Category Archives: Caregiver

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How to Move to Assisted Living with Ease

FBresizeGranpdaSunriseHow do you know when it is the right time for you or your loved one to move from independent living to assisted living?

This decision varies depending on the circumstances.

  1. Is the maintenance of the independent living home becoming too much to handle?
  2. Are there transportation problems getting to the doctor, the grocery store, and friends?
  3. Are there safety concerns about stairs or potential falls?

For my Dad, he was very healthy and independent.  He had no expectation that he would ever need to live in an assisted living home.  Then he began to have unexplainable falls.  We took him to the doctor and surgery was required immediately.  After the surgery, he needed a place to live with very good care and assistance.  He simply couldn’t live in his former home with the bedrooms upstairs and no help.

We talked about the options openly.  Should we have someone live with him?  Should we move him to apartment which could be shared with another senior that would provide company and sharing expenses for extra help with cooking, cleaning, medications and transportation?

It was a difficult decision as he was a very strong independent man who had spent his life as a Methodist minister caring for everyone around him.  He did not like the idea of admitting that he was the one who now needed care.  However, we looked at the options and decided an assisted living home near my house and office would be the best choice for now.  We did not decide it would be the choice forever.  We kept our other options open.

We quickly learned that there was no perfect option, however, we knew we needed some help.

In order to make the transition smoother, we brought some of his precious items from home.  A quilt for the wall from the church, many family photos and his precious desk which made it seem more like home.  He had always been athletic and loved the outdoors and the birds.  We made sure he went outside as often as possible.

The other most important help with the transition was keeping his car at the assisted living home.  My dad LOVED cars!  Even though he could not drive, he knew his car was there.  We had a fabulous “helper” who would come during the week and take him to doctor’s appointments, breakfast, church in his car.  It made him feel like he still had those things he loved and control of his daily life.

For more information about what my Dad and I learned, see HealthSpin’s Easy Healthcare: Choosing an Assisted Living Facility.

Helping you “Spin Your Healthcare Your Way!

 

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Helpful Health Care Links: February 20, 2015

doctor checking out some reports in the room of a hospitalOur helpful health care links focus on two hot topics in health care this week– The federal government cracking down on nursing home report cards and a California hospital exposed to antibiotic resistant ‘superbug’. Both are worth your time. And, as always, if you ever come across a healthcare story that you think merits more attention, please send it our way!

Government To Grade Nursing Homes On Tougher Scale

Starting immediately, the federal government is making it harder for nursing homes to get top grades on a public report card, in part by increasing scrutiny of their use of anti-psychotic drugs and raising the bar on an array of quality measures.

‘Superbug’ Outbreak at California Hospital, More Than 160 Exposed

A potentially deadly “superbug” resistant to antibiotics has infected seven patients, including two who died, and more than 160 others were exposed at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center through contaminated medical instruments.

We hope we have helped you SPIN YOUR HEALTHCARE YOUR WAY!

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How do you make the right decision about moving yourself or a loved one into an Assisted Living Facility without being overwhelmed? How do you even begin talking about it? HealthSpin’s “Easy Healthcare: Choosing an Assisted Living Facility” ebook guide gives you all of the practical advice you need to make the right choice.

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Available for download, NOW!

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Independent Living No Longer An Option?

Senior Couple In Discussion With Health Visitor At HomeImagine you receive a call from the hospital and you discover that your senior has just suffered a stroke. You rush to the hospital and immediately are flooded with questions by the doctors and nurses (and have your loved one’s Medical Life List on hand to help with the process). During the hospital stay, it’s determined that your loved one can no longer live on their own and you have to decide where they are going to live.

But how? You’ve heard of senior living options such as assisted living facilities and nursing homes, but what’s the difference? What’s the best option for your family member? Let’s look at the differences:

Assisted Living Facilities:

  1. Bridge the gap between independent living and skilled nursing facilities or nursing homes
  2. Provide a variety of services for residents who need occasional assistance with “activities of daily living” like bathing, using the bathroom, and taking medication
  3. Focus on providing as much independence to your loved one as possible

Nursing Homes and Skilled Nursing Facilities:

  1. Generally certified by your state and provides 24/7 nursing care.
  2. Your loved one will likely need a nursing home if he or she is bed bound, on a respirator, requires wound care, or needs daily nursing care.
  3. Best suited for individuals who require round-the-clock care for complex medical needs.

Depending on what your senior’s new needs are, one of these options will be better than the other.  It’s important to know how each is different so you can choose the best option for your loved one.

We hope we have helped you SPIN YOUR HEALTHCARE YOUR WAY!

For more information, please check out HealthSpin’s “Easy Healthcare: Choosing an Assisted Living Facility”. It is a practical guide to making the right decisions for seniors when living independently is no longer an option.

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