Finding the Right Senior Caregiver, part 2

So, you need a full or part time caregiver for your senior loved one. How can you find the right person? How can you tell if the person will treat your loved one with the proper level of care, professionalism, and respect? Here is our first tip, and it is an important preliminary one. Don’t skip this!

1) Assess Your Needs & Document Them

Now is the time to think of all you are going to need. Be specific and be thorough. Don’t just write “medical help.” Indicate whether you need a nurse, and what level of nurse. What kind of ADL’s (activities for daily life) do you need assistance for? Walking? Bathing? Going to the bathroom? What about other activities (IADS’s), like driving, cooking, and helping with housework?

Whatever it is, record it. Some caregivers are going to want to take care of some activities, but not others. And sometimes a senior caregiver who is not necessarily a nurse will be able to take care of some of those things, and that would certainly help your budget.

The point is, the senior and the caregiver need to have the same expectations. The key to getting expectations aligned is good communication. So before you conduct a search, put out an ad for help, conduct an interview, etc, figure out what your own expectations are. This will take care of a ton of problems on the outset.

For more info on this subject, visit this elder care law site or Inside Elder Care. And stay tuned for more tips on hiring a caregiver. And if you need to find Oregon assisted living or senior housing anywhere in the United States, click on the banner below.

Finding the Right Senior Caregiver, part 1

Recently, a scam artists bilked an 89 year old man out of thirty thousand dollars. Of course, this type of thing happens all the time, right? But there was something especially heinous about this story: the scammer was the man’s caregiver.

Here’s the story. In this case, the caregiver was a woman who pretended to cozy up to the wealthy man and start a romance. She was 58 years old. As he grew to trust her, he asked her to go buy a new car for him, which she could drive him around in. So he gave her the money. Thirty grand.

She bought the car, all right! She bought it, and put it in her name…

Thankfully, this time, the woman did not get away with it. She was arrested, tried and convicted for her fraud, and she even has to pay the money back in restitution. Justice has happened!

But the issue raises a larger issue in my mind: How do you choose a caregiver that you can trust? After all, this story took place in an Oregon assisted living home, but seniors who get home health care from an agency or an individual are far more vulnerable, even. When a person begins to get to know them, to understand how they operate, they could be very easy prey for a scam artist. It could happen through a false romance, but more likely, it could happen in far more subtle ways. A credit card disappearing. Old jewelry, lying around, is suddenly gone. Or it could happen in the most drastic ways of all: the caregiver winds up in the will of the senior, receiving lavish gifts. And the family can do nothing.

With this in mind, we will be exploring how we as family members can protect the ones we love when choosing a caregiver. The discussion will move far beyond protecting from fraud. We will look at how to find a person that will encourage your loved one. Someone who can really be able to relate to them. Someone who knows what they are doing.

So stay tuned for our series, “Finding the right Caregiver.”

Senior Citizens Go back to College… Sort of…

Generally, we try to write a lot about Oregon Assisted Living and general senior housing issues, but this is too good to pass up. I just read what I thought was a hilarious story on FoxSports.com about a unique job that senior citizens have found at the University of Kansas. It seems that the school’s athletes sometimes have trouble… um… “remembering” to go to class. This is not news to anyone who follows collegiate sports. Many Division I athletes got their scholarship, and routinely cut classes with the unspoken understanding that their professors will let it slide. This is especially true in College Basketball, where the top athletes generally attend just one year of college (because they are not old enough to go pro yet), and then bolt for the NBA. They don’t care about grades.

Anyway, there is the backdrop… So the University of Kansas decided to hire people to keep tabs on their athletes; to make sure they weren’t cutting classes. They had tried using other students, but of course, that didn’t work. So instead, they hired grandparents!

Okay, not the actual grandparents. The University hired a retired elderly police officer and a band of additional senior citizens to watch over the shoulders of the student athletes. If they cut class, the will report them. So far, this arrangement seems to be working out great. The students would prefer a different system, of course, but they go with it. They know deep down that they need the accountability. And who better to give it than actual elderly folks?

This just goes to show you that a retired senior can still make a world of difference. And there are a host of volunteer opportunities as well as part time work available to those who are willing to work outside the box.

So kudos to Kansas! They made a smart move!

The Rise of Senior Home Care

As the evolution of the elder care services continues, here is another trend that is emerging more and more. I saw this when Entrepreneur’s list of the 100 fastest growing franchises came to my attention. This year, three of those businesses are senior home health agencies.

This should not come as any surprise. There are forty million seniors in the United States, and that number will skyrocket in the coming years. Besides, the economy is making it difficult for many families to seek out assisted living communities, which tend to be a bit more expensive than home care solutions.

Anyway, home health agencies are finding success in the same way that residential assisted living homes are. Many seniors want to be in a home setting. Their home, if possible. Those who do not have chronic medical needs, but simply need help with ADL’s like dressing themselves or moving around the house do not necessarily need full time care. They need someone there at certain hours of the day, and it does not necessarily have to be a nurse.

Here’s an example of one agency: Senior Helpers. This company (#52 on the fastest growing franchise list) hires nurses and caretakers around the country and places them in the homes of residential clients. Portland residents can find them online at www.seniorhelpers.com/portland. Others just go to their main homepage.

Home health agencies meet the needs of seniors and their in these positions well. They do the hiring of caretakers, which always includes a background check. They take care of the paperwork. You don’t have to be an employer. You’re a client. And all you need to do is work with the agency.

It’s a fine solution for a growing number of Americans who need elderly care. And it makes good sense why people are opting for agencies rather than starting their own homecare businesses by default.

How Care for Elders in the Winter

It’s January, and reports of blizzards and record cold temperatures are hitting us like, well, like a barrage of snowfall. Cold weather makes us want to stay inside all day long. But if you have a loved one in elder care services, don’t wait too long! After all, regular family visits are big highlights in the lives of grandparents who live in elder care communities.

But what can you possibly do in the winter?

Here are just a few ideas:

Things to do with Grandma in a Wet Winter Climate:

• Grab an umbrella and take a walk at the park.
• Go visit a nature reserve.
• Take the kids along to the zoo. The animals don’t take days off when it’s wet!

Things to do with Grandma in a Cold Winter Climate:

• Get to a coffee shop, grab some hot tea, and then go take in a local show
• Go to the mall. It’s not snowing there!
• Go pick her up and bring her over to your house. Have her make cookies with the kids.
• Grab a DVD, pick up some lunch, and surprise her at the elderly care facility. That way, she doesn’t even have to put on a coat to have some special family time.

I know, I know… these are pretty basic ideas. But the fact that I came up with a half dozen in a few minutes shows just what a no-brainer this is. So what if the weather is bad! There are lots of things you can do to have a good time, and to help your loved one remember that she is not forgotten!

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