Tag: family caregiving
Adult night-care service for Alzheimer’s patients who may wander
The Grand Rapids Press
Nighttime is when some Alzheimer’s patients are most restless, creating an anxious, sleepless time for caregivers who worry about their loved ones wandering.
“It is common for them to get their circadian rhythms off,” said Jean Van Den Beldt, administrator of Byron Center Manor, which plans to begin a new dawn-to-dusk activity program called Twilight Care.
The dementia-care and adult-day services community at 2115 84th St. SW is starting the program, which will run from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m., to keep restless patients in a safe, stimulating environment. The cost is $120 per night.
via New service keeps restless Alzheimer’s patients busy at night | MLive.com.
Posted on July 23, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving | Tags: adult daycare, Alzheimer's, caregiver stress, Caregiving, Dementia, family caregiving, respite care, sundowning, Wandering
DVD on fall prevention for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients, family caregivers
Alzheimer's Foundation of America
The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America AFA recently released “Preventing Falls: Practical Steps to Reduce Fears and Risks,” the latest DVD in AFA’s “Your Time to Care” series of educational programs for family caregivers, in the hopes of helping caregivers reduce their own risk of falls and prevent their loved ones from falling.
Falls are a very common and life-threatening occurrence and are particularly worrisome for caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, a brain disorder that primarily affects people older than 65. In fact, according to federal government statistics, one out of three individuals over the age of 65 will experience a fall, resulting in 20,000 deaths annually.“What’s really important to know is that a fall is preventable,” said Laura N. Gitlin, Ph.D., one of the experts featured in the DVD and director of the Center for Applied Research on Aging and Health, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia.
With this in mind, “Preventing Falls” provides insight into why dementia intensifies the incidence of falls and offers practical strategies from experts and family caregivers on how to reduce risk factors, including communication techniques, home modifications and lifestyle changes.
via Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Releases New DVD on Preventing Falls.
Posted on July 23, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Dementia | Tags: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Dementia, family caregiving
Caregiving spouses of Alzheimer’s patients put own health at risk
Sacramento Bee
Jackie Hackbart is a caregiver under stress.
She can’t leave her husband, Bob, 82, who suffers from dementia, alone in their Citrus Heights town house – and she can’t leave him with a sitter, because he forgets where she’s gone and gets distressed.
Since the retired chemical engineer’s diagnosis in 2005, dementia has robbed him not only of memory and cognition, but also of independence. In many ways, it’s robbed his wife of her independence, too.
“The past five years have been a challenge,” said Hackbart, 78, a retired dietitian. “Mostly, I try to keep a stiff upper lip.”
But the stiff upper lip exacts a steep toll: Hackbart has been hospitalized twice in the past year for gastrointestinal bleeding, most recently in March.
Posted on July 19, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving | Tags: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, family caregiving
Alzheimer’s experts: Don’t hesitate to get paid help
USA Today
Marilyn Blum is like a lot of wives with a retired husband around the house. She loves the man she has been married to for 33 years but says, “It’s just not normal to be together 24/7.”
Blum’s comment is more poignant when she explains that her husband, Steve, 65, has had Alzheimer’s disease for five years and needs help dressing, grooming, eating and using the toilet.
“I wish I had gotten paid help right away. I waited two years,” says Blum, 61, of Owings Mills, Md.
Now Steve participates in an adult day care program. A paid companion, Evadne Cummins, visits the house three times a week to keep Steve company, make lunch, go on walks and help with basic grooming.
via Alzheimer’s experts: Don’t hesitate to get paid help – USATODAY.com.
Posted on July 13, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Dementia | Tags: adult daycare, Alzheimer's, family caregiving, respite care
‘How to Be a Sister’: Autism and hard-won love
Oregon Live
When Margaret Garvin was 3 years old, she was diagnosed with severe autism. Her sister Eileen was about to be born.
“Throughout the course of my life, I’ve only been certain of two things: I am the youngest of five children, and I am my sister Margaret’s older sister,” Eileen Garvin writes in “How to Be a Sister: A Love Story With a Twist of Autism.” “Even though she was born three years earlier than I, I was the caretaker, the dependable one, and, as far as I can see, always will be. Instead of growing up in the protective shadow of my big sister, I often found myself dodging things she was throwing at me or chasing that shadow through a crowd of people as my big sister took off on some crazy escapade.”
via ‘How to Be a Sister’: Autism and hard-won love | OregonLive.com.
Posted on July 6, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Autism, Caregiving | Tags: Autism, book, children with Autism, family caregiving, siblings
How to care for someone with Alzheimer’s without losing yourself
Geriatric Care Management
If you’re caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease, read this great advice from the Geriatric Care Management blog. It may change your caregiving experience for the better — for you and your loved one.
There are many things to be struck by whenever I meet with the daughter, son, spouse or friend of someone with Alzheimer’s. Strong, compassionate, patient – these words describe but never capture the essence of the person in front of me.
And as we talk, I’m invited into their unique experience of the illness. They share the good days with me and offer up the parts they wouldn’t change for anything.
But something else emerges too. It’s a sense of being lost – unable to tell any more where their needs begin and the needs of the person they are caring for, end.
Posted on June 30, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving | Tags: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, family caregiving, respite care
Multigenerational Homes on the Rise
Oregon Live
Multigenerational homes – when three or more generations are living together as a single family – are again on the rise. More and more, middle generations find themselves caring for young children (or even adult children) and their parents at the same time. This trend is the result of a poor economy, in which many families find the costs of long-term care overwhelming, and many families opt to have aging loved ones move in with them to ease the financial burden.
The arrangement is full of both challenges and opportunities. Some families hesitate to take on such a big responsibility, fearing a loss of privacy and increased stress. Another consideration for families contemplating a multigenerational living arrangement is cost.
On the surface, moving mom or dad in might seem like a money-saving opportunity, but one spouse may have to cut back on hours or even quit a job altogether in order to provide care. Financial stress can take a toll on families already struggling with the unknown terrain of caring for an aging loved one.
via Multigenerational Homes on the Rise | OregonLive.com.
Posted on June 25, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Dementia | Tags: Caregiving, family caregiving
Mothers of children with autism pay price in workplace
EurekAlert!
VANCOUVER, Wash.—Mothers of children with autism see their careers disproportionally affected as they confront greater demands on their time, inflexible workplaces and increased medical costs, according to a new study by researchers at Washington State University Vancouver.
The study, based on a survey of 326 families in Washington and Oregon, found that slightly more than half the women worked fewer hours to accommodate the needs of their child and three out of five had not taken a job because of their child’s autism. To care for the child, one-quarter had taken a leave of absence and nearly as many had not taken a promotion. Nearly 60 percent had suffered financial problems in the past year.
via WSU researchers find mothers of children with autism pay price in workplace.
Posted on June 24, 2010 | 3 Comments | Category: Autism | Tags: Caregiving, children with Autism, family caregiving, mothers, research
Taking a break, giving breaks; Autism and respite care
Our Journey Thru Autism
Here’s a good post from Our Journey Thru Autism on respite care. It includes a list of ways non-caregivers can give caregivers a little break. So, if you need a break – please find a way to take one. And if you can give a caregiver a little break, offer some help.
Two weeks ago, I wrote about caregiver fatigue and burnout. As caregivers, it is important to be sure to take a break OFTEN enough to maintain a healthy balance between caregiving and personal needs. Many times, people want to help, but they don’t know what to do that will help. And many times, we simply don’t ask for help because we don’t have the time to ask.
via OUR Journey Thru Autism: Taking a Break, Giving Breaks…Respite Care.
Posted on June 10, 2010 | 1 Comment | Category: Autism, Caregiving | Tags: Autism, caregiver stress, children with Autism, family caregiving
Moms take family approach to autism support
De Soto Explorer
For the first two years of his life, Isaac Dority wouldn’t look people in the eye. Rebecca Dority, Isaac’s mother, said his speech was minimal, too. Isaac would only repeat the last thing he heard.
She and her husband, Patrick Dority, just thought he was a quiet child, but after a friend from their preschool told them Isaac wasn’t acting like the rest of the kids and wasn’t playing with toys like the other kids, the two parents went to the Kansas University Medical Center to find out what could be wrong.
“I kind of thought it could be autism, but I didn’t know how bad it was,” Rebecca said. “After a half a day of being observed, the doctors pulled us into a room and handed us a box of Kleenex and told us, ‘Your son has autism.’
“I can’t describe when you are given that diagnoses and how that affects your whole world,” she said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one out of every 110 has an autism-spectrum disorder. And behind most of those children is a family that will have to learn how to live with this disorder in the family. That’s where the Eudora Autism Community Education and Support Society comes in.
Earlier this year, a group of mothers with autistic children, including Dority, gathered together at the Pyramid Place Early Education Center in Eudora, 1904 Elm St., to form a family support group for children with autism.
“Our goal really is to educate parents and give them tools so they can help their children,” Dority said. “We want them to learn about early intervention and to find the best therapy that will work for their child.”
Dority said this group is different from other autism support meetings where a lot of information is given to parents, but there is nobody there to help them make sense of it all.
via DesotoExplorer.com /.
Posted on June 7, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Autism | Tags: Autism, autism support, children with Autism, family caregiving