"Goals are

Dreams

with Deadlines."

~ Dottie Walters  

Featured Article: 
10 Tips for Alzheimer Communicating

Alzhimer's Reading Room 

By Carole Larkin   

Do you ever feel like your loved one with Alzheimer's
is ignoring you? Do you feel you are just not getting
through to your loved one? Try some of these tips to
see if they help.

Tips for communicating with a mid-stage (or later) Alzheimer's patients:

Make eye contact.  Always approach them face-to-face and make eye contact. Use their name if you need to. It is vital that they actually see you and that their attention is focused on you. Read their eyes. Always approach from the front as approaching and speaking from the side or from behind can startle them.

Be at their level.  Move your head to be at the same level as their head. Bend your knees or sit down to reach their level. Do not stand or hover over them - it is intimidating and scary. They can't focus on you and what you are saying if they are focused on their fear.

Tell them what you are going to do before you do it.  Particularly if you are going to touch them. They need to know what is coming first so that they don't think that you are grabbing them.

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" We must use what 

we have to invent 

what we desire."

~ Adrienne Rich

How to Avoid Scammers
Who Target Seniors  
By William Martin April 28th, 2011 

With the ever-growing use of telephone commerce and online financial transactions, it has unfortunately become commonplace for malevolent entities to engage in trickery in an attempt to steal unsuspecting consumers' hard-earned money, personal information or both.  

Perhaps even more unfortunate is these entities' tendency to target the elderly due to the perceived notion that many have worked their entire lives to secure a comfortable financial standing. Many would-be scammers also falsely believe that the elderly are less likely to be aware of Internet safety precautions, which aids in creating an unsafe situation for many senior citizens. It is important to know the proper steps to take to ensure that you don't fall prey to these techniques.

Regular Credit Checks   

If you own a credit account, you are entitled to one free credit check each year under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. It is important to take full advantage of this fact, because one of the first ways to detect a fraudulent credit account taken out on your name is to perform a full credit report. This is a great way to ensure that no illicit activity has
taken place as a result of information you may have accidentally given out in the past, but is by no means
your only defense against those trying to conduct questionable activities. Look at is as a final safeguard against internet or telephone tricks.

This report will give you access to your standing with all three credit institutions - Experian, Transunion and Equifax - and alert you to any illicit activity that you haven't previously consented to. While performing a credit check in itself can prove somewhat laborious, it is well worth your time to see firsthand what your account status is, before someone else does.

Unfortunately, several companies use the guise of a
free credit report to charge monthly fees. The best
way to perform a credit check is by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com.

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 Tax Incentives for
Family Caregivers 

If you are a child caring for an elderly parent, you will
want to know that you may qualify for certain federal tax benefits. These may include claiming your parent as a dependant and/or deducting the contributions you made towards their medical expenses. First you must verify your eligibility as outlined below.

Claiming a Parent As a Dependant: If a caregiver currently supports their elderly parent, they can claim
them as a dependant on their 2011 tax return. The caregiver can then take an exemption for the 2011 tax
year, which will equate to a reduction of their taxable income by $3,650. In order to determine if a caregiver qualifies to take the elderly parent as a dependent, the parent of the caregiver will need to pass the following
tests: member of household or relationship test; gross income test; and support test. Not a qualifying child test:The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer. 

Member of household or relationship test: If a son or daughter is the caregiver, they qualify since they meet the relationship test. A caregiver and their parent would not need to live with one another. If a parent lives on their own or in assisted living, a caregiver's parent may still qualify as a dependant as long as they pass the other tests.  

Gross income test: In order to qualify as a dependant,
a parent's gross income for the year must be less than $3,650. This amount does not include income from non-social security or disability payments. However,
income received from other sources, such as withdrawals from retirement plans, pension benefits, rental income, or interest and dividends from investments would go towards
a parent's income total, which could disqualify them as a dependant if they exceed the income limit.

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A Special Birthday

"Your birthday is a special  

  time to celebrate the gift  

of 'you' to the world."

In August, a very special event was held at the Hearth in Southbury. A long term and beloved client of ours, Gert Zeigler, turned 100 years old!  

Since in addition to being a FABULOUS person Gert was also the very first resident of the Hearth. The community pulled out all the stops for a joyous celebration of music, song, dancing and of course, birthday cake!  The standing room only crowd, filled with Gert's many friends from the Hearth and her daughter, Marilyn, sang along to the old standards, laughed and danced.  A wonderful time was had by all, at a royal celebration for a very very special friend!

KUDOS from Kelly

 By Kelly McNamara     

 Kudos to our "Storm Troopers"   

 When our state was recently hit by an
 unexpected summer hurricane level storm, many home care companies found themselves with a severe shortage of employees since many were neither wiling nor able to work, even before the true severity of the storm was clearly known. But several of our staff rose to the challenge and went above and beyond to help out their colleagues and clients during a challenging time:

1. Dawn Reed, who basically "camped out' at MT's house to make sure she was safe and well cared for during the storm and had plenty of care and company.

2. Benter Okuom who, on a 5 day relief case with
client VB, sprung into action and storm-proofed her
house, stocked up on food and emergency supplies,
moved outdoor furniture in, then settled in with the
client for a couple of no power.   

3. Antoinette Kahia who had just finished up a
challenging live in case, and was heading home in the morning looking forward to a bit of a break. Shortly thereafter, she cheerfully turned her car around and
headed back to the facility to fill in for a caregiver for a
day with T C, a long term and beloved client. The regular caregiver was unable to reach the area due to severe flooding and closed roads.

4. Valerie Cipriano, Community liaison. Our "do it all" person Valerie fills a number of needs of the company but the last week of August she was on storm duty. She visited each client, making sure they; their caregivers and their homes were prepared, assisted with transportation, and most appreciated of all, found a large number of the best, biggest longest lasting flashlights in Connecticut after an extensive search, for all clients who needed so that all were prepared. Valerie even made sure a client had a battery powered version of her nebulizer so that her treatments were uninterrupted.  

5. Bridget Asare, whose client RL lives on a lovely house on the beach in Clinton, needed to assist her in packing up to move back to her East Hartford home safe from wind and waves. Bridget and RL have a wonderful relationship and have bonded as friends. They spend their day with Bridget ensuring her clients health and safety but also completing ay errands, having fun and wearing coordinating outfits each day. Bridget will spend days with her in East Hartford until it is safe to return. Regardless of weather, they each bring a ray of sunshine into the other's day!

We especially appreciate the effort of these and other employees who saw to the comfort and safety of their clients, while also dealing with power shortages and storm discomforts with their own homes and families.

"The magic  

is inside you. There is no crystal ball."

~ Dolly Parton   

Providers We Love   

We are privileged to have received referrals from and be able to coordinate care with many Assisted Living facilities, rehab facilities, and Medicare Home Care and Hospice agencies.   Our growth is in large part due to the trust the staff in these organizations have put in our caregivers. We are likewise impressed with them and we are committed to referring to them on a regular basis

Arbor Rose, Assisted Living, New Britain
Long a favorite facility of ours, Arbor Rose boasts a wonderful and caring group of staff, activity folks who
keep life interesting for residents and a very welcoming environment for our pet therapy program. Our caregivers who are providing service for some residents at Arbor Rose have determined that Arbor Rose serves the best food and has the friendliest and most attentive dining staff of any facility in which they've worked. High praise indeed! Thanks to our colleagues at Arbor Rose for their continued support and trust in our caregivers. It is always a pleasure to work with all of you!

Seabury Active Living Retirement
Community, Bloomfield
One of Connecticut's first retirement communities,
Seabury has grown impressively from its original facility. The sprawling campus now boasts several individual residences, from apartments to substantial single homes. Their memory care unit is superb. The surroundings provide lovely views in all seasons. An immense fitness facility, including a large pool promotes continued fitness of older adults. Seabury boasts an outstanding 85% of participation of its residents in the fitness facility. Seabury also has an innovative Life Care program and Seabury at Home service. Their home care program provides both Medicare as well
as home private duty services for the community and the surrounding area. It is a privilege to work in co-operation with them. 

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