Holiday Gift Suggestions:

To your enemy, forgiveness.

To an opponent, tolerance.

To a friend, your heart.

To a customer, service.

To all, charity.

To every child, a good example.

To yourself, respect.

Maturity is the

capacity to endure

uncertainty 

~ John Finley

In the old days,  

Featured Article:
How Important is Play for Alzheimer's Patients in the Late Stages?

Alzhimer's Reading Room By Mary Gazetas      

I call that place the "zombie wall."

My husband is living in the last stages of Alzheimer's. Clinically he's a Seven.  

He's in a home and he can't walk, rarely talks, and he can no longer participate in organized activities.  

Reading, writing or watching television disappeared over two years ago.

One question readers might ask is, "Gosh, Well Then What Can He Do?"

Part of an answer is to share what I tell my children, my three grown children who live far away. When they check into see how their Dad is doing, I find a huge part of my response is to describe to them what he loves to play with.

He's now playing with things that would amuse and keep occupied a 9 month old - a one year old child. I am no expert. Maybe it is even a younger age. I don't know.

It took me awhile to realize how important it was that he had things in front of him to touch and move around. It was about a year ago when he could still more or less feed himself to a degree that I began to notice he loved to play with his food. I called it the "sand box."

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"Great acts

are made up of small deeds."

~ Lao Tzu     

Holiday Blues and the Elderly

The holiday season-Thanksgiving through New Year's Day-is usually a time of joy and celebration, but for the elderly it can also be a time of great sadness and depression.  

While the rest of the world is busy planning family gatherings, and attending festivities, the elderly can be easily overlooked. The National Institute of Mental Health considers depression in people 65 and older to be a major health problem, with some six million seniors suffering from late-life depression, which is often magnified during the holidays.  

Depression in the elderly can be triggered by a number of factors, including physical limitations, declining health, retirement, isolation from family and friends, a change in living arrangements, and financial constraints. All of these factors are heightened during the holidays when the feeling of isolation becomes more apparent. Older adults may have to relinquish their role as head of the family as they become guests rather than hosts of family gatherings. They may feel alone and left out while everyone around them is occupied with holiday planning. Geographical distance between family members can also be more difficult to cope with during the holidays. Perhaps most importantly, the holiday season can trigger a mourning period for those who have lost a spouse or other loved one.

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 How to Be An Astute Caregiver

Know the Six Signs of Decline

Is it inevitable that aging must bring disease, debilitation and dementia? Jack Lalanne, the exercise guru, continued his two-hour daily workouts into his nineties. Clint Eastwood, at the age of eighty, continues to produce, direct, and star in major motion pictures.

Sure, our parents are aging. But while chronic illness and increased frailty take their toll on many, some are maintaining their independence, vitality, and mental acuity well into their eighties. Yet we still worry when these seemingly healthy parents forget their phone number or lose their car keys. So how can we differentiate the normative aspects of aging from disease?

My father was in his early seventies when he began showing signs of dementia. Though keenly intelligent, he had always been absent-minded- misplacing things, mixing up the names of his children, and growing agitated when events did not go as planned.

So it was no cause for alarm when he began to seem increasingly forgetful and disorganized: the emotionally wrenching search-and-rescue missions for his lost glasses were just business as usual. It was not until my father became disoriented on a short bike ride to the local grocer and was forced to call my mother to pick him up that we recognized something significant had changed. It was then that we made the decision to have my father undergo a medical evaluation for dementia.

For those of us caring for aging parents, we must balance concern for our parent's welfare with respect for their autonomy and independence. In addition, we may live a distance from our loved ones and view changes through a magnifying lens.

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KUDOS from Kelly

 By Kelly McNamara     

Kwame Debrah

A relatively new employee, and a husband of another caregiver of ours, Agnes, Kwame has been an outstanding caregiver for F P and become a friend of her husband E P. His considerable skills as an LPN along with his natural good sense, compassion, and calm demeanor have endeared him to F's family and to all of us as well. We were very lucky to have found him and grateful to his lovely wife Agnes for recommending him to our company. We hope to have him aboard for a long time.   Thanks from all of us, Kwame!  

This seems to be the month for men! Bismarck is also a fairly new employee. He is a wonderful caregiver for AE and we are so grateful he does not mind the long drive to this client's home. Having him as a member of A E's care team has been a wonderful help. His acute observations, his tender care of both A E as well as his wife H E are very much appreciated. He has enormous patience and unlimited compassion for his clients. We are thrilled to have him as part of our care giving team!

Flora, now a nursing student, has a demanding schedule but manages to fit her special clients into it. Her organizing skills as well as her top-notch assessment skills have been so helpful to her client I W as she moves into her new apartment and rebuilds her life. Flora's concern for her clients and careful observations of any changes has prevented unnecessary ER trips or hospitalizations for those in her care. Thanks Flora, we can't wait until you're a nurse!

"Every day is a new beginning. Treat it that way. Stay away from what might have been, and look at what can be."

~ Marsha Petrie Sue 

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! Arbor Rose is the perfect environment for those who want to age in place gracefully and well cared for. 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!

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