Over the next several issues we will run  a series showing the challenges facing family caregivers at different stages in the caregiving process.

Stage 2: The Freshman Caregiver

I am starting to help an aging relative.

Who are you?

You have been helping an aging relative for a short time. Your duties range from errand-running and bill-paying to hands-on care.

Your keyword: Find

Find services that help. Find support that comforts. Find ways to enjoy your hobbies and interests.

Your Purpose:

This is your entry into the caregiving role. This is your time to experiment, to get your feet wet and see what works. This is your opportunity to learn how the health care industry works with, or in some cases, against, you. Now is the time to shape your caregiving personality: What duties are you comfortable with? What duties make you uncomfortable? How well are you and your care recipient getting along? What situations would create overwhelming stresses for both of you?

As a “freshman caregiver,” what can you do?

1. Learn as much as you can about your care recipient’s illness, disease or condition.

Consult the local branches or chapters of national organizations such as The Arthritis Foundation, the Alzheimer’s Association, The Cancer Society. What does the future hold for you and your care recipient?

2. Learn how to provide proper care from health care professionals or from health care videos, manuals or books.

If your care recipient is hospitalized or receives short-term therapy at a nursing home, ask the staff to show you proper caregiving techniques: lifting, transfers, bathing. Or, search the Internet for hands-on care information.

3. Join a support group–online or in your community.

It’s so isolating to be a caregiver! Support groups will connect you with others in similar situations; often, you’ll learn of community resources and options from other caregivers that you were not aware of.

4. Count on regular breaks from caregiving.

You can’t be a good caregiver to someone else if you don’t take care of yourself. Plan for regular breaks—whatever you can manage. Enlist the help of relatives and community services so you can take time off regularly. Relatives can help in many ways—through financial support, social support (calling the care recipient regularly just “to talk”), as well as respite support.

5. Rely on help from community organizations.

Meals on Wheels, home care agencies like Amy’s Helping Hands, to name just a few, may offer services that your care recipient needs.

6. Keep in mind what your care recipient’s wishes are.

If appropriate, ask for his or her input and ideas. Does your care recipient still feel good about living at home? What does your care recipient fear or dread?

Excerpted from www.caregiving.com: The Caregiving Years, Six Stages to a Meaningful Journey, a handbook for family caregivers by Denise M. Brown.

Aging in place is a new approach to eldercare. It allows the elderly to remain in their own homes as they age, rather than having to be moved to a nursing home or assisted living facility. To enable aging in place, there are many tools on the market that make it possible for your aging parent to remain independent and self-reliant. The tools assist your parent by making up for deficiencies they may have.

 

Hearing Tools

Most aging parents suffer from some kind of hearing loss, whether it is minor or profound. To enable them to age in place and adapt to challenges with hearing, there is everything from a vibrating watch that reminds them when to take medications to hearing devices that amplify sound to visual and vibrating alerts for the telephone and fire alarm.

_{Vision Tools}
Even if your parent does not suffer from a disabling condition like macular degeneration, deteriorating eye sight is another struggle most seniors experience that can cause them to lose some of their independence. When glasses (and bifocals and trifocals) are not enough, there are magnifying glasses available that will allow your parent to still be able to read (newspapers and prescription instructions) as well as large print versions of newspapers and books. There are also magnifying screens and software available for computers and TVs. Improving the lighting in your parent’s home is important as well.

_{Safety Tools}
If your parent has a desire to age in place, there are many things you can do to help him or her remain independent. Slipping and falling, whether from an accident or from any kind of decreased mobility, is a concern to all adult children who care for their aging and sometimes ailing parents. Exchanging tubs for walk-in showers; adding railings in the tub, near the toilet, and in hallways; and making sure rugs and stairs are slip-proof can reduce the risk. If your parent’s home has multiple levels, you may be able to concentrate their living space on one level, adjusting where their bedroom is to coincide with where the kitchen and bathroom are. If you have the resources, you can have elevators or chair lifts installed to allow your parent to travel safely from floor to floor.

Exchanging tubs for walk-in showers, adding railing in the tub, near the toilet, and in hallways, and making sure rugs and stairs are slip-proof can reduce the risk of slipping and falling.

If your parent has early signs of dementia or simply forgets to do things, there are automated pill boxes with timers that remind him or her when to take medications. You can install a programmable thermostat so that your parent doesn’t have to remember to adjust the heat or cooling system to coincide with the weather. You can even install a sensor monitoring system that follows activities without invading a person’s privacy, but allows you to keep track of your parent and be alerted if there is a problem.

Living independently, outside of a nursing home or skilled nursing facility, is a goal for most aging parents. Many times with the help of a home care provider like Amy’s Helping Hands along with employing tools and technology most aging parents can remain at home.

Excerpts Taken From Parentgiving.com

 

Osteoporosis is the weakening of bones and occurs in one quarter of all women, and one eighth of all men. Although the rate of osteoporosis is much higher among women, it is certainly not just a woman’s illness. Increasing numbers of men are affected by osteoporosis.

Sadly, it is often a fractured bone that alerts someone to the fact that they have osteoporosis. Low trauma fractures—fractures that occur from a standing height or less—are sometimes the only warning sign evident to someone about their bone health. Fractures can cause dire consequences, especially in seniors. One year after a hip fracture, 80% of patients cannot perform at least one activity of daily living, 40% cannot walk independently, 30% are permanently disabled, and 20% have died.

While a hip fracture does not cause death directly, it can be the result of underlying frailty, and it is usually other health factors which lead to death.

Sustaining good bone health is an important way to prevent a low trauma fracture. You need to ensure that your calcium level is high enough at all times, because you naturally eliminate calcium through urination, so your body will deplete the calcium from your bones if you are calcium deficient.

Calcium supplements are available in various forms and you can increase your intake of calcium-rich foods such as milk & other dairy, green leafy vegetables and almonds.  Vitamin D supplements are also recommended so that the calcium can be fully absorbed.

If you are concerned about your bone health and your calcium level, you should speak to your physician. Strong and healthy bones are important at any age and it’s never too early or too late to begin caring for your bones!