What are some warning signs of depression in the elderly, and what do I do if I think my senior is depressed?

Depression is extremely common in senior citizens and the elderly comprise a disproportionately large amount of the population who commit suicide each year. Looking for certain signs in your loved ones can be the key to helping them feel better and to get their mental health back on track.

First, it is often counter productive to ask anyone if they are depressed. The word depression can have a certain stigma to it. Therefore, I find it better to ask about changes in their interests or their daily routine. As my father aged, I began to notice that he was not himself. He was not sleeping well, his personality had changed slightly, and his appetite had decreased. I recognized these as obvious signs of depression in my normally positive and full-of-life father. However, my dad was a proud man who was used to helping others and had difficulty accepting help for himself. When his doctor asked him if he was depressed, my dad quickly denied it. We found a doctor who understood how difficult the aging process can be, and he asked my dad a different set of questions to determine that my father was indeed showing signs of depression. After my dad was put on mild mood stabilizing medication, he quickly returned to his old self.

It is essential to be an advocate for your senior and pay attention to changes in their mood and behavior, whether they are big or small. Signs that the senior citizen in your life may be depressed might include: fatigue, inability to concentrate, decreased memory or confusion, loss of interest, weight loss or loss of appetite, increased pain or discomfort, sleep disturbances, social isolation, loss of self-worth and talk of suicide. Listen to your senior’s complaints and make note of any changes you see in their behavior.

If you have seen any of these symptoms in your senior or loved one, it is time to get them help. You should take them to a doctor, who might prescribe a low dose anti-depressant.

If your senior is down, but not clinically depressed, there are plenty of ways to help boost their mood. If your senior is physically able, they can volunteer at a local animal shelter or help an elderly neighbor who may need a little more assistance to help them feel useful. You can also suggest that your senior get a pet. Having a pet to look after will keep them company and help them to get exercise, which is an additional mood booster. Many seniors are lonely or bored. Remind them they are loved with pictures of family and frequent visits and phone calls. Keeping your senior busy will be the best thing for their mind and body.

Depression in senior citizens can be detrimental to their health and well being. But these simple tips can help you take good care of your loved ones.

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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.

Available for download, NOW!

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First, it’s important to understand that no assisted living facility will offer one-to-one care. In practical terms, every resident will have to wait some period of time for assistance.

Second, a good rule of thumb to know is that most facilities have one staff member for every six to eight residents. The ratio will be higher during the nighttime hours, with often one staff member caring for fifteen residents. If the facility you are considering has a higher ratio (say, 10 or 12 residents per caregiver during the day), you will want to understand how that workload is managed by staff.

Third, if the facility won’t give you an average number of residents a single staff member cares for, ask what the average response time is to a request for assistance. A typical reasonable timeframe during the day is ten minutes, but that time will likely be longer at night. If that average response time is longer, that facility may not have enough workers to provide the care your loved one needs.

Find out more about how to make the right decisions for your loved one, check out HealthSpin’s Easy Healthcare: Choosing an Assisted Living Facility.

Helping you “Spin Your Healthcare Your Way!

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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.

Available for download, NOW!

The post Want To Make Your Loved One’s Room Feel Like Home? appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

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.

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1. Size for your budget. Rooms in assisted living come in all shapes and sizes, from apartment-like layouts with a kitchenette and a living room to simple bedroom and bathroom combinations. Look closely at your budget before committing to a large, spacious room and evaluate how much “living” your loved one will do in that room. For example, if he or she is outgoing, much of that living will be done in the social areas of the facility, so they may not need a large private room. If however, he or she treasures their alone time, having more space may be worth the price.
2. Room for essential personal items. Your loved one can’t take everything from their previous home with them, but make sure there’s room enough for a few essential items. In my dad’s case, it was his desk. While it was a tight squeeze, having this beloved reminder of his life as a pastor made all the difference to him.
3. Bathroom that works for your loved one. Can he or she maneuver easily and safely around the space? Is everything reachable given his or her mobility and range of motion? Remember that you can add shower chairs and elevated toilet seats to make the bathroom more accessible.
4. Easy-to-reach temperature controls. Having control of your room’s temperature is essential. Can your loved one easily adjust the thermostat?
5. Near to (or far from) the nurse’s station. Consider how far away or how close your loved one wants to be to the nurse’s station. He or she may want the comfort of being within calling distance of the aides, but, on the other hand, the constant noise may be too disruptive, especially at night.

Looking at these factors, I know that every senior will have a different answer. But taking them into consideration will save you time, money, and grief later on.

We hope we’ve 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.

The post Don’t Move In Without Them: 5 Things to Look for When Choosing a Room in Assisted Living appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

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.

The post 3 Key Questions To Ask Your Assisted Living About Mealtime appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

When you’re considering moving into an assisted living facility, you might think the most important room is your bedroom.  This is not always true.  Often, the most important room is the dining room.  

Mealtime is the time when you meet other people and have a sense of community in the facility.  Since there are 3 meals a day, where you sit and what you eat significantly impacts your everyday life.  If you enjoy the meals, you will be more likely to easily settle into assisted living.

Before you move in, you want to:

1. Sample the food so you know what choices you will have
2. Have several meals at the assisted living home – try breakfast and then come back for dinner
3. Ask whether all the residents eat the same thing or you can order what you want
4. Ask whether you are assigned a table or you can sit at a different table anytime you want
5. Ask if you can have the meal brought to your room; and
6. If you need assistance getting to and from the dining room, ask how you get assistance – is there a long wait

These may seem like simple questions but they can be key factors as to whether you like the assisted living facility or not.  My Dad lived in several different assisted living homes.  Since he lived independently for 88 years, eating at a dining room table took time to get used to.  Since he was in a wheelchair, he often was brought to the table very early and had to wait for other residents before he could eat.  This was very frustrating for him.  If he had people at his table he liked, he looked forward to the meal.  However, if he had residents who had a lot of memory or behavior issues, he wanted to stay in his room.

Communication with the staff is the “key.”

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

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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.

Available for download, NOW!

The post Helpful Health Care Links: February 20, 2015 appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

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.

The post Independent Living No Longer An Option? appeared first on MyHealthSpin.