Raised-bed gardening.

Planters are raised to a height so that someone in a wheelchair can easily reach them. This can provide easy outdoor activities all Spring, Summer, and Fall, even for the elderly who require senior care.

Short Trips

Most malls, fairgrounds, farmers’ markets and other places now have wheelchairs or scooters you can rent for the day if necessary.

Local State Park with a Pond

Fish from a handicap ramp or pier. Eat hot dogs and hamburgers cooked on a grill.

Call ahead and talk to the park employees. They can tell you where the wheelchair accessible area of the park is. Reserve it in advance.

Easy Craft Ideas for Seniors

You can find tons of easy crafts for seniors for the aging parent who is creative. There are websites everywhere that give directions for crafts that older seniors can do.

Those who have a difficult time holding things with their hands might do best with crafts that use large pieces or where painting is the main activity.

What About the Wii?

You may have heard your own children or grandchildren talking about the new game called Wii. This is a device that mimics a sport, such as bowling, tennis, etc., without actually using the sport’s equipment. They’re fun and good for keeping fit in any age.

Have a Singer in the Family?

Many towns have senior clubs, senior centers and gatherings…some of them include senior groups who get together just to sing!

Summary

Even though your aging parents may be requiring senior care, trying to keep them active physically and mentally is incredibly important for quality of life. Anyone in the home who is providing senior care on a regular basis can easily incorporate a few of these activities into their weekly schedule.

What kinds of activities can you think of that are appropriate for aging adults who are requiring senior care?

UNDERSTANDING THE COST OF ELDER CARE SERVICES:

According to the MetLife Mature Market Annual Survey on the Cost of Care in the United States, the findings look like this:
• The national average daily rate for a private room in a nursing home rose 4.4% from $229 in 2010 to $239 in 2011.
• The national average monthly base rate in an assisted living community rose 5.6% from $3,293 in 2010 to $3,477 in 2011.
• The national average daily rate for adult day services rose 4.5% from $67 in 2010 to $70 in 2011.
• The national average hourly rates for home health aides ($21) and homemakers ($19) were unchanged from 2010.

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST YOUR FAMILY?

The finest way to know specifically just how much home care services will expense is to speak to one of our professionals. Collectively you can come up with a plan of care and a number of hours that are not only cost-effective, but keep your aging loved one safe and in their own home.

Ask about options like The VA AID and ATTENDANCE PENSION BENEFIT, Reverse Mortgages, Life Settlements, and Long-Term Care Insurance. Chances are that one of those programs may be able to help with the cost.

HOW SOON CAN HOME CARE SERVICES START?

As soon as today in most cases. The start date is up to you, but our team is dedicated to getting a caregiver in your home as soon as you need them.

Contact us today: 972-301-7001, Home Helpers of Rockwall provides senior care services. Speak with Judy, Deborah or Melissa by calling now or submit the request form to the right and we will be in touch right away. Each office is independently owned and operated. You get the advantage of dealing personally with Home Helpers representatives who are your neighbors along with the added advantage of the resources from a national headquarters training and information source. 

If you have a friend or family member administering In-home care for a loved one, you really should look at finding her a very special gift idea for Valentine’s Day. In-home caregivers empower clients to enjoy joyful, good lives in the privacy of their own place. While they present special treatment to your loved ones, the holidays are the best moment to point to how very special they are by showering them with a collection of presents to demonstrate how much they are appreciated.

Massage
Pay for a gift certificate for a massage for your caregiver. Thirty minute and 60-minute massages are being offered to ease tension, emotional stress and fears. Hunt for qualified massage spas in your vicinity and find a dependable place to direct the caregiver. A beneficial intensive, hands-on massage may possibly support them to make it part of their monthly program.

Gift Basket
You can buy pre-packed gift baskets at many retailers, over the internet and florists. If you already know the caregiver, you can help make the basket yourself by including some of her most wanted issues. One example is, if you know she loves to garden, load the basket with small garden tools, packages of flower seeds and a flowerpot. If the caregiver is a male, fill the basket with sports-themed goods and a gift certificate for a round of golf.

Gift Certificates
Give the caregiver a Valentine’s Day card along with a gift certificate to lunch or to the movie theater. Try to figure out some of the caregiver’s favorite dining establishment and get a certificate to that particular place. Purchase movies tickets online so they will not become expired and the caregiver can use them at all times.

Spa Treatments
Female caregivers will get pleasure from a spa day or spa treatments. Deliver her a gift certificate to a qualified spa. Certain spas supply half day and full day amenities. Another notion is to get a gift certificate to a qualified nail salon for a manicure and pedicure. This allows for the caregiver to spend time on herself and relax.

Tea or Coffee
If the caregiver enjoys tea or coffee, make a special gift to give them on Valentine’s Day. Fill large coffee mugs with a variety of coffee and a gift card to a neighborhood coffee shop. For a tea lover, fill huge glasses with different bags and boxes of tea.

Overview
In-home care takes a unique person with a lot of patience. Show your caregiver how much you care about the things they do for you or your loved one by giving them a special gift on Valentine’s Day. 

If you are looking for In-Home Care in Mesquite, TX please call 972-301-7001, Home Helpers of Mesquite provides senior care services. Speak with Judy, Deborah or Melissa by calling now or submit the request form to the right and we will be in touch right away. Each office is independently owned and operated. You get the advantage of dealing personally with Home Helpers representatives who are your neighbors along with the added advantage of the resources from a national headquarters training and information source. 

Home care and home healthcare are different in two ways.

Home care offers non-medical services and is not paid for by Medicare, although some home care providers and agencies may be licensed by the states. Home care services are private pay services, meaning the patient or the patient’s family will pay personally for home care. At times long-term care insurance may pay for home care as well. Home health care, however, is medical care that is included by health insurance or Medicare. To attain home health care, a senior or a patient needs to be homebound and in need of assistance of medical care as decided by a physician. Medicare may in addition handle non-medical solutions implemented by a home health aide, but these services are only covered when additional medical care at home is required. Commonly these non-medical services take place at the same time as medical care visits.

Home care presents non-medical services to seniors and patients recovering from operations. Help in bathing and dressing are ordinary home care services. Other duties home care workers present include light housekeeping, meal preparation, running errands and transportation. Support in walking or exercise and other light help to make life easier are included by home care professionals. As the population gets older, home care agencies proliferated to meet the needs of the elderly who like to remain in their homes, but who might need help to do so.

Home healthcare is doctor-prescribed, and is furnished by skilled medical personnel such as nurses who can give medication. Physical and occupational therapists may also be required in the health care program. Home health aides may be assigned to support with activities of daily living. These services will probably be covered by Medicare as long as other medical care is also essential.

Home care workers can provide medication ticklers, but cannot administer the medication. Home care workers also assist with daily living activities such as cooking meals, light housekeeping, helping with bathing, running errands and providing transportation to appointments. Home care services are privately funded by the patient, senior or their family. Long-term care insurance may also cover home care services.

In-home care agencies have popped up all over the country. The method of hiring an agency begins with proper research and taking the time to meet with each agency in order to assess their level of good quality, and their nursing staff’s experience, in relation to each family’s individual needs. It’s important that each family take the time to make sure the home care agency they employ are up to date in licensing requirements, and that their nursing staff are free of criminal backgrounds. This is certainly true if elder care will be provided when family members are not around to watch over when skilled nursing staff comes to visit. A high sense of trust needs to be started between both parties in order to ensure a long-term, positive, relationship.

The following 5 points are offered to those who are initiating their research into finding care at home for their elderly family members.

1. Referral Sources
Ask friends, family and co-workers for referrals to local companies they are familiar with. Ask about their personal experiences, good and bad. Contact the elder’s long term care insurance company and ask for recommendations (if in-home care is covered by their plan.) You can even contact your family healthcare professional and ask for local references. Your last choice is to try the internet, but if you choose this route, make sure to spend extra time looking at each company more thoroughly, as you won’t have individual experience to judge these companies by.

2. Background Checks
Once you’ve simplified a short list of companies you wish to consider further, make sure to ask what types of screening processes they put their nursing staff through prior to hiring them. Criminal background checks, credit checks, and checking individual references should be normal in all companies.

3. Staff Skills & Experience
Inquire as to what the minimum qualifications each company demands when hiring their care providers. Do they only hire college educated nurses? Are their care providers certified nursing assistants? Or, do they simply require that their staff have a background in helping care for the elderly? The more innovative their requirements, the better care will likely be supplied.

4. Company Reputation
Check with your local Better Business Bureau to revieweach company’s general rating. Do they have multiple complaints listed? Are there any outstanding allegations? You can also try a general search online by typing in the company’s name and the word “complaint” into any search engine to look at what comes up from the general public’s perception.

5. Licensing
Be certain any company you contend with has the proper city, county and state licensing latest and in good standing. Remove the worry of hiring any company that is not reputable in practice.

Finally, don’t be shy about asking many specific questions. All trustworthy companies pride themselves in customer satisfaction and should be happy to openly, and willingly, offer up any and all information to prospective clients. Due diligence on your part will ensure a long-term, advantageous experience for yourself and your family members.   

When researching options for home care agencies in Park Cities TX, call 972-301-7001, Home Helpers of Dallas provides senior care services. Speak with Judy, Deborah or Melissa by calling now or submit the request form to the right and we will be in touch right away. Each office is independently owned and operated. You get the advantage of dealing personally with Home Helpers representatives who are your neighbors along with the added advantage of the resources from a national headquarters training and information source. 

Home care services may provide daily aide with feeding, dressing and undressing, bathing, light housekeeping and medication reminders.

Social Security and Medicare

Social Security is a retirement living fund and disability pension for disabled workers. The amount each person will receive is based on the total paid into the fund during his or her laboring years. If a husband/wife dies, the surviving husband/wife is entitled to widows or widowers pension. For over 50% of Americans, Social Security benefits will be their huge supply of salary when they retire.

Medicare

Medicare is accessible to almost all people age 65 and older. Medicare covers home care services that fall under the category of “home healthcare” or “skilled care”. This means that the care must be provided by a professional, must be directed by a physician and the care receiver must be homebound in order to receive it. Medicare does not cover companion home care services. It does not cover private duty home care services.

Private Income

For many consumers, income from different sources such as income off a present business enterprise may have a secure margin in their checking and savings account by which to cover home care services they may need now or eventually. Any CDs joined to these accounts are also an added advantage.

Retirement funds such as a 401(k), IRA, Keogh or other such categories are choices to consider also when figuring out how much and which level of care is needed for the senior loved one.

Pension plans made available to employees of some companies have provided suitable cash for the retirees to live on and supplement other cash flow they may have.  

Stocks And Stock Mutual Funds

Some retirees are living off stocks or funds from the stock market. It is true that with the instability in the stock market of recent years, this is changing the way some individuals are looking at retirement income. There are still about 14 percent of retirees that have an income from this source.

Because of tax advantages for withholding stocks outside of retirement accounts and the income tax they must pay on withdrawals from the traditional 401(k)’s and IRA accounts, it is a good idea for seniors to have a good investment firm or certified financial planner helping them.

Home Equity

The equity earned on a home is another way of financing a retirement and any home care services needed in their advancing years. Sometimes the adult children are unable to provide all the care for their parents and must rely on some in-home care of their loved ones. This is just one more avenue that can be explored for possible means of financing home care for the family. There are more advertisements than ever about reverse mortgage as a way of having a retirement fund. Most financial planners will advice this as a last resort only.

Veterans Aid & Attendance Pension

This pension allows for veterans and the surviving spouses financial support that are in need of home care services this includes individuals who are in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Medicaid or Medi-Cal

Medicaid or Medi-Cal is a state funded program for individuals that require home care services (IHSS), are in a skilled nursing or intermediate care home and do not have any other income other than Social Security benefits.

With just a little analysis and financial planning, home care services for the elderly need not be a concern to the adult child. Whether the time is right now or in the future, a seemingly daunting task is actually quite easy to navigate with proper planning.

The wonderful news is that there is a formula that can help. You and your parents should take into consideration Home care. Home care is a great choice for getting supplemental aide for your aging loved ones. Home care is a type of care in which a healthcare professional or other skilled caregiver goes into your parents’ home to supply different services and types of care. You and your parents can decide how many hours each day aid is needed and which times of day your parents need the most support.

You may spend a lot of time thinking about your parents when you can’t be with them. Your parents may not want to exit their home to go into a nursing home or assisted living facility. The conclusion to this challenge is in-home care, which will allow your parents to stay in their own home where they are most happy and will lessen some of your concern and stress about the situation.

When you choose in-home care, the healthcare professional can relieve you of some of your duties. The caregiver can support your parents with basic skills such as bathing and getting dressed each morning. The caregiver can even help out your parents if they need help using the toilet.

As the child of aging parents, you might be concerned that your parents don’t have the ability to prepare food anymore, or you might be worried that your parents aren’t eating as well as they should be. A caregiver can help ease these worries by organizing meals and making sure they eat each day. You and your parents can even communicate with the caregiver to examine your considerations and put together a dietary plan that makes everyone feel good about your parents’ nutritional necessities.

If you choose to get in-home care for your aging parents, you can get further aid in the area of household chores. Odds are that you have been trying to keep your home clean as well as your parents’ home. This can be notably arduous if you work a full time job on top of everything else. When you make use of a professional in the field of elder care, that person can help with light housekeeping duties, which include doing the laundry.

Perhaps one of the best characteristics of elder care is that your parents will have some amity during the day when you can’t be there. Your aging parents may be getting lonely, and you may be feeling distressed because you can’t spend the amount of time with your parents that you dream you could. You can stop feeling remorseful that you aren’t with your parents and start feeling very good about being aware of the fact that someone is with your parents who takes care. In reality, a caregiver can even take your parents out of the house to doctor’s visits, the supermarket, the pharmacy, or just about any place your parents wants to travel.

Elder care may be the service you and your parents need. Your parents can live independently, and you can get the supplementary help you have to have to make sure your parents’ needs are being met. Just knowing that some person is there with your parents can ease some of the weight from you.

Guilt- Children find it rather tough to come to parents about caregiver stress they have been going through since taking on the job. Children often feel ashamed over considering care for their parents because their parents brought them up and the children feel as though they are letting their parents down if they need to bring in home care. The option for these instances may be to choose respite care to come to the home and assist you in the short term. This will help test the waters to see how the parent adjusts to having in-home care. The parent may voluntarily approve the offer of respite care to aid in everyday elder care. This can successfully rid the children of a guilty feeling that is not necessary to begin with.

Confronting it Head-On- Beating around the bush when trying to talk to an elderly parent about elder care will result in not conversing about it at all. Have all the details necessary to illustrate to the parent what is included and all the explanations that it is a useful strategy to hire elder care. The facts gathered should include cost as well as possible plans to cover the costs if insurance does not cover it. A number of elderly people are on a fixed income and that is another thing that children should consider before actually talking to their parents about respite care. Be soft but forthright when getting close to the issue.

Authenticity- The reality of a parent in need of an in-home caregiver is critical to stress during the discussion. Parents should be reminded that the children work full-time jobs, have children to care for or nearly anything else that raises caregiver stress levels. Stress leads to bad communication skills and ultimately irritation and bitterness over having to handle the extra function of caring for an elderly parent. When children take on the responsibility of caring for an ill parent, the rapport often suffers greatly because of the stress related troubles.

Worries- Be open and true with the elderly parent when he or she has fears. The worries might seem like complaints or excuses, but they are real issues that the parent is feeling and should be addressed rapidly. Two of the main fears the parent might have are cost and having someone in the home who is a stranger. Do not make promises that cannot be held on to, but present guidance gained by talking to a specialist about it.

Adult children who are taking care of their elderly parents know early on that it is a daunting task at best. There are duties involved in caring for an elderly parent that are difficult to handle. Children and parents should guide each other when they can. There is a time to realize that an in-home caregiver is the best solution. Be geared up to take on the extra cost if the elderly parent cannot handle the cost themselves. Some insurance companies will cover the cost in certain circumstances. Otherwise, arrangements have to be made financially if an in-home caregiver is the only option.

For years, when I knew my brother and his wife were going to visit our parents, I’d prepare my sibling for how “bad” Mom and Dad were going to look. Our parents both lived with degenerative diseases, and each had a different type of dementia. It seemed to me, their primary caregiver, that they were fading away. My sister saw them nearly once each week, as well, and she agreed with me. We didn’t want our brother to be shocked by their failing health, so we prepared him. Or so we thought.

It turned out that our parents were so pumped up about their son coming to visit, that he’d arrive and see our elders looking really quite good. I then felt foolish for having over prepared my brother in excess for something he just couldn’t see.

As soon as my brother would leave, like a deflated balloon, our parents would sink back to the level where they were before the visit. One year – and this nearly broke my heart – my mother was so excited about the visit she could talk of nothing else. Then, after my brother left, Mom asked which weekend he was coming. She’d totally forgotten the visit had happened.

Still, the aging parent can only keep up this wellness act for a short time. So, if an adult child coming from a distance can stay a few days, he or she does have a chance to get a fresh look at how the parents are doing. Their input can help the caregiver who sees the parents daily, since a primary caregiver may not notice subtle changes.

Also, we who live close to our elders, or who are primary caregivers, tend to do what needs to be done, so it could be that the elders are losing certain abilities and we haven’t noticed. That’s when someone who only sees the elders occasionally can be really helpful.

Do Mom and Dad “Cover” for Each Other?

Long married couples can often finish each other’s sentences. They can help each other read, eat and do other things so common to daily life that no one stops to notice that they are such a team they are “filling in the gaps” for each other. Often, even they don’t know this is happening. When you visit, try to “separate” the team a bit. See if Dad’s hearing is getting worse, but Mom is hearing for him. See if Mom’s balance is bad in the morning, but Dad is getting her breakfast and making sure she is steady before anyone else sees her. In other words, see if it takes a team for them just to hang on.

Teamwork is wonderful, and it’s beautiful to see long-married couples working seamlessly beside each other. However, if there are health issues that need tending to, this teamwork can be detrimental. Getting each of your parents alone will help you identify strong and weak points.

Continue reading here