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Caregiver Tips & Skills: Preparing & CopingWe recommend highly this classic book on caregiving for those with Alzheimer’s: The 36-hour Day, by Nancy L. Mace and Peter V. Rabins, completely revised and updated 2008 publication. This is the place to start if your loved one . . . → Read More: The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for Persons with Alzheimer Disease  Many of you have recommended this book, Coping With Your Difficult Older Parent: A Guide for Stressed-Out Children, by Grace Lebow, Barbara Kane, and Irwin Lebow. This is the classic guide to dealing with difficult elderly behavior beyond the . . . → Read More: Coping With Your Difficult Older Parent By Angela Lunde, Mayo Clinic health education outreach coordinator Another perspective that can be helpful: i.e. separate the disease from the person and the person from the behaviors. Doing this helps you see that it’s the disease, not the . . . → Read More: Blame the disease, not the person, when caregiving gets frustrating © 2010 by Constance R. Barnhart Attorney At Law View/ Print as a PDF Document Following is a checklist of some of the legal issues that may arise for seniors and their family caregivers. For each of these issues . . . → Read More: A Checklist of Some Legal Issues for Seniors and Their Family Caregivers Video lecture on “Top 10 Tips for Taking an Elderly Parent to the Emergency Department,” presented by Malika Fair, MD, of EmergencyCareForYou.org. © By The Editor, HelpingYouCare.com™ View/ Print this article as a PDF Document Is your parent or elder acting in ways that do not seem like the person you have known – or perhaps in ways that exaggerate difficult . . . → Read More: FOUR STEPS TO DEAL WITH DIFFICULT ELDERLY BEHAVIOR Checklists provided by GetCare.com. Multiple checklists in printable PDF format, to help you know what to look for and what to ask several different types of providers of long-term care services, including providers of: In-Home Care: Home Care Services . . . → Read More: Checklists of What to Look For and Ask Long-Term Care Providers & Professionals  Comments are closed  About Assisted Living, About CCRC's, About Hospice & Palliative Care, About Nursing Homes & Rehabilitation Facilities, Checklists on Care Facilities, Checklists on Care Management, Checklists on End Of Life Care, Checklists on In-Home Care, Checklists on Legal & Financial Issues, General Checklists, Intro: Sr Housing & Care Facility Options - Understanding & Choosing A printable checklist by AARP on questions to ask in evaluating home health care agencies. Includes several questions under the categories: Services Know the Staff Costs and Quality. In-Home Care Agency: What to Ask. Search tool provided by the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers. Includes information about the role played by Geriatric Care Managers and their qualifications. Search by city, state, zip code, or name, to find a Geriatric Care Manager . . . → Read More: Find a Care Manager Choosing An Assisted Living Residence: A Consumer’s Guide A Checklist For Consumers And Prospective Residents When you are looking for an assisted living or residential care setting for yourself or a loved one, here is a checklist provided by . . . → Read More: Checklist For Consumers And Prospective Residents | Assisted Living Facilities This is a useful 16 page pamphlet, provided by the Alzheimer’s Association. It discusses seven different behaviors typical of elders with dementia, and provides the caregiver a three step process to help understand the behavior, what may be triggering . . . → Read More: How to Respond When Dementia Causes Unpredictable Behaviors From The Mayo Clinic. Useful tips for caregivers on how to diffuse anger frequently experienced in those with Alzheimer’s and other . . . → Read More: Tips for Diffusing Anger in Those with Dementia By Jacqueline Marcell (author of ElderRage). Tips and advice on how to deal with an elderly loved one who: wants all your time and attention, makes constant unreasonable demands, is inflexible, critical and negative, complains about real or imagined . . . → Read More: 12 Tips When Caring for an Elderly Loved One; Behavior Modification from the book, ElderRage, by Jacqueline Marcell. These include answers to: How Do I Handle My Elderly Loved One Who: Is experiencing increasing levels of memory loss? Wants all my time and attention? Is a danger on the road . . . → Read More: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions on Dealing with Difficult Elderly Behavior by Angela Coleman, ehow.com. Five steps you can take to help ease the strain when an elderly relative who is combative comes to live with your family. »View Info By Marguerite Kelly, Special to The Washington Post, Friday, August 8, 2008. Article in Q&A format, answering a question about a Mom with agoraphobia, who has multiple phobias, refuses to go out of her house, and refuses help or . . . → Read More: What to Overlook, and Not, With an Aging, Anxious Mom a moving Poem written by an elderly nursing home resident, delivering a message to all caregivers to deal with an elderly person with the empathy and attention that enable you to really see and respect the person as the . . . → Read More: One Woman’s Legacy by Family Caregiver Alliance. Very helpful tips on how to communicate with a person with Alzheimer’s or another form of Dementia, as well as how to deal effectively with several of the more common challenging behaviors typical of those . . . → Read More: Ten Tips for Communicating with a Person with Dementia by Elizabeth Kelson, Study for M.A. Thesis, Department of Gerontology, Simon Fraser University, Fall, 2006. Makes the case for using photographs and photo collages as a biographical tool to assist nursing home staff in familiarizing themselves with residents’ life . . . → Read More: Supporting Personhood within Dementia Care: The Theraputic Potential of Personal Photographs by Richard Hwang, Virtual Mentor. June 2008, Volume 10, Number 6: 379-382. This article advocates the use of non-pharmacological treatments for patients with dementia, but it also recognizes the need for pharmacological interventions in certain situations. It mentions a . . . → Read More: Managing Difficult Behaviors in Patients with Dementia Involving your elderly loved in appropriate activities to occupy his or her mind is often the best way of distracting him or her from the difficult elderly behaviors that are associated with Alzheimer’s. Family and professional caregivers are often . . . → Read More: Activities for Persons with Alzheimer’s Disease Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability. Good overall summary of techniques to deal with difficult dementia behaviors, including communication problems, pacing and wandering, incontinence, “Sundowning,” sleeping disorders, agitation, repetitive speech/ actions, rummaging, paranoia and suspicion, traveling, resistance to bathing, . . . → Read More: Coping With Behaviors Exhibited By Alzheimer’s Sufferers for training of caregiving staff in caring for elderly dementia patients. Particular attention given to interaction with individuals who have dementia. Includes good explanations of factors causing disruptive dementia behaviors, and techniques for handling such behaviors. »Geriatrics Training . . . → Read More: Geriatrics Training Module of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs by Elderly Health Service, Department of Health, Government of Hong Kong. Includes a helpful chart showing the common types of challenging behaviors exhibited by dementia patients (including wandering and/or pacing, incontinence, Repetitive behavior — words and actions, and suspicion) . . . → Read More: Behavioral Management in Persons with Dementia TheRubins.com. Summary of studies and articles finding overuse of psychiatric drugs to quiet verbally disruptive behavior by nursing home patients, which suggests study and implementation of a behavioral approach to managing and decreasing this behavior. Calls for a two . . . → Read More: Vocally Disruptive Behavior in the Elderly: A Helpful Strategy by Dwyer-Moore KJ, Dixon MR, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, USA, J Appl Behav Anal. 2007 Winter;40(4):679-83. 18189099 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE], PMCID: PMC2078575, Study conducted functional analysis for problem behavior in older adults in a long-term care . . . → Read More: Functional Analysis And Treatment Of Problem Behavior Of Elderly Adults In Long-Term Care by Philippe Landreville, Annick Bédard, René Verreault, Johanne Desrosiers, Nathalie Champoux, Johanne Monette, and Philippe Voyer, Canada. Review of 41 scientific studies conducted measuring the effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions in managing aggressive behavior of elderly residents in long-term care . . . → Read More: Non-pharmacological interventions for aggressive behavior in older adults living in long-term care facilities by J.C. Monfort, Int Psychogeriatr. 1995;7 Suppl:95-111. Review. PMID: 8580396 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]. This study suggests that hostile behavior in elderly patients is often caused by a reversible mood disorder rather than by a personality disorder or . . . → Read More: The difficult elderly patient: curable hostile depression or personality disorder? from the J.W. Crane Memorial Library, University of Manitoba. Bibliography of selected scholarly articles from the current scientific and medical journal literature, focusing on systematic reviews, best practice models, and innovative approaches for dealing with challenging behavior in long-term . . . → Read More: Current Perspectives in the Literature on Challenging Behaviour in Long-Term Care by Cunningham J, Williams KN, Elizabeth Layton Center, Ottawa, KS, USA, Res Theory Nurs Pract. 2007;21(1):45-56; PMID: 17378464 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] . This case study evaluated behavioral responses of nursing home residents with dementia to nursing staff . . . → Read More: A Case Study of Resistiveness to Care and Elderspeak by Jiska Cohen-Mansfield, Ph.D., Focus 2:288-308 (2004), © 2004 American Psychiatric Association. Recognizes that “Inappropriate behaviors are very common in dementia and impose an enormous toll both emotionally and financially.” Discusses three theoretical models to understand the causes of . . . → Read More: Nonpharmacologic Interventions for Inappropriate Behaviors in Dementia: A Review, Summary, and Critique by Cohen-Mansfield J, Mintzer JE, Department of Health Care Sciences and of Prevention and Community Health, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA., Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2005 Jan-Mar;19(1):37-40. This paper discussed behavior problems in dementia, and concludes . . . → Read More: Time For Change: The Role Of Nonpharmacological Interventions In Treating Behavior Problems In Nursing Home Residents With Dementia By Laura H.P. Eggermont, Vrije Universiteit, The Netherlands, and Erik J.A. Scherder, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands, Dementia, Vol. 5, No. 3, 411-428 (2006), DOI: 10.1177/1471301206067115. A review of 27 scientific studies conducted between 1974 and 2006, concluding that physical . . . → Read More: Physical Activity And Behaviour In Dementia; A Review Of The Literature And Implications For Psychosocial Intervention In Primary Care by Kevin F. Gray, MD, Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Scientific study recognizing that “problematic behavioral symptoms such as agitation, apathy, depression, anxiety, delusions, irritability, and disinhibition are highly prevalent during the course . . . → Read More: Managing agitation and difficult behavior in dementia by Valerie T. Cotter, MSN, CRNP, FAANP, The American Journal of Managed Care, Vol. 13, No. 8. Good scientific discussion of characteristics and consequences of dementia, and how to handle difficult dementia behavior by non-pharmacologic interventions for behavioral disturbances. . . . → Read More: The Burden of Dementia by Peggy A. Szwabo, Ph.D., Szwabo & Associates Saint Louis, MO. PowerPoint presentation, including lists of typical dementia behaviors, and suggested verbal interventions, motor interventions, interventions for sexually inappropriate behavior, sleep disruption interventions, causes and interventions for confusion, problem . . . → Read More: Nonpharmacological Interventions for Disruptive Behaviors American Cancer Society. A guide for the caregiver of a cancer patient regarding how to recognize and prevent skin (pressure) sores, which are a common problem for elderly who are bedridden, for example, after surgery Read more…. This checklist by the American Health Care Association (AHCA), a non-profit organization, helps seniors and family caregivers with making and coping with the transition to nursing facility life. It provides tips on planning ahead, and a checklist of what . . . → Read More: Making the Transition to Nursing Facility Life: Coping with the Transition Legal Issues in Planning for Incapacity, Family Caregiver Alliance. Checklist of things to be considered, options available for managing assets, and ways to plan and pay for long-term care. »View Details a 12 page booklet, part of the “Since You Care” series by MetLife in cooperation with the National Alliance for Caregiving. Helpful information about Adult Day Care centers, types of centers, how to locate the right one, how to . . . → Read More: Adult Day Centers Comments are closed About Home Health Care, AnswersForCare™, Tips & Skills for Caring for Your Elderly Loved One at Home From The AGS Foundation for Health in Aging, a Home Care Book to help the family caregiver solve caregiving problems that arise in caring for your elderly loved one at home. For each of a long list of potential . . . → Read More: Eldercare at Home National Institute On Aging, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. 6 page PDF document, providing tips for the family caregiver on how to help your older relatives stay in their home. Includes information on: . . . → Read More: There’s No Place Like Home—For Growing Old: Tips from the National Institute on Aging Comments are closed About Home Health Care, AnswersForCare™, Tips & Skills for Caring for Your Elderly Loved One at Home From MetLife Mature Market Institute. Assess your family member’s needs, seek the advise of a professional if needed, selecting a care provider, make sure to check references, make sure the care provider is aware of any special care needs, . . . → Read More: Helpful hints: If Care is Needed at Home Comments are closed About Home Health Care, AnswersForCare™, Tips & Skills for Caring for Your Elderly Loved One at Home A 12 page booklet by MetLife in cooperation with the National Alliance for Caregiving, above, under Selecting a Home Health Agency or Private Duty Aide…. Read more… Comments are closed About Home Health Care, AnswersForCare™, Tips & Skills for Caring for Your Elderly Loved One at Home by Family Caregiver Alliance. Tips for the family caregiver on how to work with, monitor and manage home health care services, once contracted. »View Info Comments are closed About Home Health Care, AnswersForCare™, Tips & Skills for Caring for Your Elderly Loved One at Home Brochure by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Helpful tips for the family caregiver to be aware of and implement. In summary, these include: (1) Clean your hands with soap and warm water, (2) make sure health . . . → Read More: 5 Things you can do to prevent infection Comments are closed About Home Health Care, AnswersForCare™, Tips & Skills for Caring for Your Elderly Loved One at Home By Carol Lewis, for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration FDA Consumer magazine “Medical devices, products and technologies are converging to revolutionize home- and self-care health systems in the United States, making it possible for people to play a . . . → Read More: Emerging Trends in Medical Device Technology: Home Is Where the Heart Monitor Is By: Eric Baron, MD From American Academy of Home Care Physicians How to protect yourself and your family. Some questions to ask. How to recognize high-quality house call medical groups. Physicians and Medical Groups specializing in house calls have . . . → Read More: Evaluating Physicians Who Offer House Calls: A Guide for Patients and Families From Medline Plus (a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health Tens of thousands of people die in U.S. hospitals each year as the result of lapses in patient safety Things you . . . → Read More: Patient Safety Comments are closed About Home Health Care, AnswersForCare™, Tips & Skills for Caring for Your Elderly Loved One at Home From the Department of Health & Human Services (Eldercare Locator). Fact Sheet: What is adult day care? How do adult day care centers operate? Who can benefit from adult day care? What should I look for in an adult . . . → Read More: What is Adult Day Care? From the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Among adults 65 years and older, falls and fires are two leading causes of unintentional injuries and deaths. For a checklist on preventing falls and fire deaths and injuries… »View Info (pdf) Comments are closed About Home Health Care, AnswersForCare™, Tips & Skills for Caring for Your Elderly Loved One at Home by HelpGuide.org. If you are caring for your elderly loved one at home, an adult day care center may provide an important resource, both for the stimulation and well-being of your elder and for needed respite for you. This . . . → Read More: Adult Day Care Centers: A Guide to Options and Selecting the Best Center for Your Needs Comments are closed About Home Health Care, AnswersForCare™, Tips & Skills for Caring for Your Elderly Loved One at Home By the National Institute on Aging, U.S. National Institutes of Health. A 48 page PDF document, providing answers to 20 key questions for long-distance caregivers, such as: How will I know if help is needed? What can I really . . . → Read More: So Far Away: Twenty Questions for Long-Distance Caregivers Comments are closed About Home Health Care, AnswersForCare™, Tips & Skills for Caring for Your Elderly Loved One at Home Service Directories Where to get help Web and Phone-Based Helplines Eldercare Locator Geriatric Care Managers From Caring From a Distance (CFAD.org) »View Info Comments are closed About Home Health Care, AnswersForCare™, Tips & Skills for Caring for Your Elderly Loved One at Home From Family Caregiver Alliance National Center on Caregiving: »View Info Comments are closed About Home Health Care, AnswersForCare™, Tips & Skills for Caring for Your Elderly Loved One at Home a 20 page booklet, part of the “Since You Care” series by MetLife in cooperation with the National Alliance for Caregiving. Helpful information for long-distance caregivers. »View Info Comments are closed About Home Health Care, AnswersForCare™, Tips & Skills for Caring for Your Elderly Loved One at Home A 6 page brochure by the Administration on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as re-published by the Senior Information and Assistance Service of Pierce County, Washington. This brochure outlines how families can stay in touch with . . . → Read More: How Will I Know Mom and Dad are Okay? Staying “IN TOUCH” in Crisis Situations Comments are closed About Home Health Care, AnswersForCare™, Tips & Skills for Caring for Your Elderly Loved One at Home Use these quizzes, calculators, self-assessments and decision guides to check your knowledge and health status. It should be no surprise that the virtual doctor or decision guides will most likely recommend seeing a real doctor. Try out a virtual . . . → Read More: Health Check Tools A caregiver checklist of medical, legal and financial concerns for someone diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Read more from the Area Agency on Aging>>> Nursing Home Checklist from Medicare.gov. Helpful resource in selecting a nursing home for your elderly loved one. Helps you know what questions to ask, and keep track of the information you collect on each potential facility, in an organized . . . → Read More: Nursing Home Checklist Legal and Financial Planning for People with Alzheimer’s Disease, Fact Sheet by the Alzheimer’s Disease Education & Referral (ADEAR) Center, a Service of the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. . . . → Read More: Legal and Financial Planning for People with Alzheimer’s Disease Eldercare: Caregiving, Nursing Home, Medicaid, Living Wills, by Rocco Beatrice, C.P.A. A general discussion and checklist of financial and legal issues for family caregivers of the elderly. »View details: Eldercare Caregiving, Nursing Home, Medicaid, Living Wills – A . . . → Read More: Eldercare: Caregiving, Nursing Home, Medicaid, Living Wills – A Checklist Comments are closed Checklists on Legal & Financial Issues, General Checklists, Legal Issues - Overview National Institute on Aging — Age Page: Getting Your Affairs in Order, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A 6 page fact sheet, providing a checklist of important legal matters . . . → Read More: National Institute on Aging — Age Page: Getting Your Affairs in Order Comments are closed Checklists on Legal & Financial Issues, General Checklists, Legal Issues - Overview Questions & Answers When Looking For an Elder Law Attorney, By National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Inc. (NAELA). Provides a checklist of some of the legal issues involved in elder law, as well as advice on how to . . . → Read More: Questions & Answers When Looking For an Elder Law Attorney A five-step guide to planning for caregiving: (1) Prepare to Talk; (2) Form Your Team; (3) Assess Needs; (4) Make a Plan; (5) Take Action. A 19 page pamphlet by AARP. Read more: Prepare To Care; A Planning Guide . . . → Read More: Prepare To Care; A Planning Guide for Families Useful Worksheets from AARP: Medication Record; Organize Documents Worksheet In managing your loved one’s care, it is important for you to monitor the medications your loved one is taking at all times, and to make sure that each of his . . . → Read More: Useful Worksheets Long-Term Care Cost Calculator by AARP. To find the average cost in your state for a nursing home, assisted living facility, or a home health aid, use the calculator provided. If you would like, you can download a full . . . → Read More: Long-Term Care Cost Calculator Preventing Falls Checklist from AARP Home Safety Checklist by AARP Comments are closed Checklists on In-Home Care, Tips & Skills for Caring for Your Elderly Loved One at Home Assisted Living: What to Ask. A Checklist and worksheet by AARP. Helps you know what questions to ask, and record and organize the information you gather when visiting and evaluating potential assisted living facilities for your senior loved one. . . . → Read More: Assisted Living: What to Ask Nursing Homes: What to Ask. Checklist by AARP. Dealing with Pain: What to Ask. Checklist by AARP. Hospice: What to Ask. Checklist by AARP. Caregiving, Medicinenet.com, Good overall introduction to caregiving and the issues faced by caregivers, compiled by MedicineNet based on government sources.»View Info Advice On Working With Your Siblings When Caregiving, USA Today, June 26, 2007. Still a good source for advice on dealing with issues that arise in working with your siblings when caregiving for your parents. »View . . . → Read More: Advice On Working With Your Siblings When Caregiving Prepare Yourself Now to Help Care for Parents Later, USA Today, February 1, 2008. A good overview with checklists to help you prepare for parent care.»View Info A Guide for Caregivers, Newsweek. A basic overview of issues faced by caregivers, with tips on how to prepare yourself and cope.»View Info What Caregivers Need to Know, Parade Magazine. Good general introduction to steps to prepare for and cope with caregiving. Though written October 9,2005, still applies today. »View Info Getting the best elder care means not waiting until the last minute, by Sandra Block, USA Today. Tips including find out what long term care options are available now –don’t wait for a crisis; avoid role reversal – respect . . . → Read More: Getting the best elder care means not waiting until the last minute Caregiving Tips: Don’t Let Elder Care Damage Your Marriage, Content provided by Revolution Health Group, Reviewed by Val Jones, M.D. Tips on how to prepare for and manage caring for an elderly loved one in your home. Open and . . . → Read More: Caregiving Tips: Don’t Let Elder Care Damage Your Marriage Caregiving; Overview, a publication of the National Women’s Health Resource Center. An excellent, comprehensive discussion of advice for the caregiver in several different areas, with a list of resources. Even though first published on December 15, 2005, this is . . . → Read More: Caregiving Overview Comments are closed AnswersForCare™ - Other Resources, Other Resources: Links, Tips & Skills for Caregivers - Overview Useful tips for caregivers to better manage their loved one’s health care include gathering information, getting an authorization for medical professionals to share health information with you signed by your loved one, enroll your loved one in free Medicare programs to . . . → Read More: Tips for Caregivers to Better Manage Their Loved One’s Health Care Comments are closed AnswersForCare™ - Tips for Caregivers, Tips & Skills for Managing & Coordinating Care Many government and private orgainzations offer help for caregivers to patients with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Read the story reported in the Los Angeles Times: Help for Alzheimer’s caregivers – . . . → Read More: Help for Alzheimer’s Caregivers Read tips for long-distance caregivers from the Cleveland Clinic. Some of the tips: Get organized; Schedule a family meeting; Research your loved one’s illness and treatment; Keep in touch with the medical providers for your loved one; Ask friends . . . → Read More: Tips for Long-Distance Caregivers Comments are closed AnswersForCare™ - Tips for Caregivers, Tips & Skills for Long-Distance Caregivers |
Ms. Barnhart is the Founder and Managing Member of Care-Help LLC, Publisher of HelpingYouCare®
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