Archive for November, 2010

Family and Medical Leave Act and Caregivers at Work

It is a safe assumption that many caregivers who work outside their homes are aware of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA.)  Even if some American workers are not aware of FMLA yet, this blog steers you in the right direction and shares one caregiver’s perspective on when and whether you wish to invoke your FMLA rights, *if eligible.

FMLA is Federal Law
FMLA requires *eligible employees to take an unpaid leave up to 12 work weeks in any 12 month period. *The 12-month window is defined by the employer’s prevailing practice or policy. With *required medical certification, *subject to employer approval the eligible employee is allowed to take the approved leave for the birth of a child, to care for a family member who has a serious medical condition, or, if the employee has a serious medical condition which requires such leave.

(*The above layperson’s descriptive of FMLA does not constitute legal advice by this blogger and/or the owner of this website and/or any third parties involved in the publication or dissemination of this blog. Comprehensive information on the FMLA is available through the U.S. Department of Labor’s website at <www.dol.gov>.)

Caregivers at Work
Some workers view FMLA as an all-or-nothing package. Nothing could be further from the truth. FML can be a strategic work and life decision if you so choose and are eligible under the law.

Timing is Everything
If the person in your care is chronically ill with multiple chronic diseases requiring primary physician, specialized medical, and other healthcare intervention, using FML for one serious medical condition may preclude using FML for other equally serious medical conditions. Such a scenario would hold true if the caregiver exhausts the 12-week FML entitlement through consecutive leave use.

I cannot and would not tell anyone else how to handle your FML eligibility. I am happy to share the conscious decision I made for 10+ years in my then-part-time caregiver-worker bee roles.

I chose to not invoke my FML for one reason only.

My mother has multiple chronic illnesses as medically diagnosed. I mindfully considered worst-case outcomes for each of her medical diagnoses.

I decided that brief hospitalizations, major surgeries without medical complications, and post-surgical weekly follow-ups were best managed through advance planning, scheduling, and careful management of my accrued (paid) leave benefits at work. Non-emergency surgeries were scheduled in advance, allowing me ample time to take an approved vacation day, or 2, while I actively monitored and evaluated whether I might need to apply for FML, or not.

For me, only, it really was that simple. I never invoked my FML right nor did I use all of my accrued leave for caregiving in any year. Think strategically is all I can say.

Isabel Fawcett, SPHR
Isabel has been a full-time, stay-at-home caregiver to her 85 year old mother for 2 years, and counting. She is a regular Contributor at ElderCareLink, a blogger and Twitterer. Isabel is an independent human resources consultant and former HR management professional with 20+ years of HR experience, including FMLA, workers’ compensation and the Americans With Disabilities Act. She is a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certified and last worked for the Office of the Governor in Texas before her most recent eldercare choice.  Isabel also has worked in healthcare as Assistant Director of Volunteers at Beth Israel Medical Center, New York City, and Manager of Staffing and Recruitment, Norwalk Hospital, Connecticut. She has also worked at Marriott International Headquarters in HR. Isabel is fully bilingual in English and Spanish and has been a patient care volunteer for the American Red Cross overseas.
 

Home care counselors at Age Advantage are available to talk with you and your family about care needs for your loved one, including, how to reduce caregiver stress while providing better, affordable care. Age Advantage is a home care agency providing In Home Care in Riverside and surrounding areas and can be reached at 951-278-1208.

10 Ways to Be a Healthier Alzheimer’s Caregiver
By Paula Spencer, Caring.com senior editor

The “do’s”: Positive steps you can take while caring for an Alzheimer’s patientBeing responsible for the care of someone with Alzheimer’s disease may be one of the toughest challenges of your life. There’s no way to gloss over how taxing it can be.You can, however, protect yourself in the following critical ways. We’ll start with the “do’s” and move on to the “don’ts.”

1. Keep expectations real.
Expect periods of stability, but recognize that because this is a progressive disease, an Alzheimer’s patient’s cognitive status and ability to function will decline over time, even with medication and therapy. It’s smart to try available therapies, but bear in mind that miraculous recoveries unfortunately don’t exist.Though you can’t control the disease itself, you can control the ways that you decide to approach it. Choose to be flexible and
realistic, and you’ll be able find fresh ways to deal with challenges — ways that are workable even if they’re not always ideal. Rigid, unrealistic thinking is a recipe for resentment, burnout, depression, and getting very sick.

2. Treat yourself as well as you treat the person with Alzheimer’s.
Caregivers tend to be conscientious about making sure their charge is safe, comfortable, well-nourished, stimulated, under medical care, and generally loved and looked after. Do the exact same for yourself in order to last longer as a good caregiver.And, just in case, know how to recognize the warning signs of Alzheimer’s caregiver burnout.

3. Remember that knowledge is powerful.
Luckily — yes, there’s a positive connected with this awful disease — we’re living in a golden age of information about Alzheimer’s. Make it work for you. Call your local area agency on aging or Alzheimer’s disease chapter now to find out about nearby programs.

Learn specific strategies for dealing with difficult behaviors and how to make everyday tasks easier. Know what to expect as the disease progresses so you’re not surprised.

Find out what has worked for others.

4. Prepare to have all the relationships around you be tested.
Alzheimer’s isn’t just between you and the affected person. Everyone else in that person’s world has an individual relationship with him. Remembering this can help families or other caregivers understand why there may be differences of opinion about how to handle things.If you’re an adult child, you’ll also have to deal with the role reversal of parenting a parent. This can be difficult for both parent and child. Seek the advice of a family therapist if it becomes problematic.

…continue reading from Lauren Watral’s Blog

Alzheimer’s home care counselors at Age Advantage are available to talk with you and your family about care needs for your loved one, including, how to reduce caregiver stress while providing better, affordable care. Age Advantage is a home care agency providing Alzheimer’s Home Care in Riverside CA and surrounding areas.

National Family Caregivers Month

Over the next decade approximately 47 million baby boomers in North America are or will be facing the role of caregiver to a parent, relative or elderly friend – an odyssey that will change many of your lives. At the same time countless thousands of seniors face the dilemma of caring for a chronically ill spouse.

A new survey from the National Family Caregivers Association (NFCA) shows that the number of persons who provided care for an elderly, disabled or chronically ill, friend or relative during the past year is more than twice as large as had been previously thought.

Survey results indicate 26.6 percent of the adult population was involved in caregiving during the past 12 months. Based on current census data, that translates to more than 54 million people.

Earlier surveys estimated only an approximated 25 million caregivers in the United States.

Based on a random sample of 1,000 adults, the data reveal the sheer number of family caregivers, and by inference, the significant need for caregiving in America. The NFCA survey, conducted this summer, was sponsored by CareThere.com, a new Web site dedicated to supporting family caregivers.

Source: CelebrateLove

Home care counselors at Age Advantage are available to talk with you and your family about care needs for your loved one, including, how to reduce caregiver stress while providing better, affordable care. Age Advantage is a home care agency providing In Home Care in Riverside CA.

Friends and Family May Be Best Detectors of Early Alzheimer’s Disease

Family members and friends may be better judges of early Alzheimer’s disease than standard memory tests, a new study reports. The results could help doctors diagnose suspected Alzheimer’s at an earlier stage, when treatment may be more effective and families can better prepare for the changes to come.

The study comes from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where researchers developed a two-minute questionnaire that asked close friends and family members if they have noticed problems with memory or judgment. The survey asked “yes” or “no” questions about whether they have noticed such signs in loved ones as:

• Bad financial choices or other problems in judgment;
• Less interest in hobbies and other favorite activities;
• Repeating questions, stories or statements;
• Trouble learning how to use a tool or appliance, such as a television remote control or a microwave oven;
• Forgetting the month or year;
• Difficulty handling complicated financial affairs, such as balancing a checkbook;
• Difficulty remembering appointments; and
• Consistent problems with thinking and memory.

Survey results were then correlated with so-called biomarkers, like brain changes on brain scans or blood tests results, that are generally regarded as of Alzheimer’s. The survey proved more accurate than standard word and memory tests like the mini-mental state exam, which doctors perform in their offices to look for early signs of Alzheimer’s.

…continue reading from alzinfo.org

Alzheimer’s home care counselors at Age Advantage are available to talk with you and your family about care needs for your loved one, including, how to reduce caregiver stress while providing better, affordable care. Age Advantage is a home care agency providing Alzheimer’s Home Care in Corona CA.
 

Alzheimer’s Awareness Month Sheds Spotlight on Treatment, Prevention Efforts

November marks the beginning of National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month, a reminder that the number of people who will develop the disease is expected to skyrocket over the next few years.

Starting Jan. 1, 79 million baby boomers will turn 65 at a rate of one every eight seconds.

That is more than four million per year, according to a recent op-ed piece in The New York Times. If scientists could delay onset of the disease by five years, via better drugs, the United States could keep much fewer Alzheimer’s patients from needing nursing homes, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, and Alzheimer’s experts Stanley Prusiner and Ken Dychtwald said in the piece.

Currently, for every penny the National Institutes of Health spends on Alzheimer’s research, Americans spend $3.50 caring for individuals with the disease, for a total of $172 billion a year.  At that rate, by 2020, the cumulative total will be $172 billion a year, or $20 trillion by 2050, according to the op-ed titled “The Age of Alzheimer’s."

…read more from Mcknights.com

For information about how Age Advantage can help your family with elder care for a loved one suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease in Riverside, visit www.ageadvantageriverside.com or call 951-278-1208.