Rich Herman asked:

There are many different elder care options available today. One option that you may want to consider is elderly home care. It allows parents or a loved one to remain at home, in familiar surroundings, and still get the assistance that they need. Often, caregivers include family, friends, or caregiving professionals that provide a wide range of senior home care services. This can be an ideal situation if you are caring for elderly parents or overseeing their care, where their primary needs are non-medical care.

In this type of setting, care can range from someone stopping in periodically, to a live-in caregiver that provides 24 hour care. Some examples of non-medical elderly home care may include: preparing meals or help with feeding, assistance with bathing and grooming, light housekeeping, assisting with medication, grocery shopping, bill paying or running errands.

In our particular caregiving situation, family members have teamed up to provide much of the home care for my mother-in-law, who has advanced Alzheimer’s disease. However, at times, we have enlisted the help of friends, our church family, and companies specializing in elderly home care services to provide for her needs. Even if your family is well equipped for caregiving, its important to be familiar with some of the senior home care services that are available today. Taking advantage of these services may give you the occasional day off or vacation that you need, without putting undo stress on your friends or family.

Even if you have other family members or friends that assist you in caring for a loved one, there are times when they are not available. At these times, being familiar with companies or caregivers that specialize in providing elderly home care can be important. Each local area normally has companies that offer a wide range of elderly assistance services. Normally, you can find these online by searching for the word “caregivers.” However, here are some nationwide, senior care service providers, that you may want to consider: Visiting Angels - visitingangels.com, Caregiver Needed - caregiverneeded.com, and Right at Home - rightathome.net.

These are just a few of the many resources that are available for today’s caregivers. Over the years we have been blessed to have family members and close friends that have teamed up with us to care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s. However, utilizing other caregiver resources has given us much needed breaks, while still providing excellent care.

Ana

Budda Oliver asked:




If you are close to an elderly individual or individuals, you should be aware of the time-specific risks that present themselves during the summer months. It is typically believed that the winter is the most difficult time of year for elderly individuals to weather. While there is some truth to this belief (surely the cold winter months pose their own dangerous obstacles) the summer months too, present a special set of problems to your aged loved ones.

One of the principal difficulties of safeguarding your loved ones against the heat and the danger of summer temperatures is the lack of awareness on the parts of those loved ones and other individuals who would support them. For all of the danger and difficulty of the winter months, providing care for loved ones (assuming that they desire this care) is a relatively easy process because of the fact that most people are aware of the serious damage that cold temperatures, snow, sleet, and rain can do to elderly individuals. It’s almost taken for granted in our society that the aged will be especially cautious during the winter months and will seek out shelter and companionship to help them weather the drop in temperatures.

During the summer months, however, elderly individuals and the people who care for them are comparatively in the dark about the dangers that face them. For one, in the absence of a properly working air conditioning system, aged individuals are no safer inside of their homes than they are outside of them. During the winter, caring for them can be as simple as making sure that they have a place to stay at night. It is assumed that if an individual has a home, some blankets, and a fireplace, they will be able to make it through the cold. In the summer, a shelter can mislead them and the people who care for them into thinking that they are in good hands.

One should not underestimate the fact that when the temperatures rise individuals have to take a proactive approach to protection. It is not enough to own a house and apartment, the aged have to be prepared to take shelter in a cool and comfortable place. Recognize that for the elderly, a lethal temperature is much lower than for a young and able person. What may seem like a typical, hot day, for a young person, could be a potential death threat for an aged person. Furthermore, the lethal temperature changes from individual to individual.

The safest way to go about protecting your elderly friend is to assume that any temperature above 80 degrees could pose a life threat. From this starting point, you should make sure that this individual has a properly functioning air conditioning system. If they cannot afford an air conditioner, do not allow them to feel satisfied with simple electronic fans. It would be wise to offer them a place to stay on days hotter than 80 degrees. If you yourself do not have an air conditioning system, or do not feel comfortable sharing your house with your friend, then you should arrange for a place for them to stay outside of your home. If worst comes to worst, you should arrange for your elderly friend to visit a public building where they can be looked after. Hospitals and restaurants can be a starting place.

The most important thing is that you do not allow your elderly friend to brush off your concerns. For the elderly, as for everyone, independence and dignity are extremely important. Voice your concerns, allow them to disagree, but continue to look after them despite their misgivings. Contact your local health services office for more information and guidance on this issue.

Janice