Top 10 reasons for in-home care

If you could choose, where would you live?

Right now, I’m thinking someplace warm and sunny. A little warm water lapping on a sandy beach wouldn’t hurt, either. Maybe a hammock, a good book or two, a very light and fruity umbrella drink…that sounds pretty good to me!

But where would you live if you needed a little help? Would you rush into the nearest neighborhood nursing home? Would you sell everything and move out of your home as quickly as possible?

Not likely. More likely, you’d start looking for help to come to you. You’d look for options that would allow you to keep your dignity, your independence, your privacy as long as possible.

Today, more and more seniors and people with disabilities are looking at home care as the option they’d prefer – for life.

A great website, Ourparents.com, provides resources for in home care as well as an easy to use facility finder. They list the “Top ten reasons why baby boomers want to age in place” as including:

1) It allows you the most freedom in the least restrictive environment, something of high value to baby boomers (like me).

2) Its safe. Your home is one of the safest places, in terms of exposure to infectious diseases. Most homes can be made even safer with minor modifications to reduce stairs or add grab bars.

3) Healing and quality of life are important to baby boomers – and we truly believe that “there’s no place like home.”

4) Control, control, control. Baby boomers do love to be in control.

5) Personalization and one-on-one care – after all, for baby boomers, “it’s all about me” – right?!

6) Comfort. My home reflects what is comfortable to me – my favorite chair, my books, my hobbies and my “stuff.”

7) Aging is place has demonstrated effect on healthier, happier aging.

8) Staying in your own community – in your own neighborhood – help you retain roots that baby boomers value.

9) Technology – it’s a word we boomers love. We invented the internet, after all, not to mention the microwave and much of the other technology today’s generation takes for granted. Technology today is all about supporting a person to stay in their own homes as long as they choose to do so. Baby boomers can be expected to embrace this new technology.

10) We fear the loss of independence – almost more than we fear death itself. As baby boomers, we fear this loss for our parents, too.

These are ten great reasons that we will continue to prefer care in our own homes. But at the end of the day, we probably only need one: its home.


Did you know that your long term care insurance policy most likely covers the cost of caregiver training? Did you know that you (or a family member or paid caregiver) can get certified as a Personal Care Aide 100% online using the Institute for Professional Care Education’s e-learning course? Check it out at www.IPCed.com or call us at 877-843-8374.

Mel Gibson: The mission: leave something

Don’t you just love that we’re all getting older? Celebrities over 50 are no longer the rarity; even some of those considered extreme “hotties” are aging, just like us.

Take Mel Gibson, for example. The handsome leading guy is now a well-seasoned 54 years old. I remember 15 or so years ago when Mel was the heartthrob of the Lethal Weapons movie franchise, one of my favorite little restaurants in California had Gibson’s photo on the back side of their table-top wine list. We’d read the wine list and turn it around to gaze on his face, whenever we’d go there for lunch. One day I asked the manager, “Why the photo of Mel? Does he have something to do with this place?”

“Not at all,” was the reply. “We just liked the photo.”

Recently Gibson was interviewed for his new movie, “Edge of Darkness,” a story about a father seeking revenge for his daughter’s death.

When asked about his age, Gibson replied, “This journey is more than half over. I’m way past the halfway mark. It’s kind of scary. And you ask yourself, ‘What the hell have I really done? What I have I accomplished?’ And it seems pretty puny…we’re all so transient. The mission is leave something.” (Reported by Geoff Boucher, McClatchy-Tribune, Jan. 28, 2010).

Yes, indeed. The mission is to leave something. It seems like the older we get – the farther past that halfway mark we travel – the more this mission seems to take on urgency. It’s time to take stock. It’s time to think about what we’re leaving behind.

Maybe that’s why so many of us find new passions in our past-halfway years. We start new businesses that follow our passions, rather our business sense. We volunteer; we organize; we reach out.

Consciously or unconsciously, we’re fulfilling our greatest mission: leave something.

Thanks, Mel, for the thought.

And thanks, too, for getting old right along with the rest of us.

Practical Caregiving advice

Easy, practical caregiving advice – what a concept!

Too often family caregivers are overloaded with information. Getting on the internet often just compounds the problem, as hundreds of resources pop up – some great; some awful; sometimes hard to tell the two apart.

Last week, we visited my husband’s cousin in the hospital. This lively, energetic, independent 76 year old woman got hit by a car walking out of the supermarket last weekend. She was in the cross-walk and had looked both ways. A distracted driver simply didn’t see her, slamming into her right in the crosswalk.

The good new – her roasted chicken was saved. The bad: her lower leg was broken in about 6 places.

Her doctor has drawn a picture of her leg on a white board on the wall. I'm sure she shared it with everyone who visited - probably up until her discharge. It gave her, and us, a way to visualize her injuries. Now, if he had also put her treatment plan there, we could have visualized that, too, and how we could help.

And that’s where my mind went as I read the easy, practical advice from David Solie today on his blog titled "Hospital Quicksand: words are not enough."

Solie suggests buying a small dry erase board and writing what’s going on during a hospital stay, and what should happen afterward. Keep it simple and clear. Help the person hospitalized – and their family – make sense of what is often a confusing, overwhelming experience.

I love the example of Ellen, who wrote on her mother’s board on discharge day:

1. New Medication > Reduces fluid build up > take one every day
2. Walking > strengthens heart > 15 minutes, twice a day
3. Follow up > family doctor > 2 weeks.

Simple. Clear. Easy. As Solie says, “The board costs four dollars. The marker two dollars. The ability to understand and preserve control: priceless.”

Help for caregivers of Alzheimer’s

I’ve had the privilege of viewing a series of DVDs this week presented by an incredible woman, Jolene Brackey. Not only do I recommend these training videos to families who have a loved one with Alzheimer’s or dementia, but I truly wish that everyone who cares for someone with memory loss would view these videos.

Jolene started her career in interior design but quickly discovered that she was given a gift for working with people with dementia. Jolene’s gift is clearly not just helping those afflicted with the disease; she is also gifted with sharing what she’s learned in a interesting, humorous way.

Jolene shares how individuals with dementia can be warm, loving and wonderful, even as they seem to forget who you are. She helps family members see that mom or dad isn’t really forgetting them – just remembering them from earlier days, when they were young. Throughout the series of DVD, Jolene shares how to think and talk differently to people with dementia, as well as how to add joy to their lives and to the lives of the caregiver.

Check them out – they’re an investment that will pay back many times in return in peace of mind as you create moments of joy with your loved one – no matter how advanced the disease process.

Jolene’s website: www.enhancedmoments.com

Training DVDs: http://enhancedmoments.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=22

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas celebration. This year all of our children were home, even though that meant we celebrated on Christmas Eve day to make sure everyone was included. Maybe because this was special for us, I listened carefully to other people sharing their Christmas traditions:

Jim and Joan, who say, “Christmas is Christmas.” They celebrate on the 25th, no matter who is home. When their distant children arrive a day or two later, they open their presents then.

Nancy, who spent Christmas day alone, in her pjs, watching classic movies. Her children traveled to visit their father and spend Christmas with him. As a divorced parent, Nancy has learned to make adjustments and avoid the pain of holidays spent apart from loved ones. Actually, she looks forward to it and still loves the holiday.

My brother, Dan, who spent Christmas Day at a homeless shelter serving lunch. It’s his ministry and his way to celebrate his own blessings. The next day he was on a plane to Hawaii, so he had much to celebrate this year.

Our Christmas Day was spent visiting our aging parents – separately –in their retirement communities on opposite sides of town.

I think back on Christmases over the years: the first one away from my parent’s home; the first one as a new bride; the first one away from my children. Each of these experiences marked a passage of some sort; a measure of the change in life. Some left me feeling hallow and hurt; some signaled an exciting new phase of my journey through life.

This year I felt, for the first time, like a true “sandwich generation” mom – balancing parents and kids (adults, but still my babies); thinking about the passing of the torch to the next generation.

Wrapped up in our changing celebrations are feelings of home, of family, of love. Sometimes the holiday feelings we seek seem elusive; other times we feel richly and fully blessed.

My wish for you as we enter this New Year is that you will find many occasions – the special and the ordinary – to experience the feelings of deep contentment, joy and love. And that you’ll discover new ways to celebrate the changing seasons of life.

Caregiver Certification: why it matters to you

Joe was a stubborn old man. Set in his ways, determined to do what he wanted, when he wanted, he was not about to let some young “girl” come in and help him with a shower.

“I’ve tried everything I know to do,” said one.

“Nothing ever works with Joe!” said another.

“I’m going to try what I just learned in my caregiver class,” said the third of the three caregivers huddled in the hall.

They knew that Joe hadn’t bathed now in several days, and his out-of-town daughter was coming to visit that afternoon. It would reflect poorly on their care if Joe was clearly a little too musky for comfort – not to mention making it tough for the daughter to relax and enjoy the visit.

One hour later Joe emerged from the bathroom with slicked-back, shiny hair and the scent of fresh soap, instead of the reek of body odor. The successful caregiver also had a glow, knowing she had achieved what seemed impossible. Even more important, it had been a positive experience for both Joe and his caregiver.

All three caregivers had good hearts. All three wanted to be the best caregivers they could be. The difference? Good training that taught the one caregiver important skills that increased her ability to be the best caregiver possible.

For family members selecting an assisted living community or home care agency this is a crucial difference. Compassion and a big heart are still vital, but skills training brings it all together and gives the compassionate caregiver the tools to deliver what the family is looking for – and the person receiving care really needs.

Personal Care Aide (PCA) Certifications are just emerging as one form of caregiver certification that is uniquely designed to prepare the caregiver for home-style caregiving. They typically cover all the basic skills required for care, including skills in communication, decision-making and respect for the rights of the person in their care. They reinforce, through the training, principles of independence, choice, dignity and privacy. A caregiver learns to see challenges through the eyes of the client, and to include families in the unit of care.

Many community colleges offer this level of training; high-quality, comprehensive PCA Certification courses are also readily available online through distance education schools. Within the coming decade PCA Certification will likely become the minimum standard for all direct-care workers.

For now, it is one way for families to feel increased confidence that the person providing care has more than a good heart: she has skills and a unique understanding of the difference a good caregiver can make in enriching the lives of the people in her care.

If you’re looking for a quality online caregiver certification course check out the Personal Care Aide Certification course offered by the Institute for Professional Care Education (www.ipced.com). IPC-ed is a school licensed by the Oregon Department of Education specifically dedicated to prepare individuals for work in care related professions.

Caregiver Certification eases fears

I remember hearing a family member tell me that leaving their mom with a new caregiver and walking out the door to go to their own home reminded her of leaving her child at day care for the very first time.

It’s scary. It means trusting someone you don’t know well to care for someone you love and feel responsible for.

Your stomach churns and there’s a sick feeling deep down. Your mind circles around the fear: what if the caregiver doesn’t listen to her? What if she speaks sharply to her, or is rough with her?

You worry if she really has the skills and knowledge to provide the care your mother needs, and the judgment to know what to do if something awful happens (a fall? wandering off?).

You wonder if your mom will ever forgive you for not caring for her yourself; for turning to strangers to provide care.

There’s no easy way to get past these initial feelings when you place your precious loved one (parent or child) in the care of someone else.

Here’s one idea, though, that’s gaining a lot of traction nationally: make sure that the caregiver has solid, formal training with a certification to show for it.

That’s a tough requirement, since most states don’t require caregiver certification, and many areas don’t even have classes to certify caregivers. It’s a fast-growing field for training however, and new online courses make certification available to anyone with an internet connection. Ask – and expect – anyone who provides caregiving to your loved one to be appropriately certified.

It might not take away the initial “first day” jitters, but it will give you a sense that you’ve taken one more step to ensure the safety and care of your loved one.

Online caregiver certification courses are available from a variety of sources, including our newly launched Personal Care Certification course from the Institute for Professional Care Education (www.ipced.com). For details, go to our website or call us toll free at 877-843-8374.