhancing the lives of aging adults and their families.

Paul Hogan, Founder and Chairman of Home Instead Senior Care, serves as a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Aging and leading the Home Instead charge to help people around the world age with more dignity and respect.

As part of its efforts to celebrate the successes associated with aging, Hogan and his fellow Council members recently released a book titled, Global Population Aging: Peril or Promise?

According to the Council:

“Current demographic changes require comprehensive responses. However, much of the discussion focuses on the challenges occasioned by an aging society rather than on the opportunities. These negative scenarios need not be our fate; there are significant benefits to an aging world, but they require smart policies. This Council focuses on healthy aging and the discourse on aging to facilitate healthy and participative living in age-friendly environments and to realize the social and economic potential of elders.”

Paul Hogan co-authored Chapter 7, Social Capital Lifelong Learning and Social Innovation (page 39), with Simon Biggs, Professor of Gerontology and Social Policy at University of Melbourne (Australia), and Laura Carstensen, Director of Stanford Center on Longevity. Read Chapter 7 Social Capital, Lifelong Learning and Social Innovation.

Hogan also penned Chapter 12 (page 61), Design and Operation of Health Systems in Developing Countries, with Linda Fried, and Jack Rowe, from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. Read Chapter 12 Design and Operation of Health Systems in Wealthy Industrial Countries.

The old face of aging is isolation; the new face is companionship

The old face of aging is institutionalization; the new face is having the choice to age at home

The old face of aging is fear; the new face is hope – Paul Hogan

For a free no-obligation consultation on our personal home care services in the Pasadena CA area, please check with your local office by calling 415-333-3944 or 650-877-8009.

Please call Home Instead Senior Care in the San Francisco Bay area for a free in-home care assessment at 415-333-3944 or 650-877-8009.