Adeste In-Home Care - Colorado

In-Home Care in Colorado

How To Live Longer With Heart Failure

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Diagnosis of a chronic condition is often difficult to hear. You start doing your research. You focus on the worst. And fear becomes a new daily norm.

Congestive heart failure doesn’t mean your heart isn’t working. It means your heart no longer pumps enough blood throughout your system, the way it once did. Think of diagnosis as a wakeup call. It’s a way of telling you to change your habits to stop the condition from worsening.

When you’re diagnosed with heart failure, the blood moving away from your heart slows down. Because the blood returning operates in a more normal manner, the blood in your veins begins to block up, causing congestion throughout your body. This can cause problems in a variety of ways, from swelling in your legs, to fluid buildup in your lungs.

According to a fact sheet put out by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about one-half of all people diagnosed with heart failure will die within the first five years. The people that live longer after diagnosis are the ones that look for ways to manage the condition and make lifestyle changes to prevent it from worsening.

Once you’ve been diagnosed with heart failure, it’s important to realize that it is a chronic condition. It will get worse over time. However, you can manage it to the point it slows down the progression, and the symptoms reduce right along with it.

Millions of people are living active lives with heart failure. While you shouldn’t change everything about your lifestyle immediately, small changes over time can reward you with big improvements not only with the way you feel, but your outlook on life too.

The biggest change should be to get up and exercise. The American Heart Association recommends doing at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity at least five days a week. You should never feel breathless. Always check with your doctor before starting up a new routine. And then find something that’s fun for you to do. Look for a gym that offers wellness programs that cater to slower movement classes, something you can work up to over time.

You should also work to change your diet. Again, work with your doctor to decide the right steps for you. They may include lowering salt, reducing fat intake, reducing the amount of meat, adding more fruits and vegetables. You should also drink more water, and decrease your alcohol intake.

Other lifestyle changes should include:

  • Stop smoking
  • Getting adequate sleep
  • Reducing stress
  • Avoid sugar

For some, medication may also be a part of the routine. Be sure to discuss how any new medicines will work in conjunction with prescriptions you are already on. Watch for any changes in your health, and be diligent in working with your doctor towards reducing the amount of medicine you take each day.

Is It Time To Take Over Your Mom’s Budget?

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Sometimes managing your own budget can seem overwhelming at best. House. Kids. Savings. Retirement. There is a lot to learn and understand just to make the right choices for you and your family.

Then something happens that makes you take a greater interest in your mom’s budget too. That adds even more questions to your already busy life. Is there enough money for medical expenses? What about paying for future care? It’s enough to overwhelm anybody.

A lot of the overwhelm comes from not being prepared. A few simple steps can help conquer your fears and make it easier to help your mom.

Locate accounts

Your first step is getting a complete list of everything your mom has in her name. The more complete this list is, the less likely you’ll have something slip through the cracks. Start by going through her files – look for statements, bills, and other paperwork that can alert you to activity. Look for checking accounts, savings accounts, retirement accounts, pension programs. You’ll also want to locate home mortgages, and other real estate holdings. Find all insurance policies, including supplemental health insurance, life insurance, home policies, long-term care insurance, and annuities. You should also discuss other legal matters, such as if they have safety deposit boxes, wills, power of attorneys, stock, etc.

Power of attorney

If you don’t already have power of attorney, now is the time to get it. It’s a much easier process if your mom willingly enters into the agreement with you. Work with an attorney who understands the process. He or she can advise you on matters you may not have considered before.

Gain access to all accounts

Once you have power of attorney, call or visit with representatives you’ll be frequenting the most. Sometimes banks and other financial institutions have their own forms to fill out to give you access. If you can do that with your mom, it will make this process easier too.

Update all accounts and information

This is a perfect time to ensure your mom was on top of all account information. When was the last time she updated her will? Is the right information listed? For instance, if your dad has passed away but is still listed as an account holder or as a beneficiary, now is the time to adjust documentation to ensure you don’t have more trouble in the future.

Think about the future

By starting early, it also gives you a chance to speak with your mom on her wishes and desires. If she has specific requirements, why not create a new will? Or look at funding different accounts to make sure her desires are met? It’s much easier making plans with her rather than fighting for access when situations turn worse.

This also gives you a chance to look at her investment strategies. Are there other opportunities she might not be aware of? Is she taking on too much risk for her age?

Make suggestions gently; it is still up to her. But if you both become more comfortable taking on additional responsibilities early in the process, it can make all the difference long term.

Why It’s Important To Establish A Caregiving Routine

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Have you ever noticed that much of your life exists on routine?

When you’re a kid, routine is everything. You get up in time for school, do homework at a certain time, have a bedtime to ensure you get enough sleep.

Then when you move out on your own, you establish another routine. Up in the morning to get to work, in bed at a certain time to ensure you get enough rest.

It only seems natural that when you move into caregiving mode, that you’d also develop a routine. But when your loved one is frail or ill, it can seem like it’s 24 hours of chaos where it’s anything but routine.

If you’re loved one has cognitive issues, they may struggle with daily tasks. You might start living by doing whatever is necessary, whenever it is required. But people with dementia often struggle more when they don’t have structure in their lives. They don’t act without being told. Without focus, the who, what, and where become confusing. They may act out more without the structure.

What should you do?

Move forward with new expectations

One of the most challenging tasks as a caregiver is to adjust your expectations. You’re used to your loved one the way they used to be. Part of you wants to preserve that and fall back on it whenever you can. Yet your loved one may never return to that position.

Do what you can do each day. Have enough structure to keep you on task, but be willing to let things go if you sense friction. Your routine might be to get up at a certain time of the day, and to eat meals together at certain times. Go with the flow if they’re just not capable of it, and need something different depending on the day.

Stick with the familiar

Your loved one probably becomes more agitated when they experience new things. Now isn’t the time to introduce new activities. Instead, focus on what your loved one loves and has expressed interest in in the past.

You should also give even more time to individual projects. Especially as your loved one’s condition changes, it may no longer be easy to finish things in specific amounts of time. Don’t fill every minute of the day, especially with back to back activities. This will help keep your stress levels down too.

Routines are important at every stage of life. And part of that is testing what works and what doesn’t, and leaving plenty of time for adjustments. Frustration almost always comes from setting expectations too high. If you keep your own anxiety in check, you’ll be more likely to create a peaceful life for the both of you.

5 Things You Should Do Before Becoming Your Parent’s Caregiver

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Is caregiving for your parents expected in your family? For many, it is.

It’s a natural progression where eventually, as an adult child, your parents need you. They fall. They wind up in the hospital with a chronic condition. Or you suddenly notice they need some help when you spend some time in their home.

And for even more, no matter how much it’s “expected,” it still comes as quite a shock when you find yourself investing hours each week to keep them safe. How do you prepare for something like caregiving?

If you’re reading this, you’re already moving in the right direction.

1. Be Proactive

It’s almost impossible to work together and come up with solutions when you’re in crisis mode. It’s much easier to have adult conversations when everything is relatively okay.

Call a family meeting, especially if there is going to be more than you involved in the caregiving process. Get all of your siblings involved.

This shouldn’t be about what you’re taking away from your parents. Instead, make the initial conversation about how your parents can stay as independent as possible.

2. Develop a plan

As you move through their wishes, also spend some time mapping about a plan. You can dive into whatever is comfortable for your family. However, the more you touch on, the easier it will be to refer back to when you need it.

This is where you can get their opinions on things like where they want to live, what to do in a health crisis, where important documents are, what types of insurance do they have, and where financial information is located. You can move through “best case/worst case” scenarios to read your parents’ wishes. They may be more apt to talk when they aren’t facing these situations.

3. Get legal advice

Hopefully, your plan will push them into taking action. If they haven’t updated their wills in a while, use this as a nudge to get it done. If they haven’t created living wills, work with an attorney to fill one out.

4. Respect their wishes

This is one of the most challenging parts about moving into a caregiving role: this is about them, not about you. It’s difficult to watch parents move into this next stage of life. It’s important to honor them by respecting what they truly desire. You may want to try everything to keep them near you, but if you have a plan in place and understand their desires, it’s equally important to ensure you do things the way they wish them to be done.

5. Build your support team

While you’re starting your caregiving role by discovering all you can to help your parents, find resources for yourself too. This is a difficult journey for everyone. The best way to move through the process is if you take good care of you also. That means finding the tools and resources you need to help your mind, body, and soul throughout the process.

What questions do you have as you move into the caregiving role?

Putting Music Therapy Into Your Caregiver Toolbox

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Think back to your youth; what do you remember most? In many cases, your memory is attached to a song.

Music is a part of our lives. Our mother’s sing to us as tiny infants in their arms. We learn rhyming songs to help us learn common, everyday chores. If I say A-B-C-D-E-F-G, you probably start humming the rest of the song.

Why the brain and body processes music the way it does remains a mystery. We’re only starting to discover how important music is in our lives. But we do know that as long as people have been on this planet, music has been an important part of the way we live. Music allows us to storytell in an animated way. And while you may have trouble remembering everything you studied for a test the night before, chances are you can recall the words to your favorite music from decades earlier.

Maybe it’s because speech uses smaller parts of our brain than music. Scientists know that music fires off almost every part of our brain, stimulating responses from everyone who hears it. Even if you haven’t heard a song in years, you’re likely to associate it with an event in your past, triggering emotion based on that time in your life.

That’s the basis behind music therapy. In numerous clinical trials, therapists have great results when they play music to help patients with chronic conditions. Adults with dementia and Alzheimer’s show remarkable differences when introduced to music therapy, when compared to those who don’t.

Even with these chronic conditions, not all parts of the brain are impacted. The hippocampus, which controls memory and emotional impact, remains intact. When music is played, it often triggers long term memories, and can cause people that haven’t spoken in years to suddenly break out in song.

Research has also shown that making music is different than listening. Actively taking part in a song activates even more in the brain, and helps with balance and movement in cognitive and limbic areas. That’s why music therapy often starts with listening to old, familiar tunes, but quickly moves into production to get the body involved.

While music therapy isn’t a miracle cure, it can be good for both the caregiver and the one they’re caring for. Instead of witnessing loss after loss, they can suddenly experience something that brings their loved one joy. They can possibly sing or even dance together, helping them remember the good times once again.

Have you ever tried music therapy?

Caregiving Tip: Protect Both Of You From Flu This Season

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According to the Center for Disease Control, the flu season last year was of high severity, with high levels of outpatient and emergency department visits for flu-like conditions. The numbers grow worse with age. For people over the age of 65, approximately 58 percent required hospitalization.

As you age, your immunity begins to decline. That means it’s easier to catch highly contractible diseases like the flu.

Seasonal flu is one of the most contagious diseases we live with. It’s spread through coughing and sneezing. If someone with the flu virus touches a handle, knob, or shopping cart handle, it can leave traces of the virus. Then when the next person touches the same object, touches their mouth or nose, the disease has spread.

Of course, it’s not as simple as staying away from people who already feel sick. It can take a day or more before they develop symptoms, and up to five days before they become sick. If you don’t realize you’re sick, you’re more likely to be out and active, spreading the virus.

Flu symptoms include runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, coughing, headache, fever, chills, fatigue, and muscle aches. As it worsens, it can also include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Flu season typically starts in October and runs through the end of February, though it can extend several weeks in particularly bad seasons. Because flu can impact as much as 20 percent of the population, it’s difficult to avoid. Once you contract it, the only way to recover is to let it run its course, stay hydrated, and get lots of rest.

For healthy adults, flu-like symptoms can stay with them several days or up to a week or more. However, with seniors, they can become much sicker. Because the flu is a severe illness, it can take both physical and emotional tolls. And as the symptoms drag on, it puts seniors at a greater risk for complications.

The most serious is pneumonia. And when this sets in, getting to the doctor is imperative to prevent symptoms for worsening. Most hospitalizations from flu are a consequence of pneumonia and other respiratory complications. If a senior already suffers from chronic conditions like heart failure, lung disease, or even diabetes, the flu puts them at greater risk.

During the flu season, it’s more important than ever to practice good hygiene. Wash hands frequently, especially after being out in public areas. Cover nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, and wash hands immediately afterward.

Clean your home more frequently, especially if you have come in contact with someone who later gets sick. Don’t forget doorknobs, light switches, television remotes, and other small objects you pick up regularly.

The CDC also recommends that all high risk populations, including those 65 and over, receive the flu vaccination each year. If you’re in contact with someone in this age group, or provide caregiving to someone with chronic conditions, it’s equally important to get vaccinated each year.

Dementia and Depression: Is Your Love One Living With Both?

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Currently, 5.7 million people are living with Alzheimer’s – the most common form of dementia – here in the US. By 2050, that number is expected to balloon to 14 million.

When a person first receives the diagnosis, a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions move through them. It’s only natural to experience stress and anxiety about the coming changes. Some also experience depression, especially in the early and middle stages of the disease.

Sometimes it can be difficult determining whether your loved one is showing dementia-related symptoms or if it’s a sign of depression. Both include:

  • Mood changes
  • A shift in personality
  • Loss of interest in activities or hobbies
  • Social withdrawal
  • Sleep changes
  • Impaired concentration
  • Memory problems

However, studies are showing that people with dementia experience depression differently than those without.

With dementia patients, depression symptoms tend to be less severe. That’s what makes depression in dementia patients so difficult to detect.

One of the biggest indicators is social withdrawal. If a person starts to pull away, isolates themselves into a room, and stops being interested in things they normally showed interest in, that may be a sign of something more.

Even doctors have trouble distinguishing the two conditions because of the amount of overlap. Yet if you suspect changes, it’s important to discuss them with your loved one’s doctor as quickly as possible to find the best course of treatment, which can include both prescription and non-drug approaches.

Love and support are often the best way to deal with every situation. As a caregiver, if you question any changes in your loved one’s behavior, talk to their doctor as soon as possible. Knowledge is everything.

What In Home Care Is and Isn’t

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When your loved one is in need of caregiving, there are a lot of different needs to be met. Some needs require medical assistance. Others are non-medical activities.

In home care is non-medical care provided in a person’s home or residence. It provides assistance with all kinds of activities, such as eating, personal hygiene, medication reminders, or transportation services to meetings and appointments.

In home caregivers are professionally trained to ensure they maintain a safe and healthy environment for your loved one at all times. Their jobs are to ensure your loved one’s safety when you aren’t around.

Even though in home caregivers may be with your loved one a significant part of the day, they aren’t personal assistants or an extra set of hands. There is a limitation to what can be expected of their services.

For example, an in home caregiver can remind a person to take their medication, but they aren’t medically trained and can’t administer medication. You will need a medical practitioner to administer for special needs.

Likewise, an in home caregiver might clean up the kitchen after making your loved one lunch. But their job isn’t to give the kitchen a thorough cleaning. They aren’t housekeeping ready to keep the home clean.

Where in home care excels is providing your loved one with one on one care. Assisted living facilities can never do that. The ratio of trained caregivers to patients is always many to one. With in home care, your loved one receives undivided attention. If a caregiver is in their home, your loved one is receiving individualized care. That means whatever they want or need, an in home caregiver will provide. That can change every day. They can provide transportation to doctor’s appointments one day, and take them out to lunch with friends on another.

And because your loved one remains in the comfort of their own home, chances are they remain happier and healthier longer. It’s the most economical way of ensuring all of your loved one’s needs are met.

Wondering what in home care can do for your family? The best place to start is with an initial consultation. Schedule your today.

Gadgets That Can Help You Be A Better Caregiver

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As you move into a caregiving role for your aging parent or loved one, there are many things to consider.

You lead a busy life. Your time is already pushed to the maximum. How will you ever add in more hours to meet your loved one’s needs too?

You’re not the only one facing this situation and asking these questions.

But where some think the only answer is assisted living, others are looking for more opportunities to stay at home. And a lot of new gadgets and products are making that a little easier.

Consider Best Buy’s recent purchase of GreatCall.

GreatCall offers easy phone and wearable products and services for the elderly. Phones have larger texts and fonts for reading. The Jitterbug Flip, for instance, provides bigger buttons, a brighter screen, and even includes voice dialing to make it easy for anyone to use it at any time. They also offer a medical alert device, and a wearable response device designed to interact with your smartphone.

Best Buy also offers an Assured Living program that works with smart technology to provide a variety of real-time services throughout the day. It allows you to closely track your loved one’s day, without having to be with your loved one all the time. Think of it as a security system with your elderly loved one in mind. Through connections on furniture, doors, and other places throughout the home, you can receive alerts about any issue, including falls or failure to take medication at the proper times.

Don’t think it’s just Best Buy that’s moving into this arena. Amazon has been purchasing home security companies too, and a lot of them are making moves into the caregiving arena.

Amazon recently purchased Ring, a security program that allows you to track movement inside and out. Use Ring with your smartphone to see what’s happening, even if you aren’t there. It also offers a community feature, that can connect neighbors to one another. You’ve heard the adage: it takes a community to raise a child. Well, the same can be said for taking care of the elderly too. It’s nice to know that a nearby friend can be at your loved one’s home quickly, especially when you’re far from home.

What’s the right product or service for you? There are a wealth of gadgets and products to help you as a caregiver.

What are your favorites?

Most Adult Children Don’t Know These 4 Things About Their Parents

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As an adult child, you think you know a great many things about your parents. They’ve taken care of you your entire life.

Then all of a sudden, you start a journey you always thought would happen “someday”. In truth, you thought – hoped – it was a long way off. Now you find yourself in a caregiving role, and every day is a new experience.

Occasionally, it’s all on your shoulders. You have to ensure things get done. You have to take control. But have you ever stopped to think about just how much power you really have?

Ask yourself a few questions.

Do my parents have estate documents for when they pass away?

When was the last time my parents updated wills and living trusts?

Do I know the content of wills and trusts?

Where are their documents stored? Do I have access when I need them?

Do you see yourself in these questions? Have the answers made you a little nervous? Maybe it’s time to have a conversation with your parents.

According to a Fidelity study, 69 percent of elderly parents expect their kids to help manage their investments and retirement finances, yet more than a third of these kids have no idea of their role.

It’s been a common theme throughout our society – we don’t talk about death and finances. It just “gets done” somehow, some way. Unfortunately, that puts hardship on everyone. Silence can lead to all kinds of problems, from having severe financial crisis, to having adult siblings fight and no longer speak.

Want to change that?

Start by requesting a conversation. Be patient. Your parents may still subscribe to the “not for proper conversation” mentality. If so, explain your intentions, and consider finding articles and reports to back you up.

Go into the meeting by focusing on what your parents want. This isn’t about you. This is just a way to get a better understanding of their wishes and desires.

Communicate carefully. Again, this is all about them. Listen and repeat to ensure you understand. This may be a time when you have a mediator or an outside party at hand to keep things from going awry.

Go in with a checklist – not demands. If your goal is to understand what documents they have in place and where they are kept, it should put you in a different frame of mind then demands for why certain things are the way they are. If documents are missing – a living will, for example – you can talk about its importance. But again, this is all about your parents’ wishes. If you discover documents are missing, see if they are ready to schedule an appointment with a lawyer to close the gap.

Also, use this as your own look in the mirror. Do you currently have your paperwork in order? If you’re facing hardships with your own parents, don’t follow in their footsteps and provide the same headaches for your own kids. Put everything you’re learning into your own life as well.