Category Archives: Caregiving – General

Though this is of general interest, caregivers especially should take note!

I attended a CPR and first aid class today given by my local Red Cross chapter.  One suggestion I picked up from the class is that all of us should put our city’s local emergency phone number in our cell phones so it’s handy in case of emergency.  It’s always best to call 911 from a land line but if you only have access to your cell phone, calling 911 is not recommended because it’s not really an emergency number if called from a cell phone.  To reach an emergency number on your cell phone, it’s best to call the local emergency phone number.  I live in Menlo Park, so I will program the Menlo Park emergency phone number into my cell phone.  If I’m physically in Palo Alto and call the Menlo Park phone number, my cell phone call can be easily re-routed to the Palo Alto emergency number.

You can find a list here of local emergency phone numbers for cities or communities in the Bay Area:

getice.com/news/emergencynumbers

(That list has some strange alphabetization going on….)

If you live outside the Bay Area, you can look up your city’s local emergency phone number in your phone book.  (I think some people still use those things!)

Robin

Many in our support group attended the July 2012 Parkinson’s Disease and Parkinsonism Caregiver Symposium in Foster City.  The keynote speaker, Dr. David Rintell, said that the social isolation caused when a caregiver stays at home 7×24 with their care recipient is as dangerous to us as smoking.  Certainly the same is true for care recipients who stay at home 7×24.

Someone in one of the online support groups I monitor posted an article in Friday’s Slate magazine.  The headline is “Loneliness is Deadly:  Social isolation kills more people than obesity does.”  The article is about the negative effects of social isolation, and about the idea that there’s stigma associated with being lonely.

Here’s a link to the article in Slate:

www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2013/08/dangers_of_loneliness_social_isolation_is_deadlier_than_obesity.html

MEDICAL EXAMINER :  HEALTH AND MEDICINE EXPLAINED
Loneliness Is Deadly
Social isolation kills more people than obesity does — and it’s just as stigmatized.
Slate
By Jessica Olien
Posted Friday, Aug. 23, 2013, at 12:15 PM

Robin

Long-time LBD support group member Denise alerted me to the fact that PBS’s Frontline has a program airing tonight (Monday 7-29-13) that focuses on assisted living, called “Life and Death in Assisted Living.”

The Frontline website (pbs.org/frontline) has this one-sentence
description of the program:  “As more and more elderly Americans choose to spend their later years in assisted living facilities, FRONTLINE and ProPublica examine whether this loosely regulated, multi-billion dollar industry is putting seniors at risk?”

The website suggests that this may be a two-part program, with part two airing tomorrow night.

The website has an article about part one.  (I don’t know if this is a transcript or a related news article).  See:

www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/social-issues/life-and-death-in-assisted-living/the-emerald-city/

Life and Death in Assisted Living:  Part 1
By A.C. Thompson, ProPublica and Jonathan Jones
Frontline
July 29, 2013

Part one at least focuses on a care facility called Emeritus at
Emerald Hills, in Auburn, CA.

If you are interested in reading part two, you can go to Frontline’s website tomorrow to see that.  Also, you might check out some of the comments online about part one; many are worth reading.

Robin

Though this article is titled “are you overpaying for your parents’ care,” this article applies to care that spouses, siblings, etc. receive.

The author offers six suggestions to trim the care bill:

• Hire your own home-care professionals—or become one yourself.  “There are caveats: Background checks are important, as is following state laws about working hours, disability insurance and payroll taxes…”
• Take the tax breaks.  “If you hire paid caregivers on your own, rather than working through an agency, the parent has to report that caregiver’s income, either on a W-2 or 1099 form, to be able to deduct the expense… Home improvements made with a doctor’s prescription are tax-deductible as well…”
• Designate a bookkeeper.  I would add that it’s important for the person with a neurological disorder to start working with the designated bookkeeper sooner than the person will need to take control over finances.  Same is true for the parent who is well to start working early on with the designated bookkeeper.  Recently a caregiver support group member complained that his daughter couldn’t remember the father’s online passwords.  I suggested that the caregiver either use a system that keeps track of passwords or designate a different bookkeeper.  (We use keepass in our family.  keepass.com)
• Remember the veterans.  Families often don’t know about the “aid and attendance” benefit.
• Embrace respite care.
• Know when to consider a permanent facility.  The certified financial planner quoted for this suggestion says that in-home care is sufficient “if you need a visiting nurse three or four times a week.”  I think the CFP should’ve referred to a non-medical home care aide rather than a nurse.  Most people, even those who require round-the-clock care, don’t need a nurse; they need non-medical personal care.

Many of the suggestions are useful only to those with financial resources.  I was at a support group meeting once where a caregiver said that “neurological disease is not for poor people.”

Here’s a link to the full article:

www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323664204578609801514215218

Family Value
Are You Overpaying for Your Parents’ Care?
Overseeing home health care for loved ones can be as big a drain on families’ resources as paying for institutional care. Here are some overlooked ways to trim the bill.
Wall Street Journal
By Kelly Greene
July 19, 2013

Beneath the article is a chart from Genworth Financial about what long-term-care costs.

Robin