Carol MarakPatient Advocate vs Geriatric Care Manager
A few weeks ago, a reader asked, "Can you tell me the differences between a geriatric care manager and a patient advocate? I hear the two terms frequently and wonder if they are the same?" Here are the basic differences: A Patient Advocate can assist anyone of any age - not limited to someone who is elderly, or at least over a 'certain age,' as a geriatric case manager would be. A Geriatric Care Manager does not focus strictly on healthcare. Their work is broader with some emphasis on finances, housing, and other aspects of life that change as we
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Kendall VanBlarcomSeniors who have Elderly Parents
As life expectancy increases, it is more common than ever to find senior citizens who have elderly parents. Ideally, parents remain able to take care of themselves in their own homes. But, it is also true that many senior citizens find themselves either helping care for their elderly parent or choosing a facility that can attend to their needs. Caring for Your Elderly Parent For some senior citizens who have elderly parents, the care needed is primarily social. If their parent is able to take care of their own day-to-day needs, care might be a bit of help with errands
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SilveradoWhat Hospice Can Do For Your Loved One and You
November is National Hospice & Palliative Care Month. Although the concept of hospice care has been around for centuries, it is still an area of medical practice that many people today aren’t aware of. Hospice provides comfort and support during the final stages of one’s life. It does more than just meet the physical needs of patients. In many cases, patients require more than just physical comfort. It may be that the patient has spiritual or psychosocial needs that could be fulfilled before their passing. Hospice offers many resources and programs to meet these needs and ensure the patient has
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Kathy MacaraegCombatting Loneliness in Seniors
While worrying about your parents’ social connections doesn’t seem like it should be at the top of your list of concerns, it actually is so much more important that we realize. Did you know that feelings of loneliness can negatively affect both physical and mental health? Additionally, isolation is linked to cognitive decline and puts seniors at a higher risk for elder abuse. Combatting Loneliness in Seniors So, how do we combat loneliness? I know, you’re thinking, I already have so much on my plate; I don’t have time to also be the entertainment director for my parent. It doesn’t take
Continue readingHow to Make Holidays Special for Someone with Dementia
At Silverado, we have nearly 20 years of dedicated experience in caring for individuals with memory impairments, and in that time we’ve developed numerous best practices that have been adopted industry-wide. How to Make Holidays Special for Someone with Dementia This time of year, we like to share tips for making the holidays enjoyable for a loved with dementia. This advice centers on keeping things simple and enjoying individual moments: How to Make Holidays Special for Someone with Dementia Avoid chaos. Rather than walking someone who has dementia into a room with 10 relatives, encourage relatives to engage in one-on-one conversation,
Continue reading10 Dementia Warning Signs to Look for During Holidays
Spending time with loved ones during the holidays means it’s easier to spot all of the small changes in behavior that could mean the early stages of memory impairment. While this can cause initial feelings of worry and panic, taking the time to understand the situation is the first step in providing your mother, father, grandparent, sibling or other family member the best care possible. These are the most common signs that dementia-related changes may be taking place in the brain: Memory lapses that disrupt daily life. Forgetting newly-learned information and important dates or events. Problem-solving and planning difficulties. Difficulty concentrating and
Continue readingCaregiver Self-Care When You Don’t Have Time
Caregivers rarely have time for self-care. Between regular “life” tasks and caring for another adult, there isn’t much time to practice self-care. While people harp on the importance of self-care, they rarely step in to give the caregiver time to actually practice self-care. So, many caregivers just drop self-care from their to do list. It’s the easiest thing to drop, yet it is critical to a caregiver’s well-being. Caregiver Self-Care When You Don’t Have Time While the thought of adding one more thing to your to do list may be overwhelming, remember, if you don’t care for yourself, you can’t
Continue readingHow to Create a Caregiver Command Center
Smoothly With A Command Center Caregiving requires organization. Few caregivers have only one obligation – caring for a loved one – so juggling all of the tasks and managing your own life requires some serious organization. If you aren’t organized, you’ll become frustrated, stressed out and possibly drop a few balls here and there. Of course, many caregivers are thrust into their role without much planning and it can be hard to create an organization system that will work for your family on the fly. If you were thrust into caregiving and are trying to figure out some sort of
Continue readingAnswers to 5 most Frequently Asked Hospice Questions
While most people have heard of hospice, a surprising number don’t have a complete understanding of the actual details of the method and purpose of it. November has been declared National Hospice and Palliative Care Month by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), a time to help build awareness of comfort-based care among those it may benefit. Here are just a few common hospice questions and answers to them: What is the purpose of hospice? Hospice is a change of focus from curative treatments to a different set of goals - comfort and quality of life. Comfort care
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