01.29.11
Posted in Assisted Living, Assisted Living Facilities, Elder Care, Elderly Care at 10:59 pm by admin
We’ve seen it happen to Grandma, Aunt Jane, and the sweet elderly lady at church. These elderly loved ones are shrinking before our eyes, and we wonder, is this a normal part of aging? At what point should we be concerned? We know muscle and bone mass is gradually lost as we age due to a decrease in hormones, metabolism, and activity, but there is cause for pause when an elderly loved one’s weight is dropping too quickly.
What causes unintentional weight loss?
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There are three primary categories for the causes of unintentional weight loss in the elderly, phycological, medical, and age-related. Age-related unintentional weight loss includes the typical factors we’ve already discussed: loss of muscle and bone mass. One of the leading psychological causes of unintentional weight loss is depression. Unintentional weight loss could also be an indication of another underlying medical condition including gastrointestinal problems and another leading cause of unintentional weight loss: cancer. Other factors that can contribute to unintentional weight loss are dementia, restricted diet, changes in the ability to taste and smell, and stress.
How much weight loss is too much?
Experts say a 5-10% drop in overall weight within 12 months or less could be cause for concern and should prompt a visit to the doctor. Excessive weight loss could be a sign of a serious underlying problem, or it could bring on other medical issues, so a doctor’s care should be sought.
Is unintentional weight loss preventable?
Depending on the underlying cause, unintentional weight loss could be preventable. Many elderly people lack necessary vitamins in their diet or experience a decrease in their body’s ability to absorb them. Also a lack of protein in their diet can be a common factor in excessive weight loss in elderly people. A doctor may order lab tests to identify any underlying medical problem or suggest dietary changes. Sometimes previously instated restrictive diets are lifted in order to re-establish appropriate weight. Whatever the cause, seeking a health care provider as quickly as possible after noticing excessive weight loss is a good idea.
For help finding retirement housing or assisted living housing options from California to Washington DC, use the tool at the top of the page to begin your search.
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Posted in Assisted Living, Assisted Living Facilities, Elder Care, Elderly Care at 1:21 pm by admin
Living in Waco
Waco, TX just might be the most accessible city in the Lone Star State. By that, I mean it is situated in the most convenient location, with all of Texas’ major metropolitan areas with reach. Dallas is under two hours to the north, and Austin is two hours to the south. Houston and San Antonio are reachable as well, with a drive that won’t take four hours.
Waco is home to more than one hundred ten thousand Texans, fifteen thousand of which are over retirement age. That is thirteen percent of the population. Of course, people of retirement age love to move to Texas because of the warm weather, the low cost of living, and the relaxed pace of life. I suppose they like to stay for the same reasons.
Waco, in addition to being senior friendly, is also a college town. It is home to Baylor University, which has about fifteen thousand students–more than ten percent of the city’s population. It is also famous for being the birthplace of Dr. Pepper. If you come to town, you can see the Dr. Pepper Museum, or take in a Baylor Bears division 1 football game.
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Understanding Assisted Living Options in Waco
Waco seniors who need elderly care can find all sorts of options. There are facilities that can meet them wherever they are at. For example, if Waco seniors need full time care by a medical staff, a Waco nursing home might be in order. If, however, they don’t need medical help, but need assistance with daily activities like taking a bath or transferring positions, they could settle into an assisted living community. In these facilities, residents live in their own apartments, but have access to community for dining, activities, and general assistance. In this sense, assisted living is a “best of both worlds” type of elder care. They can have independence, but have help at the same time.
There are special types of Waco Elder Care as well, such as memory care. This is a special type of care that focuses on treating seniors who have developed dementia, especially alzheimer’s disease. Memory care can be part time or full time. Families who care for their loved ones at home often take advantage of memory “respite care” during the day, which is often held at a full time memory care facility. But regardless of how long a patient is there, memory care focuses on keeping a senior safe and comfortable, and nurturing them as best as possible.
Seniors who want a place to retire can find good retirement options in the city of Waco as well. This might include one of the luxurious retirement options in the central Texas region. There are golf retirement centers, and other facilities that are centered around recreation and enjoying the outdoors.
Are you looking for Waco Assisted Living or some other TX Assisted living community? Use the silver info box at the top of this page, and enter the city and type of care you need. You’ll be on your way!
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01.21.11
Posted in Alzheimer's Disease, Assisted Living, Assisted Living Facilities, Assisted Living Safety, care at home, Caregiver, Elder Care, Elderly Care at 11:34 pm by admin
For patients and families struggling with Alzheimer’s disease in an assisted living facility or at home, life can be immensely stressful. Not only is there the emotional strain of losing memories and relational connections, there is the new problem of sudden, unexpected, and totally inexplicable outbursts. As one Alzheimer’s expert said, “When you’ve seen one case of Alzheimer’s Disease, you’ve seen one case of Alzheimer’s Disease.” In other words, the disease is unpredictable, making emotional outbursts all the more jarring. And while the family suffers from these uncomfortable moments, the senior in their care is obviously struggling more. After all, something is bothering them and unsettling them.
Fortunately, the emotionally complex and “jumpy” nature of Alzheimer’s Disease can be tamed–or at least calmed–in some cases, by something very non-medical: pets.
Before I go into specifics here, I want to draw a parallel between seniors with Alzheimer’s and children. Both groups are unable to care for themselves. The world does not make sense to either of them. Both can be drawn into their own world by the most trivial things… And both of them seem the world through “new” eyes. So it should be no surprise that senior adults with memory ailments respond so similarly to pets as children do.
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But don’t take our word for it. Check out this quote from an expert at the Mayo Clinic:
“A pet is a medication without side effects that has so many benefits. I can’t always explain it myself, but for years now I’ve seen how instances of having a pet is like an effective drug. It really does help people.â€
Dr. Edward Creagan
Oncologist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
Quoted from DeltaSociety.org
Dr. Creagan is not alone in his perspective. Doctors and experts all over the country have noticed and written on the benefits of animals on a person’s blood pressure, stress levels, and overall sense of health and well being.
Therapy dogs, of course, help millions of seniors and disabled Americans every year. This includes seeing eye dogs, and dogs to protect the mentally challenged: people with downs syndrome, autism, and all manner of ailments that would cause a person to be more vulnerable to injury and attack. And more recently, medical professionals have begun to use therapy dogs for Alzheimer’s patients, with positive results. Many patients have a noticeable decrease in aggression, a lift in social skills, and on overall reprieve from depression that so often plagues them.
So, how can this work, exactly? Several ways. The first is for caregivers who care for a loved one at home. If the family dog or cat is still alive and still well-behaved, make sure grandma gets lots of interaction with her if the two have any kind of rapport. But these criteria will not match most people’s circumstances. So for those who sometimes put their loved one in respite care or adult day care, ask about pet therapy. Many of these facilities are employing the assistance of animal professionals for several hours per day. These can include people from the Society to Prevent Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). The nice thing about going through these types of groups is that the animals are generally going to be very well trained.
A well trained animal can be just the thing that an Alzheimer’s patient needs. Many patients come alive the minute they see their new “best friend.” Even those who are not prone to any kind of speech or purposeful expressions light up when the dog enters the room. Are they, at some subconscious level, remembering pets they used to have over the long course of their life? Perhaps they are. We will never know. But I suspect it is something simpler. I suspect that there is some instinct that is created into these animals. An instinct to protect and care for people. This is why therapy dogs work so well in so many environments. And this is also why they can put up with so much abuse (especially from kids! I could tell you stories…).
But I will leave the psychology to medical experts. I don’t know why so many seniors seem to react well to pet therapy, especially seniors who are suffering from one of the most baffling ailments out there. But they do. Many of them do! And if your loved one is suffering from any form of dementia, and all the loneliness that comes with it, you might want to look into the possibilities of pet therapy. Here is one place to start . For more info on assisted living facilities from Oregon to Florida, visit our homepage and being your search!
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12.28.10
Posted in Assisted Living, Assisted Living Facilities, Bathing, Caregiver, Elder Care, Elderly Care at 7:52 pm by admin
Austin elderly care services are as diverse as the reasons people live in Austin, and as people of Austin themselves.
Austin, TX is the fifteenth most populous city in the United States. It is a college town, where fifty thousand students attend the University of Texas, and where music and arts burst off of every street corner.
People live in Austin for a variety of reasons. Some like the hot weather. And it is hot! Average Austin temperatures in the summer are well into the 90′s, and often jump into the tripple digits for long periods of time! Others like it for the incredibly diverse and quality culture scene. The annual SXSW (South By Southwest) music festival has become one of the most popular festivals of its kind. Indeed, Austin claims to be the live music capital of the nation, rivaling even Nashville, TN for musical props! And beyond that, there are plays and museums up and down the city, which prides itself on its eclectic nature. Event he bumper stickers say “keep Austin weird!”
Senior citizens, too, enjoy the heat, the culture, and the general excitement of Austin, and those are just a few reasons that they choose to retire there. It is a fun, exciting place to live! But there is something else that draws senior citizens to Austin: the senior housing and the quality of the city’s elderly care services, both volunteer and paid. Here are some examples of what seniors in the city of Austin can find.
Austin Senior Centers
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Senior Centers are some of the best resources for seniors looking for elderly care services. They are, for millions of elderly people, a hub for building friendships and for getting much needed information about programs and situations that affect them personally. Here are just a few locations in the Austin elderly care scene:
Senior Activity Center
2874 Shoal Crest Avenue, Austin
(512) 474-5921
City of Austin: South Austin Senior Activity Center
3911 Manchaca Road, Austin
(512) 442-1466
Conley-Guerrero Senior Center
808 Nile Street, Austin
(512) 478-7695
Opportunities for Austin Elderly to Volunteer
Volunteer opportunities can sometimes provide seniors with an excellent way to jump back into life and be productive in a meaningful way. And these opportunities can be more fulfilling even than a previous career was! Here is THE place to contact if you need volunteer ideas in the Austin elderly care world:
County of Travis: Retired Senior Volunteer Program
100 N I H 35
Austin, TX 78701-4138
(512) 854-7787
Volunteer Services to Assist Austin Seniors
Austin Seniors who need a helping hand can easily find assistance through the city’s volunteer network. Not only is the Meals on Wheels program active around the city, Austin has its own “Meals on Wheels and More.” This particular network sets up all kinds of excellent services for Austin seniors including “Mike’s Place,” which works with Alzheimer’s patients, “Care calls” for seniors who need someone to check on them, and “congregate meals,” which provides a socially fun environment for seniors to get together and share a meal. You can call them or visit their website for more information:
“Meals on Wheels and More.”
3227 East 5th Street Austin, TX 78702
(512) 476-MEAL (6325)
Elderly Care Housing in Austin
Finally, most people, when they think of “Austin elderly care services,” would think immediately of assisted living and other forms of senior housing. And Austin has plenty of those!
Here are a few examples of different types of senior care homes in the Austin area:
Barton Hills
1606 Nash Avenue, Austin, TX
(512) 441-6000
Get around the clock care for all sorts of activities for daily living, including dressing, bathing, etc. This is an affordable assisted living center.
The Summit at Westlake Hills
1034 Liberty Park Dr., Austin, TX
(512) 328-3775
The Summit at Westlake Hills is a broad senior care facility that includes fine independent (retirement) living, personalized assisted living care, and nursing home care as well.
Horizon Bay Vibrant Retirement Living
8005 Cornerwood Dr.
Austin, TX 78717
512-238-7200
Horizon Bay offers a comfortable independent living environment for today’s active seniors. You can settle down in a Horizon apartment and take advantage of all the terrific amenities and social activities that are going on all around the facility.
There are dozens more senior housing options in the city. Do you need to find TX assisted living? You can start by filling in your information at the top of this page!
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12.27.10
Posted in Assisted Living, Assisted Living Facilities, Elder Care, Elderly Care at 12:09 pm by admin
The holiday season is, for many families, one of the few times when the entire family gets together. Thus, it is often the only time when a family gets to come and visit an elderly relative: a parent or grandparent living at home. So says a recent article by UPI, encouraging family members to take their relatives to the emergency room if they find conditions are poor.
The article gives several criteria for getting immediate medical attention. For example, if grandma is physically unkept, or if the house is a disaster, or if she seems confused, unreasonably agitated, or in constant pain… all of these, the author advises, could be good reason to go to the hospital. There, medical professionals can check for infections, skin ailments, breathing levels, etc.
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While some might see the criteria that this author gives to be a bit extreme, the scenario is worth looking at. Because for many families, a senior who needs help will simply not agree to get it. They would rather live in squalor, in constant pain, and in confusion and vulnerability than move into an elderly care home.
So what is a family to do if they find their loved one living in these conditions? Clearly, it is time for an intervention.
1) Gather as many family members together as you deem would be helpful. Make sure you only include family members who are in good standing with the senior in question. This is no time to pile on past hurts or grievances. Bring them all into the home.
2) Include, if at all possible, someone with medical training. A registered nurse, an elder care expert from a local assisted living center, or–even better–the family practitioner. Make sure it is understood that this is not just the opinion of an overly concerned family. It is the opinion of people who know what they are talking about.
3) Lovingly, gently, tell them your concerns. Be sure to come back again and again to how much you care for them, and that is why you are doing it.
4) Come with options. Bring brochures and information packs from local assisted living centers that you think might be a good fit for them. In fact, it is good to have already visited some of these places beforehand. Find amenities that your loved one would enjoy, and be sure to let them know all of those things. This will also help you break down the potential financial implications. All of this, you can work out in theory before you begin your meeting. Let your loved one know you have thought this through, and it really can work!
5) Go for a visit right away. Make an outing of it. Go visit a few facilities together. Make sure you have appointments. And it is okay to be firm about going. You can be loving and caring without being weak.
6) If they still refuse, tell them you will call a social worker. The threat of being “told on” might be enough to get them moving right then and there.
Is a dirty house really enough to take grandma to the emergency room? Probably not. But it could be a sign that she can no longer adequately take care of herself. Make sure she has a way to move forward with dignity, knowing that she is cared for by those who love her most. To find TX assisted living options, use the gray box at the top of this page.
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12.16.10
Posted in Assisted Living, Assisted Living Facilities, Assisted Living Safety, Elderly Care at 12:10 pm by admin
Austin seniors already have a lot of great options for senior housing. Perhaps you already know this. Maybe you have taken advantage of Austin nursing homes, Austin Assisted Living or retirement communities. But have you heard about Austin Continuing Care communities?
What is Austin Continuing Care
Here is the basic concept of continuing care in the elderly care community. Sometimes there is a downfall in senior care. It happens when a senior enters a retirement center in good health, but their health takes a turn for the worse. There are immediate problems and considerations, but the first is this: how can he be cared for in a retiremetn community that is designed to have seniros living independently? He needs the hands on care of an assisted living home, or even a nursing home now, but he is paying for an independent lifestyle.
This scenario plays out in other ways as well, such as when an assisted living resident has an injury and needs intense physical rehab. The problem is that assisted living facilities are designed to help seniors perform basic daily activities, but they obviously need help in a nursing home or skilled nursing hospital section. The problem, as you see, is obvious: you can sign a lease for one type of senior housing, but the needs of a senior can change very, very quickly, forcing them to end either end the lease and sign a new one, or pay for two types of care until they are back on their feet.
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Austin Continuing Care communities are helping to solve this problem. What are continuing care communities? They are, as some have described, a “continuum of care.” They are elderly care companies that have multiple levels of care onsite. They have retirement communities, assisted living sections, and a nursing home segment as well. The residents are fortunate to be able to shift into different areas on the campus as their needs demand it.
Austin seniors, then, can move into a continuing care community while they are healthy and active, knowing that if that changes, they can shift into assisted living or nursing care without signing a new contract. That is the big advantage. There is no need for them to end their current lease agreement and find a new company to work with. Austin continuing care communities are set up as one company. You sign a contract with them when you first move in, and it covers all the different types of care.
Some seniors choose to sign a contract that will last the rest of their lives, while some will choose a year or two years. Different companies have different policies. But the basic elements of Austin continuing care are the same. Are you looking for an austin continuing care community for your loved one? Here are some to consider:
Austin continuing care communities:
Summit at Westlake Hills
1034 Liberty Park Dr.
Austin, TX 78746
512-328-3775
Westminster Manor
4100 Jackson
Austin, TX 78731
(512) 454-4711
Longhorn Village
3204 University Club Drive
Austin, TX 78732
(512) 266-5600
If you need help finding other types of Austin elderly care, including TX Assisted living facilities around the state, use the gray box at the top of this post.
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12.14.10
Posted in Assisted Living, Assisted Living Facilities, Elderly Care at 7:56 pm by admin
Ft. Worth has a wide range of elderly care services for North Texas seniors. From it’s huge array of elderly care housing options, to city services and volunteer helpers, Ft. Worth seniors can be well taken care of.
Elderly Living in Fort Worth
First, let’s look at Ft. Worth as a city. Ft. worth might get overlooked by her big brother, Dallas, but she is a formidable city: the fifth largest in the state of Texas, and the seventeenth largest in the United States. Although Ft. Worth is joined at the hip with Dallas, it has a unique culture all its own. It is a bit of west Texas in the North!
Seniors love Ft. Worth for the same reasons they love Dallas. There are great elderly care services in Ft. Worth, the weather is warm, and there are a ton of things to do. There are cultural museums that celebrate the American west. Among these are the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, and the Fort Worth Stockyard Museum. Yes, the West is alive and well in Fort Worth! But even if you have no interest in horses, cowboy hats, or country music, seniors can still enjoy all sorts of fun activities. Championship Golf courses are all over the place, like the Colonial Country Club. Each year the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial on that Fort Worth course in honor of Fort Worth Native Ben Hogan. Other sports venues include the Texas Motor Speedway in northern Fort Worth, and the sporting events of Texas Christian University. TCU’s football team, especially, is one of the best in the country.
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But there are other activities seniors can enjoy. There is tremendous shopping and dining, and excellent artistic venues around town. All of this is available to seniors in Fort Worth Assisted Living homes, and it is all within reach of relatives, who can easily fly in to Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport.
Senior Centers in Ft. Worth
An important element of Ft. Worth Elderly Care is having a central place for seniors to come together. This is necessary for two major reasons: first to form relationships with other seniors. Second, and maybe more importantly, to have a place to get answers to the many unique issues that seniors face. Here are a few Fort Worth Senior Centers that your elderly loved one can do both at:
Diamond Hill Senior Center,
(Senior Citizen Services Of Greater Tarrant County)
1701 NE 36th Street
Fort Worth, TX 76106-4605
(817) 625-4721
Dfw Senior Care Service Inc
5321 Little Natalie Lane # 3503
Fort Worth, TX 76119-8879
(817) 561-0045
Stone Gate Senior Care
6600 Lands End Court
Fort Worth, TX 76116-2100
(817) 665-1971
Volunteer Opportunities for Seniors in Fort Worth
Many seniors enjoy investing in their communities after they retire from their career. After all, just because they are retired, that doesn’t mean they no longer have anything to offer! In Fort Worth, there are volunteer opportunities for seniors to jump in to to help, and sometimes these services can serve them as well.
Meals On Wheels, Inc. of Tarrant County
320 South Freeway,
Fort Worth, Texas 76104
817-336-0912
(Note: Meals on Wheels serves mostly seniors, but seniors who are able can volunteer as well)
Fort Worth Senior Service Directory
At this site, you can find a nice mix of all these Fort Worth Elderly Care Services, including volunteer opportunities.
Fort Worth Elderly Care Housing
Finally, the most common idea that jumps into our heads when we say “Ft. Worth elderly care services” is “Fort Worth Senior Housing.” Thankfully, the city of Ft. Worth has a plethora of senior housing options, from skilled nursing facilities to TX Assisted Living communities, to independent living communities surrounded by golf courses. Are you looking for any of these? If so, you can simply put your information in the box at the top of the screen.
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12.10.10
Posted in Assisted Living, Assisted Living Facilities, Caregiver, Elder Care, Elderly Care at 7:20 pm by admin
They are happening with more and more frequency, especially around the holiday season: scams against the elderly. As the general populace looks for creative ways to make money, criminals seek new, creative shortcuts to get ahead. Senior citizens, whether they live in elderly care or live alone, need to be on their toes during the Christmas season more than any other.
“Grandparent scams” seem to be on the rise this year. Here is an example of a grandparent scam that took place in North Carolina last month. An elderly woman received a phone call from a young man who said he was her grandson. He had been in a car accident and was arrested because he had been drinking. The man told her he needed $2300 to be released from jail. The woman paid up.
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The next day, he called back, telling her that he had sustained some injuries in the crash, and that the hospital, like the jail, required a payment of $2300 before they would let him go. Once again, grandma paid the money.
Of course, the young man was not her grandson, and she never heard from him again.
This particular scam, sometimes known as the Emergency Scam, has been prevalent for years. The story and the methods can vary. The scammer generally uses the phone, but sometimes uses email or even social networking sites to request the money. And while the story changes, the urgency is always there. Most often, the scammer requests money for a bill that he cannot pay on his own. “Grandma, you don’t want our electricity to go out, do you?”
Like the south carolina woman, many elderly end up wiring money through services like Western Union. Others could use online services like PayPal. But there is no way to guarantee that this person is even in the United States!
One of the hallmarks of scams like this is the “please don’t tell anyone” factor. The young man in the fake accident, for instance, asked his “grandma” not to tell anyone in the family, because that would be shameful to him. SImilarly, not being able to pay a bill can be embarrassing. So the senior’s kind hearted nature is often used against them. The last thing a grandparent wants to do is to say no to their grandchildren!
The growth of these scams is likely due in part to the easy availability of information. With a little bit of simple investigation, a person can learn all sorts of things about a senior citizen. Names and ages of grandchildren are very simple to acquire. So anyone can pull a scam like this.
The question, then, is this: how can a senior guard against this kind of situation? There are at least three things they can do.
1) Always, always, always ask the advice of a trusted family member. In fact, it is a good idea for seniors to make a commitment, along with their family, to always getting advice before sending money anywhere. This needs to include supposed emergencies.
2) Seniors can inform the caller that they will call the police first and then call back. Scammers are not likely to stay on the line.
3) Ask “test” questions. Is it really your grandson? Then where were you born? What is your mother’s middle name? What is grandma’s cat’s name? What color is grandma’s car? There are endless options here, but you get the idea. Ask a question that only a real family member would know. If the caller is a scammer, you can expect a quick hang up.
If you or your loved one believe you have been scammed or called by a scammer, call your local police department. If you need to find assisted living housing, use the top box on this page.
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Posted in Assisted Living, Assisted Living Facilities, Assisted Living Safety, care at home, Dimentia at 4:45 pm by admin
Christmas time and the surrounding holidays are supposed to be easy opportunities for families to be together, reminiscing about the old days and making new memories. But for many seniors who live alone in an assisted living or skilled nursing facility, this season can be the most depressing of all. Families who have loved ones in elderly care homes, then face a serious question: should we bring your parents or grandparents home for the holidays?
For many, this is an easy answer: yes. Why leave your parent alone and sad when you live close enough to bring her into your living room? It seems downright delinquent and selfish to leave her there. And indeed, they are right. It can seem that way. But certainly, not every family ought to bring their aging loved ones home for any length of time. Especially the holidays.
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Carol Abaya of NewJerseyNewsroom.com took on this issue, advising families not to do it if the visit would induce more stress. to some, this might sound harsh, but I think she is right. Especially if there are physical dependency issues. Would it really be right to bring someone home if you are not able to adequately, or honorably, deal with these complications?
Abaya lists some questions to consider before making this decision. If your loved one gets easily confused, or is incontinent, for example, you should probably not do it. And if the drive from the nursing home is too long, it will likely not be worth it, either.
Here is the thing. If you as a family member are making a decision to do something nice, but you are doing it because you simply cannot live with yourself if you didn’t, that should be a red flag. The better question is this: Will bringing my loved one home be a blessing to her and the rest of the family? If you are unsure of the answer, be careful that you do not rush into a decision.
If you decide not to bring her home, that does not mean you have to ignore her, and it does not mean she must have a miserable Christmas. There are ways that you and the family can still make her holidays happy, even while she is in there.
Abaya recommends a couple of basic ideas, like visiting her, going to a scheduled lunch or dinner and making a video. I say, you should take it a step further. Make her feel like she is a part of the festivities even though she cannot be there. Visit her, yes. But bring her some of the Christmas cookies you had the night before. Have the kids come with you, and have her open a present from them. And remember to call her, too, during the events that she will miss. Let her hear the festivities, or even see them, if she is able to video chat.
The point is this: when grandma is in good health and good spirits, it is awesome to bring her home for the holidays. Sometimes, however, grandma would be more comfortable staying put where people know how to take care of her personal (sometimes very private) elder care needs. If that is the case, it is much better to bring a party to her, rather than bringing her home for the party.
For more info on assisted living options, use the box at the top of this page.
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Posted in Assisted Living, Assisted Living Facilities, Elder Care, Elderly Care, Elderly Diseases at 2:12 am by admin
If you or someone you love has been looking for senior housing in Austin, TX, we have a consideration for you. There are many terrific facilities in the city, of course. There are dozens of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and all manner of retirement communities. And Austin is a wonderful city to retire in, no matter what kind of care you need.
But the fact is, a senior’s health is liable to be extremely fragile. It is all too common that when a shift takes place in their condition, they suddenly have new needs to be met, and new challenges to overcome. What if they are living in a facility that can not meet these needs? What then?
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This can happen with a person who is getting basic help with their ADL’s (activities for daily living) like dressing, transferring positions, and bathing. Assisted living staff are used to taking care of these activities. That is why they are there. But suppose that person falls and breaks their leg, requiring much more intensive physical therapy. Assisted living facilities are simply not equipped to handle that. That is a condition for skilled nursing professionals in a nursing home or a hospital. What should they do in the mean time? Move out?
Worse yet, what if that person has been diagnosed with a serious illness that requires the senior to make a permanent change to a more intensive senior care community?
The problem, of course, is that Austin Assisted Living communities require deposits, leases, and long-term agreements. It is inconvenient, and it takes a lot of effort, hours, and cost to leave one company and sign on with a new one. And when you are in the midst of dealing with an accident, or an illness, paperwork, house hunting, and paying extra money are the last things any one wants to be thinking about.
But there is a new, exciting trend in the world of elderly care which can help solve this complicated issue, and it is called Continuing Care.
Austin Continuing Care Retirement Communities
Continuing care communities in Austin are retirement communities that also have assisted living facilities and nursing homes right there on site (or in some cases not on site, but very close by). All of these senior care facilities are part of the same company. Because of that, seniors can move from one level of care to another without any problem. There are no new contracts to sign, no new down payments to come up with, no new rounds of haggling with financial institutions.
Austin continuing care communities, like others, ask the senior to sign a care contract. These can sometimes last for a fixed amount of time–a year or two–or be written to last until the end of their lives. No matter what type of care you need at a given time, the caregivers will adapt to you. If you need to move into a different part of the campus for a time or for the long term, you can do that easily, and with no paperwork. The contract covers it all.
Are you looking for continuing care communities in Austin? Here are a couple to consider:
Summit at Westlake Hills
1034 Liberty Park Dr.
Austin, TX 78746
512-328-3775
Westminster Manor
3204 University Club Drive
Austin, TX 78732
(512) 266-5600
Longhorn Village
3204 University Club Drive
Austin, TX 78732
(512) 266-5600
Krus Village
1700 E Stone Street
Brenham, Texas, USA
979-830-1996
Buckner Villas
11110 Tom Adams Drive
Austin, Texas, USA
866-333-2176
To find other TX Assisted Living facilities, check out our Senior Housing Finder at the top of this page.
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