PRESS BOX
| Look for the AYS ad on
page 11 of We
Care magazine. If you can't
find a copy, check it out online at http://wecaremagazine.com/
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Greetings!
Get the latest on AYS doings by following aysflorida
on Twitter and by becoming a fan of At Your
Service (AYS) on Facebook.
The Tweetdeck application, available at http://www.tweetdeck.com provides a convenient way to keep up with all your social networking.
See you
online!
This month AYS offers $100
off all Senior Move Services booked by July 31st.
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Senior Moves
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When older adults need to
downsize or move to a more therapeutic environment, our certified Senior
Move
Manager is trained to help them and their families organize the various
aspects
of the move.
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Senior
Independence | |
| "Aging
in Place" means adapting the home where a senior currently lives
(typically not a health care environment) to meet the inevitable challenges of
the aging process. Using services, products, and conveniences provided by Aging
In Place specialists, seniors can continue living in their home safely and
independently as they get older.
Studies
show that elders fear moving to a nursing home and losing their independence
more than death. Children fear for their parents' emotional and physical
well-being if they have to enter a nursing home. "Relocation stress"
often results when an older adult transfers from one environment to another. It
may lead to sleep disturbance, cognitive decline, withdrawal, depression, and a
failure to thrive - conditions that can bring about premature death. Aging in
place can help prevent these outcomes, allowing the senior to stay in a
familiar and more stimulating environment.
Meeting
the challenges of living independently can actually support a healthy aging
brain with activities such as house cleaning & maintenance, laundry, yard
care & gardening, paying bills, caring for pets, and shopping. These
activities are all sources of "environmental press" -- conditions in
the surroundings that require a response. Institutional living is designed to
minimize or eliminate such daily demands, sometimes a necessary goal. But every
form of refuge has its price. These "burdens" of independent living
form an important stimulus to support successful aging in place.
Continuing
to live in an accustomed community can expose us to multi-generational social
networks of family, friends, and neighbors. As with "environmental
press," this "environmental complexity" can also help maintain
physical, mental and emotional well-being. Many gerontologists believe that the
more complex your daily behavior, the longer you live.
Finally,
there's the question of affordability. The high (and rising) cost of care was
outlined in a recent survey, which found that costs for nursing homes, assisted
living facilities, and some in-home care services have increased for a fifth
consecutive year. The average annual cost of a private room in a nursing home
is $76,460. The cost of assisted living averaged $36,090 nationally. The
national average for homemaker and home health aide services is approaching $20
per hour and Medicare-certified home health aides now average $38 an hour.
Staying
in one's home and community can provide daily challenges and cost savings not
offered by institutional care. Successful aging in place balances the
increasing needs of the older adult with the right combination of housing
modifications, care giving, assistive technologies, behavioral adaptations, and
"green" strategies to meet environmental challenges.
A few
tips for "aging in place" include:
Keep
your home clean and uncluttered to reduce hazards.
Replace
cabinet shelves with pull-out drawers to make things easy to reach.
Use
lever-style faucets and door handles for ease of operation.
Get
help with regular cleaning from a cleaning service.
Remember,
AYS can help de-clutter and
re-organize the home to make it more practical and safer to "age in
place" with the services of a Professional Organizer. If downsizing to a
more manageable home is necessary, call on AYS
for the assistance of our Certified Senior Move Manager.
More information about
Aging in Place can be found at http://aginginplace.com
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"Bonfires & Illuminations"
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There is something about
fireworks that thrills and awes almost everyone. Most Baby Boomers have fond
memories of our fathers setting off 4th of July skyrockets and roman candles,
cones and fountains in the front yard. We got to hold sparklers, waving them
around in traceries of light, writing our names in the air, trying not to step
barefoot on the slow-cooling wires piled by the front stoop. Fireworks are
the 4th for many people.
The legal separation of the
American colonies from Great
Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second
Continental Congress approved a resolution of independence. Congress then debated
and revised the Declaration of Independence, finally approving it on July 4. John
Adams predicted future celebrations of American independence in a letter to his
wife Abigail:
"I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated
by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be
commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God
Almighty... with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells,
bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from
this time forward forever more."
From the outset, Americans
celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the Declaration of
Independence. In 1777, Philadelphia celebrated
the first anniversary with toasts, 13-gun salutes, speeches, prayers, music,
parades, troop reviews, and fireworks
-- the "illuminations" referred to by Adams.
America's earliest settlers brought an enthusiasm for
fireworks with them to the future United States. Fireworks were used
to celebrate important events long before the American Revolutionary War. On
that very first Independence Day celebration in 1777, six years before
Americans knew whether the new nation would survive the war and with gunpowder
very much needed for battle, fireworks were a part of the festivities -- the
"big finish" to the day.
Public displays by
professional pyrotechnic companies draw spectators from miles away to
"Ohhh" and "Ahhhh" as shells and rockets arc high overhead
to burst in fiery blossoms and abrupt bangs. Ground displays throw great gouts
of sparks into the air. Then, the finale builds a crescendo of sight and sound
that overwhelms our senses, as concussions echo in our chests and after images
dazzle our eyes.
With the smell of gunpowder
in our noses, we gather up the family and head home. Another Fourth of July is
done and we look ahead to the future in America.
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Each month AYS Says features a local business that might fill a need for our subscribers.
 With HeartFelt compassion
and dedication, our highly skilled professional staff diligently strives to
provide the highest quality home health care for our patients to enable them to
maintain their independence and enjoy the comfort of their home. Whether you or your loved
one are recovering from a surgical procedure or an illness, you want to do so
in comfortable surroundings. To help you at home, HeartFelt provides
professional, quality skilled and non-skilled care with compassion and
integrity. Whatever your needs may be -
a partial day once or twice a week to 24-hrs a day, 7-days a week, HeartFelt
can provide the special care you need - any time, any day. Remember no request is too great or small. Benefits: ♥ Professional quality care in the comfort and privacy of your own
home ♥ Schedule to fit your needs-24/7 ♥ One on one care ♥ Less stress
for client and client's family and/or caregivers
♥ Safety Services are provided by: ♥
Registered Nurses ♥ Licensed Practical Nurses
♥ Home Health Aides ♥
Physical Therapists ♥ Occupational Therapists
♥ Speech Therapists ♥ Medical Social Workers ♥ Homemaker
Companions We are MEDICARE CERTIFIED
(all costs covered by Medicare for Medicare beneficiaries) when referred by a
physician. In addition, we offer private
duty care which includes:
♥ Companionship ♥ Meal Preparation ♥ Incidental Transportation ♥ Grocery Shopping ♥ Feeding ♥ Bathing & Grooming ♥ Mobility ♥ Transferring &
positioning ♥ Incontinence Care
♥ Medication reminder ♥ Oral Hygiene
♥ 24-hour care available. Please contact us at
407-856-1880 or info@heartfelthomecare.com
for further information. |
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Susan Hightower, has joined
the AYS team. Sue spent the past sixteen years in the
Commercial Real Estate forum working for well-known local companies such as
CNL, GE and SRS, selling investment properties nationwide. She has
diversified experience in all aspects of the business but her ability for
streamlining processes and increasing efficiencies speaks to her natural talent
for organization. Her emphasis on customer service and long-term
relationship building made her a leader in the field.
Sue will focus on growing the AYS brand as well as providing
organizing, interior restyling and event planning services. |
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Jolynn Haven Lynette Reynolds Rod Wiesinger
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