Try: Here are some things to look for to decide whether a senior may need some extra help at home or may need another type of living arrangement has the senior changed eating habits within the last year resulting in weight loss having no appetite or missed meals neglected personal hygiene resulting in wearing dirty clothes body odor bad breath neglected nails and teeth sores on the skin neglected their home so it is not as clean or sanitary as you remember growing up exhibited inappropriate behavior by being unusually loud or quiet paranoid agitated making phone calls at all hours changed relationship patterns such that friends and neighbors have expressed concerns had physical problems such as burns or injury marks resulting from general weakness forgetfulness or possible misuse of alcohol or prescribed medications decreased or stopped participating in activities that were previously important to them such as bridge or a book club dining with friends or attending religious services exhibited forgetfulness resulting in unopened mail piling newspapers not filling their prescriptions or missed appointments mishandled finances such as not paying bills losing money paying bills twice or more or hiding money made unusual purchases such as buying more than one magazine subscription of the same magazine entered an unusual amount of contests increased usage of purchasing from television advertisements information references "10 warning signs" 2010 available at www eldercare gov

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Caregiver Needs&Support, Maintenance, Medical Physical, Mobility, Needs Some Assistance, Needs Much Assistance, Independence, Some Supervision, Maximum Supervision

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Keywords: Home care weight loss dirty house not paying bills hoarding neglect falls injury

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Advertising in the help wanted classified section of a community college local paper or neighborhood newsletter can be a useful wau to find a local caregiver the advertisement should include hours a brief description of duties telephone number and best time to call here’s an example "home care assistant needed to provide supervision and companionship to older adult with memory loss must be compassionate reliable and able to assist with bathing dressing and eating references required call to apply " information references home care services for seniors by joanna saisan amara rose and monika white 2010 available at www helpguide org

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Caregiver Needs&Support

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Keywords: Caregiver home care home help advertise

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Pros screening hiring firing pay and taxes are handled by the agency if the worker is sick a substitute can be sent can provide individuals with a variety of skills to meet varying needs e g skilled nursing care physical therapy occupational therapy etc may be partially covered by medicaid or private insurance cons often several workers are used which can be confusing or distressing for the person receiving care less individual choice in workers more expensive than hiring someone yourself information references home care services for seniors by joanna saisan amara rose and monika white 2010 available at www helpguide org

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Caregiver Needs&Support, Financial

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Keywords: Caregiver home care home help agency

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Pros a strong one-on-one relationship can develop between the worker and the person receiving care although this can also happen through an agency when there is a commitment to using the same person or persons usually less expensive than going through an agency you get to choose the person you think will be the best cons if the home care worker is sick no substitute is available screening hiring firing pay and taxes must be handled by you may not be covered by medicaid or private insurance information references home care services for seniors by joanna saisan amara rose and monika white 2010 available at www helpguide org

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Caregiver Needs&Support

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Keywords: Caregiver home care home help

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: The bedroom is an important area within your home where some basic equipment can greatly impact caregivers workload and enhance a senior senior’s independence bedrails come in many different styles and shapes however your first consideration should be regarding its purpose when intended for safety needs to avoid falling out of bed then consider employing a simple horizontal-type bedrail with straps that attach to a bed frame or a mounted bed board under mattress when more assistance is needed with actual transfers from bed then a swing out gated model works well and also provides protection from falls still newer stand-up assist and super poles are growing in popularity due to versatile usage at bedside and different locations throughout the house an overhead bed trapeze that attaches to hospital style beds or freestanding model is needed when a person requires even further help with transfers in and out of bed information references "money and time saving strategies for caregivers – part iii" by clare absher available at www carepathways com

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Caregiver Needs&Support, Medical Physical, Mobility, Needs Some Assistance, Needs Much Assistance

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Keywords: Transfer transferring bed bedroom falls out of bed safety independence

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: If all else fails in trying to get other family members to help out with caregiving tasks an option for getting past stressful communication is family mediation a relatively new concept mediation is an informal process in which a neutral third party sits down to help people in conflict to better understand their individual interests and needs so that they can agree upon a workable solution to the problem mediation helps to empower families to come up with their own solutions, and the end result is that it’s often easier to stick with a decision that you’ve had a part in making to find a mediator contact your local senior center or area agency on aging even if you’re successful in achieving a better distribution of responsibility it’s important to communicate communicate communicate hold regular family meetings to assure that all siblings are updated with the care recipient’s condition and changes to the plan of care let them know how much their help is needed, and appreciated information references "getting your siblings to help with caregiving" by linda hepler 2008 available at www dlife com

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Caregiver Needs&Support, Communication, Emotional Psychological, Legal

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Keywords: Caregiving help family siblings sister brother sharing responsibility respite burnout family conflicts mediation

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Family caregivers are the backbone of our long-term care system and vital to meeting the needs of our aging population as a result of our country country’s dependence on families to care for loved ones at home the federal government enacted the family caregiver support program fcsp in 2000 all states now provide some type of support under fcsp which focuses efforts on family caregiving relief state units on aging with assistance of local area agencies on aging oversee and administer family caregiving services many local programs offer families counseling and support groups training and respite care to give family caregivers a break information about additional family support programs may also be available through contacting your local social services senior services or county health departments in some states medicaid government health insurance for low-income americans will pay family caregivers to provide care to family members at home however note that medicare government health insurance for older americans will not pay for long-term or ongoing home care regardless of whether such services are provided through an agency or a family member internet resources take some time to research programs in your area that might be applicable to your situation including any reimbursement for family caregivers search for state contacts for family caregiver support services offered by each state at www homecarefiles org you might also consider trying the family care navigator offered by the family caregiver alliance at www caregiver org for more information on this topic information references "can i get paid to care for a family member by clare absher available at www carepathways com

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Caregiver Needs&Support, Financial, Legal

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Keywords: Caregiving getting paid for cargiving family caregivers

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Generally in home care is prohibitively expensive for the average person the cost of having doctors nurses and other providers come to the care recipient’s cr home is extremely high however in some instances in home care is the better alternative for the cr most cr’s want to stay in their home as long as possible for in home care to work the cr must be in relatively decent health the cr also needs volunteer help from friends or family a spouse to assist with care greatly reduces the cost if the cr remains in home a part-time caregiver can be hired however aides for help with adl’s can be expensive even on a part-time basis in home care is often the first step of an individual’s care continuum it is the first type of care as the cr becomes ill unfortunately if the cr grows progressively worse more serious medical care is needed in a different setting information references

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Categories: Caregiver Needs&Support

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Keywords: Nursing home

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: An employment contract for elder companions caregivers is highly recommended to ensure a shared understanding of the terms and conditions of employment this is true even when you know the person well that you are hiring a contract should provide specifics on compensation what pay rate per hour what payroll cycle and what pay dates benefits if any performance evaluation dates and any opportunities for pay increases hours of work job duties you may include the job description in the employment contract duration of the employment contract and the terms under which employment may be terminated information references "hiring elder companions caregivers " available at www care4hire com

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Caregiver Needs&Support

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Keywords: Elder care caregiver companion home care hiring a caregiver caregiver tasks caregiver responsibilities contract job description

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: # write a job description which lists all of the functions that you will want the companion caregiver to fulfill the job description should also list the skills knowledge experience and abilities that are necessary for the successful performance of the job # recruit and interview candidates based on the qualifications specified in the job description #after narrowing down the candidate pool to one or two candidates perform background checks on those remaining candidates ensure that you have their signed authorization permitting you to do so #when you have chosen your one final candidate and he has passed the backgound checks you should offer him the job in writing via an employment contract he may wish to negotiate the terms in the contract so don’t assume that if you offer the contract that his sole options will be to sign it or to walk away if the individual does wish to negotiate with you about the terms and conditions of employment in his contract listen with an open mind and seek compromise where possible #when the contract is signed and the employment formally begins train the companion caregiver thoroughly spend a few days with the companion caregiver to orient him her to the tasks of the job and how you or the elder wish for those tasks to be handled after training is completed provide prompt feedback when actual work performance deviates from expected work performance praise work performance that meets expectations show up unannounced periodically just to make sure that things are going well even when you are not expected to be there if possible ask questions of the elder when the companion caregiver is absent to determine if the elder is satisfied with the care provided by the companion caregiver meet with the companion caregiver at regular intervals determined jointly by you and the companion caregiver to discuss the job and how it it’s going #after a brief introductory period usually 30 days provide the companion caregiver with a brief performance evaluation ensure that work is being done as expected by you and or the elder where there are differences between the work being performed and the expectations of the work performance determine what differences are can-do issues and what differences are will-do issues can-do issues are differences that are caused by the companion caregiver caregiver’s inability to perform as expected i e an inability to lift the elder out of bed will-do issues are differences that are caused by the companion caregiver caregiver’s unwillingness to perform as expected at this point training on routine tasks should not be needed as the companion caregiver has been performing these tasks for 30 days and any performance problems have been redirected throughout the 30 days based on the can-do and will-do assessment which may need to be determined through discussion with the companion caregiver you will need to determine whether to continue to employ the companion caregiver # if the decision is made to retain the companion caregiver the introductory period will end and regular employment will begin information references "hiring elder companions caregivers " available at www care4hire com

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Caregiver Needs&Support

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Keywords: Elder care caregiver companion home care hiring a caregiver caregiver tasks caregiver responsibilities contract job description

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed