Seniors Site

No matter what age or capacity your elderly is currently in, doing fun activities are highly encouraged by health care practitioners. This is done to make sure that the elderly senior receives a substantial amount of mind and body stimulation needed to ensure healthy and positive outlook in life. Some of the most successful assisted-living facilities for seniors provide daily activities for their residents to help them cope with what they are going through at the moment.

However, not all elderly seniors live in these facilities and a huge fraction of them prefer to be taken cared of at home. This practice, of course, is not closely supervised by experienced health care provider hence first-time caregivers can sometimes be lost with what should be given to their seniors. Here are some great activities you can introduce to your elderly senior to be able to comply with their mind-body stimulation needs:

·    Introduce new gadgets for them to try. If your senior is interested in photography, let him try digital cameras that are not too complicated to use. There are digital camera models which are called as “point and shoot”. They are designed for simple camera operations and usually they come in no more than the shoot button. Furthermore, a nice, compact photo printer will also amuse them, guaranteeing months of fixed fascination!
·    Memories are very important for elderly seniors. Introduce them to the wonderful world of scrapbooking. This also helps with the hand-eye coordination plus it encourages mental stimulation too.
·    Don’t forget to do some physical exercises too as it is known to somewhat delay the aging process. If your elderly senior is not capable of moving around, it is best to have him undergo therapy sessions on a regular basis.
·    Choose mental stimulating toys you can set up for seniors. Board games like chess and scrabble are great for passing time while bonding with them. On the other hand, frail seniors can also benefit from toddler toys designed to encourage hand-eye coordination.
·    Consider stimulating other senses. Sometimes, hand-eye coordination cannot be established anymore. What you can do instead is to make use of the remaining senses your senior may have. Music can also stimulate a frail senior’s mind. Audio books are also available for seniors who are no longer capable of reading texts but are still interested in hearing one.
·    Encourage family members to visit them once in a while especially those little ones. According to studies, babies and toddlers extend youth and vitality to seniors making them adapt these qualities while together. If this is not possible, pets will do.

Truly, senior health care must be one of the most sensitive issues a family is most likely to face at least once in their lifetime. Unfortunately, it should be done whether we like it or not. Mind you, convincing a senior to surrender himself to someone else’s care especially that of a senior health care facility is only half of the story as the real action only begins when you find yourself in face of the real challenge—the terms these facilities are most likely to use when dealing with your case.

Here are some common senior healthcare terms you are most likely to stumble upon during peptalks with their representatives. Expect it to be something of a cross between medical and legal terms, coupled with their own invented acronyms. It pays to familiarize yourself so that you don’t risk miscommunicating with the management before, during and after your case.

·    Advanced Medical Directives. It has three categories under its belt namely Living Will, Power of Attorney and Health Care Proxy. All these, more or less pertain to a written consent of the senior which designates or assigns another living person to make decisions in his behalf, if and when he’s unable to express his wishes anymore. This should be limited to medical concerns for the senior only.
·    Assignment. This is not your usual kid’s homework as the term adapts a whole new meaning when it comes to senior health care. When the doctor accepts assignment then you’re one lucky caregiver! It means that your kind doctor accepts Original Medicare Plan as a full payment saving you a lot of money.
·    Carrier. These are companies which should be paying your bills in behalf of Medicare.
·    Certificate of Creditable Coverage. A certificate which you need to secure from your health care insurance company which states the coverable period of time your senior is allowed according to the health plan you availed.
·    Custodial care. This is you, as the primary caregiver. These are services received by your senior which are not medical in nature such as bathing, eating and moving around. This is expected not to be covered by your insurance plan.
·    Election. A written decision that is legally binding once signed by the author.
·    IHSS or In Home Supportive Services. This is a financial aid given by the state to the senior/caregiver to help pay the bills for disabled senior who wishes to stay at home and receive care from there.
·    Preventive Services. These are preventive measures done to seniors to ensure that they stay healthy or at least won’t contract yet another health condition while under their care.
·    Risk Adjustment. Since your senior’s health status is bound to change either for better or for worse, expect to have certain adjustments in your payables.

For a more extensive list of common senior healthcare terms, visit LA County Community and Senior Services website.

A caregiver’s job is no joke and burnouts are never far when you engage in this kind of task. Unfortunately, caregiving is an obligation that usually leaves one with no choice but to do it and try their very best to somehow make it work.

First and foremost, it is important for caregivers to maintain their overall health at all times. Health is what you need in order to cope with everyday demands of the job. Health is what keeps your sanity intact. It is what you and your senior need to be able to make it through hard and trying times.

Although we commonly hear horror stories about caregiving, those who really went through one can say that it was not always horrible. It has its own rewards and friendships are forged. This is one good example of a relationship that is formed by sweat, tears and pure human nature.

As humans, we have our own limitations. Our beings can only do so much and pushing it over the edge is bound to give you undesirable results, one of which is irritability which is not a good trait to have when around seniors since they tend to be sensitive at times. Burnouts happen when, as a caregiver, we are drained and exhausted from all the work yet we wish not to seek help whatsoever from other people around us. It involves physical, emotional and spiritual states of one’s being and can affect the way we handle things tremendously.

Burnouts happen when you give in to that overwhelming feeling that comes when caring for an aging loved-one especially if they are terminally sick. One of telltale signs of a burnout is when you start feeling guilty when you give time for yourself. Another is when your senior’s concerns invade your thoughts 24/7 which leaves nothing for your own.

While taking good care of our senior should be a responsibility that is taken with great seriousness, it should not be our ultimate responsibility in life. we are also responsible for our own health and well-being. Once in while, you need to break free from this responsibility, if only to recharge and renew your senses. Keep frustration at bay by freeing yourself from any undue burden.

The best tool for stressful situations is education. Get yourself educated particularly to the issues concerning your senior like their illnesses and emergency plans. Support groups can provide you with the right information you need. They can also help you cope with the work you are doing right now. Find one within your area so you don’t have to go far when you need support.

No matter how colorful we put in the idea of aging, we can’t change the fact that they, somehow, need more attention and more time than we do in taking care of the children. For those who have are not accustomed to their “dynamic” nature, taking care of the seniors can be troublesome – a job that requires tremendous amount of understanding and patience.

This becomes more relative to you if you have seniors in your family. You need to give them proper care – as a way of expressing your gratitude of taking care of you back when you were younger, or if not, let it be the way to show your sense of humanity. If these ideas ring a bell, then remember these things, for it can prepare you from what you’d encounter once you start taking care of them….

1. They can be very childish. Most seniors who will be needing your full attention are in the stage of second childhood, which means that they start to act like they are children again. They ask you simple and silly things and will ask you the same thing over and over again.

2. They can no longer do certain things on their own. With this, your full assistance is needed. One of the best example of this is their peeing. There are those who have such difficulty moving their body, so, without such capability, they ave no choice but to pee on their pants. When this happens, you’d know what to do.