Try: Choosing a nursing facility is a difficult decision it takes time to research visit weigh the options and make the final choice having all of this information in hand ahead of time will make the transition easier if it becomes necessary to move the Care recipient (cr) to a skilled nursing facility snf begin by making a list of all of the snfs that will be under consideration and making an appointment to visit the importance of a personal inspection cannot be overemphasized factors that should be considered in evaluating a skilled nursing facility ask friends relatives social workers or social groups if they have any recommendations or feedback on any of the prospective choices does the facility accept your insurance or medicare does the facility have a waiting list if so how long ask to see the facility’s operating certificate to confirm the services offered the law in the state where the facility is located governs what can and cannot be done there will be both similarities and differences among the various states is the facility licensed with proper medicare and medicaid certification when you enter the facility does it look neat and tidy and have a clean smell what are the visiting arrangements can the family come anytime check the department of health and state inspection reports surveys of the facility are the rooms clean large and comfortable can the room selection be changed if roommates are not compatible are the residents treated with dignity and respect are they clean and well cared for are there enough staff members to provide quality care are the common areas cheerful and well maintained always visit once during a mealtime and check on the quality and quantity of food served is it nutritious and appetizing is the hot food hot and the cold food cold is food available other than mealtimes what types of social and recreational activities are available for residents speak to a few residents to get a feel for their overall experiences is the building fireproof with handrails and other safety aids in evidence how are personal possessions of the residents protected are the physical and occupational therapy programs satisfactory can you have your own physician or is there a house physician on call is there a grievance procedure or resident counsel are there regular family meetings information references

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

Try: Sometimes gradual changes in everyday routines and behavior patterns of those in our care are very subtle they may go unnoticed for quite some time until they suddenly seem to escalate and sneak up on us without warning where there was once a "normal " there is now a "new normal" taking over being aware of changes that may occur may give family members or caregivers an early enough warning to take appropriate action before a major problem surfaces changes that may occur with mild alzheimer’s disease loses interest in activities or hobbies doesn’t want to start anything new asks repetitive questions constantly checks or searches for possessions starts saving things of little or no value can’t organize thoughts has trouble concentrating on a game or finishing a puzzle or a book loses the thread of conversation loss in financial judgment difficulty learning anything new forgets words and may substitute or make up words contributes less to conversations because fears making a mistake becomes lost in familiar surroundings forgets to eat or forgets that he or she has just eaten and wants to eat again hides items and then forgets where they are hidden replaces things in inappropriate places such as refrigerated items in the cupboard or laundry in the dishwasher forgets to pay when leaving a store or restaurant loses the concept of how much to pay for an item and may hand the sales clerk the entire wallet loses sensitivity to others’ feelings gets angry and frustrated more easily than in the past unable to order food in restaurant and will just order what someone else is ordering resistant to any type of change in routine gets overly excited and upset if something unexpected happens takes longer to accomplish routine tasks information references adapted in part from a north carolina information & assistance toolkit

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

Try: Decisions on care giving may be some of the most difficult ones you will ever make there are many factors to consider and several family members may need to agree on a decision regarding the best course of action stress and pressure may mount because of the unfamiliarity of the care giving process in general and all of the information that may need to be gathered assessed and acted upon basic guidelines for making care giving decisions involve as many family members as you can including the care recipient if possible in the initial discussions regarding the need for care educate yourself on all of the possibilities of care and compile a list of the pros and cons of each one decide on what avenue of care will be followed – a family member an in-home caregiver a health care agency a geriatric care manager or moving to an assisted or skilled care facility if an assisted or skilled care facility is chosen plan a visit to several of the options to gather information before making a choice assess what types of payment options are available or what agencies can be contacted to assist with the cost review and update all documents that may be necessary during the course of care such as advance directives insurance policies medical history family contact information and financial resources have a "plan b" if the initial care giving decision doesn’t work out have a second plan of care ready to be implemented so that the time consuming process of deciding on a care plan doesn’t have to be repeated have regular family meetings after the care has been started to involve and update everyone on the progress if a family member assumes a large part of the care giving responsibilities make sure that respite care is provided at regular intervals locate and join a support group for caregivers and family members information references

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

Try: The loss of cognitive abilities resulting from dementia and alzheimer’s disease can cover a broad spectrum there can be a loss of various skills including communication skills independence and logic among others there may be very little chance for a "re-habilitation" of these skills the definition of "rehabilitation" is to restore lost abilities in the case of dementia a better therapy is simply "habilitation" therapy which is to make the most of the skills that remain and focus more on the cr’s emotional and psychological capacity habilitation therapy focuses on creating and maintaining a positive emotional state throughout the course of the day this can be done by utilizing a pro-active approach to cultivate satisfying moments and memories to ease the stress for both the caregiver (cg) and the Care recipient (cr) examples of "habilitation" therapy" that may be helpful to caregivers enter the cr’s world and moment in time for example if being twenty-two years of age is what makes the cr happiest it will be useless to point out that his or her eighty-second birthday was just celebrated communicate on an emotional level make your tone inflection and body language positive and comforting no matter what message you are trying to get across by maintaining a constant uplifting mood you will project a message of safety and well-being to the cr who may be experiencing agitation fear and frustration reduce distractions and simplify the environment too much noise clutter or even people can cause the cr to be nervous and upset encourage and promote the cr’s remaining skills if the cr enjoyed cooking looking at cookbooks and planning menus may bring about fond memories of family dinners even though the ability to cook may be lost by encouraging and allowing the cr to maximize remaining skills there may be less frustration embarrassment and fear of being unable to function at the former level of independence listen with all of your senses if the cr has difficulty communicating with words look beyond the words to the facial expressions and emotional tones in the voice to distinguish possible pain validate feelings if the cr is angry and lashes out sympathize with their right to be angry and or hurt over situations information references adapted from p raia ph d ; habilitation therapy in dementia care; j coste; learning to speak alzheimer’s

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

Try: Care giving may take on an entirely different meaning when the person for whom you are caring is your spouse the 24 7 responsibilities can be overwhelming to say the least the line between the spousal relationship and care giving relationship may become a blur and disappear before you realize it as a result the marital relationship may be robbed of some rewarding moments spousal caregivers often forget that the health and well-being of the spouse needing care is vitally dependent on the well-spouse maintaining his or her physical health and mental well-being too often the well-spouse feels that he or she will be able to manage personal affairs along with the stress and overload that comes with care giving for a spouse one of the most important aspects of spousal care giving is to look for the warning signs of stress and distress and act upon them accordingly red flags to look for in a spousal care recipient missing or delaying medical appointments ignoring health problems or symptoms not taking the time to eat a healthy diet overuse of tobacco and or alcohol not making time for regular exercise or physical activity loss of sleep choosing isolation over social connections keeping feelings of anger and frustration bottled up until they explode and are directed at the spouse friends family or others and even self being depressed sad or feeling that things are hopeless lack of energy losing interest in activities that you used to enjoy as a couple harboring resentment towards the spouse blaming the spouse for the situation feeling burdened by others’ expectations feeling that family relationships are being threatened by the care giving situation being annoyed with other family members who either don’t help or criticize you when any of these red flags go up it is time to step back and explore other avenues that will allow you and your spouse to resume some semblance of normalcy in your relationship suggestions for spousal caregivers reach out and ask for help others may not realize there are problems because from the outside looking in the situation may appear as normal as it once was make maintaining your health a number one priority make time each and every day for a healthy diet and exercise or other physical activity have physical checkups regularly congratulate yourself daily on your ability to assume and manage the shifting of roles and responsibilities try to keep your lifestyle as normal as you can if going out to a movie like you once enjoyed is no longer an option set a date rent a movie and pick up a meal to take home maintain personal closeness by reliving positive special memories through photo albums or family videos keep your children informed and accept any help that they may offer for assistance and emotional support make respite care a part of your weekly schedule talk to friends and family to see if someone would be willing to fill in for you as a caregiver while you get a break consider hiring a care manager to help plan and manager the medical care for your spouse this can be a very expensive option consider hiring an in home care giver to provide you with expertise support and respite this is more affordable than hiring a care manager resume and maintain your social connections being rested maintaining your health asking for assistance and connecting with others is a challenge that so often goes ignored in a spousal care giving situation rise to the challenge and enjoy the rewards information references

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

Try: Fs common facts and myths about epilepsy 2 although not uncommon for care recipients cr epilepsy is often not well understood or unknown to many individuals the following are common facts and misunderstandings about epilepsy crs with epilepsy are not mentally ill epilepsy is not the same as mental illness and in fact the majority of people with seizures do not develop mental health problems the causes are not always known in some crs the cause and location of the seizures may affect certain brain areas and contribute to mood problems in others side effects of treatments and the challenges of living with epilepsy may affect a cr cr’s feelings and behavior seizures do not cause brain damage in the cr single smaller seizures lasting less than 5-10 minutes are not known to cause brain damage or injury however there is evidence that more frequent and more prolonged seizures may in some crs injure the brain epilepsy is not necessarily inherited most cases of epilepsy are not inherited although some types are genetically transmitted epilepsy is not a life-long disorder generally crs with epilepsy have seizures and require medication for only a small portion of their lives about 60 of people who develop seizures have epilepsy that can be easily controlled and is likely to remit or go away however about 25 may develop difficult to control seizures and likely will require lifelong treatment epilepsy should not be a barrier to success epilepsy is perfectly compatible with a normal happy and full life the cr cr’s quality of life however may be affected by the frequency and severity of the seizures the effects of medications reactions of onlookers to seizures and other disorders that are often associated with or caused by epilepsy some types of epilepsy are harder to control than others living successfully with epilepsy requires a positive outlook a supportive environment and good medical care information references epilepsy com

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Keywords: Epilepsy seizure "]

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

Try: Regular exercise has shown to help with sleep issues in a Care recipient (cr) if the cr is able there are countless activities she can do to increase strength improve aerobic capacity burn calories and become ready for a good night’s sleep the following are exercises to improve sleep quality swim water exercises – swimming laps is a gentle way to build up fitness and is great for sore joints or weak muscles many community and ymca pools have swim programs just for older crs as well as water-based exercise classes dance – if the cr likes music she may be open to dancing or taking a dance class walk with friends the more the cr walks and the brisker the pace the more aerobic benefit exercise golf – golf is a form of exercise that requires precise strong movement of particular parts of the body but which doesn’t require vigorous movement walking can be an added aerobic bonus to golfing golf is popular among many older crs cycle or jog – if the cr is still in good shape she can jog and bicycle until late in life both can be done outdoors or on a stationary bike or treadmill always have the cr consult her doctor before embarking on any new fitness program information references helpguide org

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Keywords: Exercise work out

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

Try: As individual’s age his body and diet will likely change the care recipient’s cr nutrition requirements could differ from his previous diet the following are potential reasons for the changes in cr’s nutrition metabolism at around the age of forty human metabolism slows if the cr continues to eat the same amount of food he is likely to gain weight because of slowed metabolism also if the cr is less active this will result in fewer calories burned weakened senses in cr taste and smell senses diminish with age seniors tend to lose sensitivity to salty and bitter tastes first so you may be inclined to salt your food more heavily than before try herbs and healthy oils, like olive oil, to season food instead of salt similarly seniors tend to retain the ability to distinguish sweet tastes the longest leading some to overindulge in sugary foods and snacks medicines and illnesses prescription medications and illnesses can often negatively influence appetite and may also affect taste causing the cr to add too much salt or sugar to their food be sure to check side effects of medications with a doctor loneliness and depression in cr loneliness and depression can alter diet for some feeling down leads to not eating and in others it may trigger overeating watch for emotional problems impacting the cr’s diet death or divorce death or divorce of a spouse can drastically alter the cr’s diet if the spouse has traditionally cooked meals the cr may struggle with nutrition information references

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Keywords: Diet nutrition

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

Try: Medicare part’s a and b cover certain types of medical expenses federal law requires that medicare only pays for series at are "reasonable and necessary " medicare covers items and services that are deemed reasonable and necessary for the diagnosis or treatment of an illness or injury or for the improvement of a malformed body member’s functioning this requirement is important because many types of medically unproven or experimental procedures are not covered by medicare also there truly is no defined

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Categories: Of Procedures To Exclude As Science And Medicine Constantly Evolve Be Sure To Discuss These Requirements With Your Healthcare Provider When Medicare Coverage Is Involved, Legal, Medical Physical

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

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