Archive for December, 2010

Study Reveals Top 5 Myths of Family Caregiving

 It’s Time to Have One of the Most Important Conversations Your Family Hasn’t Had

Americans significantly underestimate the impact that a family member’s long term care needs could have on their own lives, marriages, work commitments, financial stability and future financial security, finds a new landmark study, Our Family, Our Future: The Heart of Long Term Care Planning, sponsored by Genworth Financial (Genworth) and released today by Age Wave and Harris Interactive. The study, conducted online in September among 2,151 U.S. adults age 18 and over, sought to uncover the hopes, worries, and needs of family members providing care to loved ones.

An estimated 66 million Americans — or roughly 20 percent of the U.S. population — are serving as unpaid family caregivers. The research revealed that the actual impact of caregiving on this group is often significantly greater than expected, as evidenced by the following Top 5 Family Caregiving Myths and Misconceptions:

1. Financial Contributions:   While only 40 percent of caregivers expect they will contribute financially to the care of a family member, the reality is that 83 percent actually do.
2. Income Hit:  In actuality, 63 percent of caregivers experience a reduction in income. This compares to 38 percent of caregivers that expect to experience such a reduction.
3. Reduction in Savings: 37 percent of caregivers expect their savings to decline as a result of their caregiving responsibilities. The study found that, in fact, 61 percent of caregivers have used some of their savings to care for a loved one.
4. Retirement Funds Tapped: Of caregivers surveyed, 57 percent actually tapped their retirement funds to care for a loved one, compared to 34 percent that expected to do so.
5. Career Impact:  Nearly half (48 percent) of caregivers lost a job, changed shifts or missed out on career opportunities as a result of their caregiving responsibilities, compared to 29 percent that expected such impact.

“Not only do people underestimate the financial, emotional and other costs associated with providing care to a loved one, they greatly discount the likelihood that they themselves will need long term care in the future,” said Colleen Goldhammer, senior vice president, financial institutions distribution, at Genworth. “This disconnect can be potentially dangerous, as it may discourage people from developing their own comprehensive long term care plan.”

Source: Genworth Financial

If you are a family caregiver and need help with home care for a loved one, call 951-278-1208. Age Advantage is a home care agency providing affordable in home care in Riverside CA and surrounding areas.

That Time Of Year

That time of year’s come ’round again,
So we wish you all the best.
The joy that comes from knowing you
Makes us feel that we’ve been blessed.

So we’ll share with you our feelings
At this special time of year:
May your holidays be a delight,
Filled with happiness and cheer.

Happy Holidays!

Mike and Jileen Meyer and Staff at Age Advantage Home Care Services in Riverside County CA

www.ageadvantageriverside.com

By Karl and Joanna Fuchs
www.poemsource.com

Caregiving and Family Hostilities

By Isabel Fawcett, SPHR for LTC Expert Publications

If it seems like caregiving to aging parents with chronic health issues brings out the worst in some individuals, it happens. The family’s communication gridlock may not be due to the stress of eldercare, however.

Deep-seated individual and/or family dysfunction in communicating and relationships may have remained unresolved over the years. Unresolved family issues will not magically disappear.

Family Dynamics Mirrors Social Issues
In 2010, healthcare reform legislation passed in the form of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA.) Some Americans were gung-ho about the passage of PPACA and the need to radically reform healthcare in the U.S. Other Americans were and may remain vehemently opposed to PPACA. Some individuals are in favor of having PPACA repealed. One nation America shall remain regardless of individual viewpoints.

Consider family dynamics in context of the PPACA social analogy. One family remains recurring dysfunction notwithstanding. To have and express strong emotions is to be human.

Tip of the Family’s Eldercare Iceberg
Common sticking points for families facing eldercare life transitions include:

• estate disagreements;
• eldercare decision disagreements;
• financial disputes;
• medical treatment issues for elders;
• funeral, burial and memorial decisions;
• wills and powers of attorney, and more

Even the most trivial matters can trigger major family disputes or lead to a total breakdown in a family’s communication and relationships.

Feelings
Feelings will ebb and flow at-will. Some feelings may be repressed and surprise us in when, and, how they re-emerge during the most stressful times in our lives. Stressful times – as in caring for our aging and chronically ill parents who once did a dismal or, not so dismal job of caring for us when we were children.

Remember those occasional (normal) vulnerable feelings you and I had as children?

Some of our childhood feelings were real. Other feelings we may have experienced in childhood may have been based on imagined or misinterpreted signals. Those childhood and young adulthood feelings that we may not have been able to express due to: age, immaturity, language development, cultural influences, fear, or any number of reasons, remain intact only to re-surface when least expected.

It may be that the most important step a caregiver can take when eldercare makes its debut in a family’s life is recognizing that disputes will occur in the best of families, as in society. Similar to social disputes and heated public discourse family disputes boil over or slow-simmer.

A caregiver’s handling of family disagreements may ease angst and help the caregiver, elder, and the entire family achieve healing over time. Some caregivers do so without outside help. Others may need a friend, counselor, mentor, or licensed professional to help. It’s all good.

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.

The caregivers at Age Advantage can help answer all of your home care questions. Contact us at 951-278-1208. We are a home care agency providing elder care in Corona CA and surrounding areas.

Baby Boomers: Be Your Aging Parents’ and In-Laws’ Holiday Gift
By Isabel Fawcett, SPHR  for LTC Expert Publications

As Baby Boomers prepare to visit their aging parents and/or in-laws for the holidays, some may be in for a rude awakening in caregiving. Home care may be looming large on their elderly parents’ horizon. Some boomers don’t see the need for elderly home care until they’re literally scrambling to find home care options for their parents and/or in-laws. “Too late, too late shall be the cry?”

It was bound to happen – or, was it?

In 2011, now less than 2 months away, the first wave of Baby Boomers will hit the magical age of 65.

Naturally, boomers’ parents have already transitioned into their senior years. Other parents have died. Some parents are trying to cope with their chronic health conditions, widowhood, a spouse’s or domestic partner’s chronic health issues. Each relationship has its own family and couple’s dynamic.

With aging and health decline, very little is new. Time marches on. Why, then, do some adult children wait until our backs are against the long-distance caregiving wall? Unless you thrive on high stress in your life, avoid procrastination and denial about your parents’ and/or in-laws’ golden years life transitions.

Pre-Travel Eldercare Assessment & Tips for Long-Distance Family Members
If you haven’t seen your parent(s) in more than a year, brace yourself. Prepare by planning ahead and thinking strategically. Ask yourself tough questions.

• Do my parents have a clean bill of health, or, are there medical conditions I need to know about?
• Are my parents still able to drive safely? How will I know if they should not be driving?
• Assuming worst case scenarios in my parents’ health, physical and cognitive abilities, what would it take for my parents to age in place, with dignity?
• What am I prepared to do to help or lead my parents and/or siblings in our family’s eldercare strategy?

Long-Distance Caregiver Cheerleader Calls Strongly Recommended
If you’ve never made time to engage your parents or in-laws in candid conversations, pave the way with  a couple of scouting-the-caregiving-terrain calls. Let your elders know that you’re looking forward to visiting. Ask whether there are chores or errands you may assist in doing.

If no information is forthcoming, mention examples like cleaning the yard, raking leaves, cleaning or organizing the garage, attic, and/or making or scheduling general home and/or equipment repairs. Anything that would save your parents time, money and/or physical effort should be on the table.

Do they need to stock up on basic supplies? Use the current economy concerns as a springboard for this discussion. Be chauffeur, handyman and executive assistant while visiting. Let them know that you don’t have much money to spend on gifts and decided to make your holiday visit a hands-on gift of caring. When you arrive, wear a Santa or other festive hat. Tie a gorgeous red ribbon around your neck, or arm, as a visual symbol that your assistive service is their holiday gift 2010, with love.

Better to wrap yourself as your parents’ holiday gift than to pull teeth about what you think they need to be doing at this stage to help them transition to assisted living, adult day care services, or, in-home care. Avoid depressing your parents and/or yourself. Be good tidings and cheer.

If this all sounds like it’s too much work, the alternative is more work, possibly heartache, if you ignore your aging parents’ and/or in-laws’ declining health and social need for assistive care support.

Mom, Dad, I’m Home!

Here are a few long-distance caregiver tips to help you make the most of your holiday visit.

• Park on the street a few blocks away from your parents’ home. Scan the environment. Look for vacant lots and homes for sale. Both tell a story about the local economy, neighborhood, property values, and more. Observe pedestrian and vehicular traffic. How busy, and safe, is the street on which your parents live? Do you feel safe in the community, or not? Noticed any suspicious activities?
• Park curbside in front of your parents’ home. Take notes describing what you see, from the roof, to the driveway, windows, front door, lighting, paint, etc. If your parents’ car is in the driveway, is there external damage to the car? Is the yard overgrown or littered? By comparison to other homes on the block, how does your parents’ home look? Is it a fixer-upper?
• Once inside your parents’ home continue sleuthing.
• Invite your parents to go grocery shopping – on you, if you can afford it. Note their grocery and other selections. Are the purchases balanced, or, mostly convenience and non-nutritional? Back home, are your parents able to safely lift the bagged goods? Are they short of breath?
• Allow them to drive you to church, stores, or sightseeing. Evaluate driving safety and reflexes.
• Have “the talk.” “Mom, Dad, I am impressed by everything you accomplish independently. I support your continued independence in living. There are many resources available these days to support us all in sustaining independence in living now that we are all older…meal service delivery, home and health aides, house cleaning services…Even one service would allow you more time to enjoy your lives….”

Be a resourceful caregiver. Your aging parents may benefit from home care.

Contact the caring counselors at Age Advantage for all of your home care needs. We are a home care agency providing elder care in Riverside CA and surrounding areas. Call us at 951-278-1208.