Home Instead Senior Care Austin strives to match our CAREGivers with Austin clients having similar interests. We know living at home is the best place for our clients to age. So, we help them better enjoy living at home using our home care services and by matching up CAREGivers that “fit” their personalities and interest. This allows our CAREGivers to build relationships through doing the things our clients enjoy most. We have an Activity Training Guide for CAREGivers which helps us generate additional creative ideas to keep Austin seniors engaged and enjoying life at home.

Rebecca’s Senior Gardening Tips cont’d..

In addition to gardening, our CAREGivers happily participates in other activities our clients enjoy, such as cooking, scrapbooking, arts and crafts, and attending performances and other cultural events. We involve our clients in the interests they’ve always enjoyed.

Another great thing about gardening as a senior activity is that it is timeless. “The beauty of the garden, if done well, will provide four seasons of color. While seniors in warmer climates can garden year-round, those in cold-weather climates should not despair,” Kolls said. “In the winter, snow catches in seed heads, and birds find refuge in shrubbery and feed off seeds from the cone flowers. So no matter where you live, there’s always something growing in the garden.”

One Container; Many Opportunities
A little creative thinking and some assistance from families or caregivers helps ensure that seniors can continue to enjoy the types of gardening they love.  “Imagine growing almost everything for a recipe in one container,” Kolls said. “What a great gift idea!”

She suggests the following projects to get you started:

Koll suggests growing a pizza garden! If your senior isn’t a pizza fan, he or she might enjoy growing one for grandchildren. Whiskey barrels work well for growing tomatoes, but can be expensive. A plastic laundry basket with holes cut in the bottom for drainage will work just as well. Plant a Roma tomato in the center, onions along the sides of the tomato and basil around the edge of the container.

A twist on the pizza garden concept: a fresh salsa garden!  It’s similar to a pizza garden, only with tomatoes, onions, hot peppers and cilantro.

A one-pot vegetable garden is always a hit!  Take three bamboo poles and make a teepee in the center of the pot. Plant beans at the base of each bamboo pole, and fill the horizontal space around the pot with carrots, beets or other favorite root vegetables (make sure your pot is at least 10 to 12 inches deep.

Compliments of Rebecca Koll…  Senior Gardening Tips!  Please contact Home Instead Senior Care Austin for help keeping your loved one busy doing what they love in Austin.  Our CAREGivers help entertain them.  Please Call 512-347-9207.

Home Instead Senior Care in Austin knows how important it is for seniors and elders to maintain favorite pastimes. We can help your aging loved one to do the things they enjoy while caring for them at home. Call us 512-347-9207.

Rebecca Kolls, star of the popular syndicated television show Rebecca’s Garden, and eldercare service Home Instead Senior Care, have worked together to help seniors continue to enjoy gardening. This dual-effort public-education campaign has sought to bring back gardening joys to seniors who have difficulty maintaining gardens, or who have given up gardening altogether due to health or age concerns. The initiative’s primary feature, a four-color gardening guide, includes lots of helpful tips and several fun, simple projects seniors can easily complete - either independently or with their families or caregivers.

Kolls, whose grandparents originally inspired her interest in gardening, credits gardens with supplying not only food and beauty, but also improved mental and physical well-being. “There’s a nurturing aspect in gardening where you take a seed and coddle it,” Kolls said.

“Seniors have given up child rearing, so gardening gives them baby plants and seedlings again.  It’s a new way of caring for something.” Home Instead Senior Care’s CAREGivers - who come to the homes of older individuals and assist them with day-to-day, non-medical activities of daily living such as errands, shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry and hobbies - can see first-hand how valuable gardening is for their clients.

“We often hear our CAREGivers speak of their clients who love to care for plants and flowers, and how they see it enriching those clients’ lives,” said Home Instead Senior Care CEO Paul Hogan.  “Many of our CAREGivers enjoy gardening as well, and are thrilled to help seniors enjoy gardening and plant projects.”

Home Instead Senior Care Austin strives to match its CAREGivers with clients of similar interests. This allows them to build relationships through doing the things their clients enjoy most. And the company’s Activity Training Guide for CAREGivers helps them generate other creative ideas to keep seniors engaged and enjoying life. Call us 512-347-9207.

An issue for family members that Home Instead Senior Care Austin hears frequently is “how do we entertain and keep our loved one active?”  Most adult children live full lives and have little time managing the lives of their aging loved ones. It’s important that seniors stay active and live healthy lives. It’s makes them happier, feel healthy, and less depressed. Here are some ideas to consider when thinking of Activities for your Senior in Austin.

But if you are a concerned adult child of aging senior parents with diminishing activity levels: “My 70-year-old parents, both in relatively good health, were really active in their younger years. But now that they’re older adults, they seem to think they’ve gotten too old to continue many of the activities they once enjoyed - such as fishing and bowling. How do I convince them otherwise?”

Our answer from Home Instead Senior Care Austin: show them it’s not true! A recent lifestyle interest survey (conducted by Del Webb Communities for Pulte Homes see bottom of this post for link) demonstrated that active recreational pursuits, even adventurous endeavors such as hiking and river rafting, have become favorite lifestyle interests for the over 55 crowd. Activities such as these topped the study’s list! Others were health and fitness related, including strength training and cardio workouts.

Study participants ranked swimming (55 percent), golf (49 percent), bowling (34 percent), fishing (30 percent), and canoeing/kayaking (26 percent) to be “extremely important,” while hiking, climbing, rappelling and river rafting demonstrated a definite popularity increase. Walking (82 percent) and cardiovascular equipment workouts (nearly 79 percent) were two of the most frequently pursued health and fitness activities.

While not all seniors are going to be inspired to undertake an afternoon of river rafting or hiking, knowing that many do might provide some much-needed encouragement for less-active older adults to resume some of the pursuits they used to enjoy and at some point lost touch with - like bowling or fishing.

See the study - Del Webb Communities for Pulte homes active Senior report. If you need help keeping your senior entertained or physically active, call 512-347-9207 and visit Home Instead Senior Care Austin.

As a caregiver, you may be experiencing stress, if so, call Home Instead Senior Care Austin at 512-347-9207.

Here’s a list of senior services survival tools recommended by Home Instead Senior Care:

Work Out: Exercise and enjoy something you like to do - walking, dancing, biking, running, swimming, etc. for a minimum of 20 minutes at least three times per week. Consider learning a stress-management exercise such as yoga or tai-chi, which teaches inner balance and relaxation.

Meditate: Sit still and breathe deeply with your mind as “quiet” as possible whenever things feel like they are moving too quickly or you are feeling overwhelmed by your responsibilities as a caregiver.  Many times you will feel like you don’t even have a minute to yourself, but it’s important to walk away and to take that minute.

Ask for Help: To avoid burnout and stress, you can enlist the help of other family members, friends, and/or consider hiring a professional non-medical caregiver for assistance. There is no need to feel guilty for reaching out.

Take a Break: Make arrangements for any necessary fill-in help (family, friends, volunteers or professional caregivers).  Take single days, a weekend, or even a week’s vacation; just make sure you line up your support system so you can be confident that your loved one is safe and happy. And when you’re away, stay away. Talk about different things, read that book you haven’t been able to get to, see a movie. Only a real break will renew and refresh you.

Eat Well: Eat plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and proteins - including nuts and beans - and whole grains. Indulging in caffeine, fast food and sugar as quick “pick-me-ups” also produce quick “let-downs.”

Take Care of Yourself: Just like you make sure your loved one gets to the doctor regularly, make sure you get your annual check-up.  Being a caregiver provides many excuses for skipping your necessary check-ups, but you cannot and should not compromise your health.

Indulge: Treat yourself to a foot massage, manicure, nice dinner out or a concert to take yourself away from the situation and to reward yourself for the wonderful care you are providing to your aging relative. You shouldn’t feel guilty about wanting to feel good.

Find Support: Find a local caregiver support group, which will help you understand that what you are feeling and experiencing is normal for someone in your position. This is a place to get practical advice from people who are in your situation and to bounce off those feelings of stress, since everyone is likely to be in the same situation and can empathize.

Ahhh, a foot massage!  Doesn’t that sound appealing? When needing a break to shop, run errands, movies, lunch with a friend, call Home Instead Senior Care Austin at 512-347-9207 - we can give you a break in the daily routine of care.

Leave your comment below if you have discovered a way to destress while in the throes of caregiving.

Patricia Volland, MSW MBA, senior vice president of The New York Academy of Medicine and director of the Academy’s Social Work Leadership Institute, says “This generation of seniors is living longer, and their children often are still raising families. They’re not prepared for their older parents’ needs, and the dynamic between adult children and aging parents is not a simple one.”

If you are an adult child of an aging relative and need help, please contact Home Instead Senior Care in Austin or call 512-347-9207.

In an effort to better prepare the social workers they train, Volland and her team commissioned a study, released late last year, entitled “Squeezed Between Children and Older Parents: A Survey of Sandwich Generation Women”1. The poll, which surveyed women ages 35 to 54, showed that more than 60 percent of women concerned about an aging relative’s health said they have difficulty managing stress, compared with 48 percent of women for whom an aging relative’s health was not a concern.

Women concerned about an aging relative’s health were about three times more likely (34 percent) to say they worry “a great deal” about having enough time for family than those who were not responsible for the care of an aging loved one (12 percent).

“Working through the maze of helping a loved one can be more than a full-time job,” Volland said. “Social workers are uniquely trained to provide comprehensive care coordination. This begins with a comprehensive assessment, which includes identifying resources, managing the complexity of the relationships between the many care systems people encounter such as health, payment, and formal and informal supportive services, as well as dealing with family dynamics.”

Social workers and other senior care experts often recommend resources like Home Instead Senior Care to help the elderly remain independent and their family caregivers manage stress. Home Instead CAREGivers provide older adults companionship and assistance with meal preparation, light housekeeping, medication reminders, shopping and errands - thus providing a valuable respite for weary family caregivers, as well.

“Our services can be just what harried family members need to help fill in caregiving gaps they may be experiencing, as well as to alleviate the stress and worry that caregiving can bring to their lives,” said Hogan.  “Most family caregivers agree that there are many rewards associated with this job, and that additional support can make all the difference.”  For support in Austin, please contact Home Instead Senior Care in Austin or call 512-347-9207.

Home Instead Senior Care helped sponsor a study that revealed - Stress Takes a Dramatic Toll on Those Caring for Older Adults.  The following stories are examples of the stress that family caregiving plays on lives.  If you can identify with any of the following, reach out for help.  Contact Home Instead Senior Care Austin or call (512) 347-9207.

She awakens in the morning still exhausted after a fitful night of sleep and immediately feels overwhelmed. There’s the report due at work today that she hasn’t had time to prepare, her son’s afternoon soccer practice and a school board meeting that night.

And, she’s also a family caregiver for a senior - meaning she has to find time for her mother, who’s 84-years-old and lives at home alone.

Her mother can’t drive anymore, or reach into the cupboard to pull out a cereal box, or even see well enough to take her correct medication dosages. And today, just like yesterday, there are no easy answers about how to fit her mom into the never-ending juggling act that, for her, is just a typical day.

This is the life of the family caregiver - who totals one in every four Americans, according to various studies. New evidence and interviews with long term care family caregivers reveal a disturbing trend of the debilitating stress that often accompanies this role, although most still say that, in spite of the challenges, the job also comes with many rewards.

A recent stress test conducted by Home Instead Senior Care demonstrated that of the 8,000 family caregivers who participated, more than three-fourths (76 percent) reported their aging loved one’s needs to be overwhelming, 91 percent said they have episodes of feeling anxious or irritable, 73 percent have disturbed sleep patterns and 56 percent seem to become ill more frequently.

“Every day we encounter these family caregivers who love and want the best for their aging family members, but don’t know how to fit it all in,” said Paul Hogan, CEO of Home Instead Senior Care. “For these people, stress is a constant companion.”

Arlene Romilly, a nurse practitioner from Pittsburgh, PA, moved her parents into her home prior to her mother’s death in September of 2005, and her 90-year-old father still lives with her.

“It became so stressful as my mom’s memory faded and she could no longer cope with daily activities without direction,” Romilly said.  “And my father just wasn’t capable of being a caregiver. This created distraction for me at work. I had problems sleeping and was neglecting my own health care. For a while, I was treated for depression.”

Things are better now that Romilly has a Home Instead Senior Care CAREGiver to look out for her father while she’s at work. But in spite of the challenges, she believes the joys of elder care caregiving helped balance out the stress. “I was pleased to be able to care for my family,” she said.

And Cat Tenorio, of Grass Valley, CA, had just been promoted to a new position at her accounting job when she gave it up to care for her mother, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

“As my mother’s Alzheimer’s worsened, I had to move her into my bedroom because she was wandering,” Tenorio said. “Consequently, I didn’t sleep at night, and when she would sleep during the day, I would take sleep medication so I could, too. I gradually became addicted to it.”

That’s when Tenorio’s husband had to step in and say, “We can’t do this anymore.”  They moved her mother to a convalescent home, where she was comfortable until she died three months later. And instead of going back to her accounting career, Tenorio became a Home Instead CAREGiver so she could help others in elder care situations similar to hers.

These examples each illustrate how extremely important support is to the overall equation - it’s one of the key survival tools for any family health care caregiver.

Contact Home Instead Senior Care Austin or call (512) 347-9207.

Families with aging relatives are at times baffled when trying to understand the issues that mom and dad may be dealing with when living alone at home.  When seeking help for your aging parents living in Austin, Texas, go to Home Instead Senior Care Austin or call 512-347-9207.  We can help!

Ancoli-Israel conducted a study five years ago that exposed patients with dementia living in nursing homes to either morning or evening bright light in an effort to adjust the body’s circadian rhythms. These rhythms help determine when we sleep, and they change as we age.  Both techniques improved nighttime sleep.

But although research is helping to identify solutions, statistics indicate that more seniors are seeking medical remedies to their sleep problems. Between 2000 and 2004, use of prescription insomnia drugs rose by 16 percent among people 65 years and older, according to an analysis recently released by the prescription management firm Medco Health Solutions of Franklin Lakes, NJ.

While there are certainly any number of sleep aids on the market, sleep medications might not be the best answer for all older adults, according to Dr. Sharon Brangman, professor of medicine and division chief, geriatrics, at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY.  They may make seniors confused and disoriented - symptoms that, in particular, should not be exaggerated in seniors who already suffer from them due to Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias. And those symptoms can wreak nighttime havoc in the lives of both seniors and their family caregivers. 

“I have an 80-year-old Alzheimer’s patient who is very anxious and nervous during the afternoon,” Brangman said. “She then naps in front of a television in the evening and doesn’t want to sleep at night. Her husband - her primary caregiver - is exhausted by the end of the day but he’s afraid to sleep at night because she might wander. When she does go to sleep, he often lets her sleep until noon. We encourage him not to let her sleep during the day, and suggest activities for her and respite breaks for him.”

While the issues of older adults with dementia-related illnesses are very different from those faced by seniors with sleep disorders and physical ailments, all of these factors contribute to psychological anxiety seniors may experience at night.

“Many seniors undoubtedly are anxious because they know it’s harder to reach help at night,” Ancoli-Israel said.  “There’s also more time to think about all of the things that might be going wrong.”

This is one of the most important reasons why companionship can be such a help in dealing with these nighttime anxiety problems, according to Hogan.

“The 86-year-old woman with dementia we were introduced to at the beginning of the story - when she awoke at night, she was promptly reassured by her overnight CAREGiver,” Hogan said. “As for the woman who was constantly afraid of her home being broken into at night, efforts were made to secure her home, to include adding lighting at the front and back of her house. It’s those kinds of ‘extras’ that can mean the difference between seniors having peace of mind, or of being afraid in their own homes.”

If there’s someone you care about who needs help with day to day activities or you want them to have consistent companionship, please go to Home Instead Senior Care Austin.  Or please call us at 512-347-9207.

When the Sun Goes Down, Older Adults’ Fears Often Take Over - Night Fright

An 85 year old man is suffering from dementia. During the day, it regularly sends him into states of confusion. But at night, this senior’s situation worsens considerably.  He’s terrified in the dark, often not knowing where he is or whom he’s with. Across the city, another older adult also fears nights. She wonders who might know she’s alone, and if they’ll break into her house and rob her - or worse.  If you need help with someone you love who is living with memory loss, please call Home Instead Senior Care Austin at (512) 347-9207.

Whether the causes are physical, psychological or related to a disease such as Alzheimer’s or other dementia, the Home Instead Senior Care Austin has found that nighttime can be very frightening for seniors - especially those who live alone. Many problems that occur at night with seniors are rooted in physical changes that result from aging, many of which are often connected to sleep disorders.

In a 2005 Gallup poll of 1,000 adults over age 50, less than half surveyed (32 percent) reported getting a good night’s sleep all seven days of the week. Yet respondents ranked good sleep as more important even than interpersonal relationships.

The Gallup study revealed a number of factors - including worry - that help explain these sleep problems, according to Dr. Harrison Bloom, senior associate and director of the Clinical Education Consultation Service of the International Longevity Center - USA , in New York City. Bloom, a geriatrician, wants to help seniors and home health care providers identify solutions for sleep-related disorders in older adults. Home Instead Senior Care Austin already knows of one: elderly companionship.

“The seniors we serve often face challenges at night that disturb their sleep and peace of mind,” said Paul Hogan, CEO of Home Instead Senior Care. “Our CAREGivers are regularly called upon to provide overnight care for seniors and assist them with the anxiety that often sets in at night.” 

Seniors’ sleep problems can be rooted in many sources. “There are physiological changes occurring with age, such as decreased amounts of time spent in certain stages of sleep,” Bloom said. “And many also have diseases that make sleep difficult. For instance, people who suffer from congestive heart failure can’t rest in a flat position. For others, the pain of arthritis keeps them awake. Medications for certain diseases can affect sleep. And bladder or prostate problems prompt many people to get up for bathroom breaks. These types of interruptions can fragment sleep.”

Dr. Sonia Ancoli-Israel, professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Diego and director of the Sleep Disorders Clinic at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, agrees that it’s not necessarily the aging process that disturbs sleep, but rather the many physiological changes that accompany getting older. “In addition to those medical illnesses and medications common in older adults, there can be psychiatric problems and changes in circadian rhythms.”

 If you need help with someone you love who is living with memory loss, please call Home Instead Senior Care Austin at (512) 347-9207.

Home Care Concerns in Austin - When Dad Starts to Date

To learn more about Home Instead Senior Care Austin, visit Homeinstead.com. Or call us at 512-347-9207. 

Since your mother died a year ago, your 77-year-old father has started dating a widowed family friend. You’d like to know more about what’s going on, but how do you begin the conversation? If you want to introduce the topic, a gentle inquiry like the following would be fine: “So it seems that you’ve been seeing quite a bit of ‘Fran’ recently.” After this, you should probably see whether your dad wants to share additional information. If he doesn’t, that’s his prerogative. One exception would be if you have some information that there is abuse or exploitation in the scenario. For instance, if you sense that your dad’s love interest may be taking advantage of him financially, some additional probing might be justified, depending on the specifics.

If your dad has money and this friend doesn’t, and suddenly thefriend shows up driving a new luxury car, you might ask your dad, “Do you know who bought her that car?” If the friend moves in with your dad and a lot of new things appear around the house, which don’t fit your dad’s style, you might ask, “This doesn’t look like your kind of thing, Dad. Did you buy this?” Otherwise, be happy that your dad has a girlfriend and don’t force him to disclose more than he’s comfortable telling you.

Resources

For more information about the 40-70 Rule campaign, visit the Web site 4070talk.com. To learn more about Home Instead Senior Care Austin, visit Homeinstead.com. Or call us at 512-347-9207.  Contact Jake Harwood at jharwood@u.arizona.edu. To order his book, Understanding Communication and Aging, visit www.amazon.com.

Talking about money affairs with your aging parents can be difficult.  Your parents have always been very independent and private about handling their finances.  But lately you’ve seen that they’ve been cutting back on food and other necessary products. You’re concerned that their staples are in short supply. How do you bring this up with them and talk about it, no matter how uncomfortable? Some good conversation starters might be, “There’s not much food around the place, what are you eating?” Pay close attention to the tone you use. Try to make it sound as humorous as possible.

You are seeking a positive response. If this is too informal, try a more straightforward approach: “Dad, I’m a bit concerned about whether you and mom are eating enough.” Malnourishment can be a significant problem with older adults, and can be a sign of other issues that might need attention over and above finances, such as poor-fitting dentures or even depression. If the other evidence points to a financial issue, ask about that directly or simply make an offer: “I know you’re pretty private about money, but you know that if you ever ran into problems I’d do what I could to help, right?”

And don’t forget about different communication channels. Sometimes, it’s easier to at least start the discussion of emotional or private issues in a less personal communication medium, even if it’s only to say that you want to talk to them about the issue. For some people, raising this kind of issue can be easier on the phone, or even in an e-mail. Once you’ve said what you want to talk to them about in an e-mail, it’ll be a lot easier to raise the topic in person. You may even find them doing it for you. For example, “What’s with this e-mail you sent us, eh?”

Thank you.  Home Instead Senior Care Austin.  Call us 512-347-9207.