National Family Caregivers Month
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Visit Visiting Angels of Burlington & Mercer Counties for more information and to download our free resources.
For more ideas on ways to research and make wise choices, we recommend the following resources:
Respite Tips for Caregivers
Brochure that encourages informal caregivers to consider
using respite services and offers suggestions about ways to make their respite
time most effective.
WebMD's Caregiver Burnout Symptoms
Learn to recognize the symptoms of caregiver burnout
through advice from WebMD.
Help Guide: Understand Respite Care
Learn more about the different types of respite care.
Celebrate National Family Caregivers Month
There are many ways to celebrate family
caregivers and to take action and communicate the important messages of NFC
Month. Check out these ideas and guides to help you create a successful
National Family Caregivers Month in your community.
Taking Care of YOU: Self-Care for Family
An informative guide with valuable tips for keeping
healthy while delivering care to others.
Achieving Emotional Distance from Overwhelming Caregiving Responsibilities
Learn
a strategy to help a caregiver deal with feelings and be objective in providing
daily care over the long-term to a loved one.
Workplace Programs for Family Caregivers
Provides information on workplace programs for family
caregivers.
Family Caregiving Statistics
Great statistics on family caregivers and family
caregiving, provided by the National Family Caregivers Association.
Tips for Surviving the Stressful Holiday Season
Here are some helpful tips from AlzOnline for surviving
the stressful holiday season.
FAQ's on Caregiving
Informative FAQ's on caregiving from the Department of
Health and Human Services.
Strategies for Employers to Support Working Caregivers
AARP offers information and retention strategies for
employers to support working caregivers.
An Online Resource and Community for Family Caregivers
Strength for Caring is an online resource and community
for family caregivers, helping them to take care of their loved ones and
themselves.
An Interactive Social Networking Community for Caregivers
Revolution Health has developed an interactive social
networking community for caregivers to meet others who share their interests,
goals, challenges and more.
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Signs & Symptoms of Alzheimer's
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Problems doing simple tasks, such as getting
dressed
Difficulty talking with others
Trouble
with knowing the time, date, or place
Poor
judgment, such as going out in the cold without a coat
Trouble
solving problems
Losing
things, such as keys, more than usual
Changes
in mood and behavior
Forgetting
both recent and past events
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DID YOU KNOW?
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According to the National Academy
on Aging Society, there are 8.5 million people over age 70 in America with
limitations in walking, dressing, bathing, shopping, paying bills and preparing
meals.
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In
2007, according to the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance,
180,000 Americans received benefit payments through long-term care insurance.
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Just
12% of the U.S.
population was 65 and older in 2005, about 36.7 million people. By 2030, that
number is expected to jump to nearly 20%, according to U.S. Census Bureau
estimates. By then, more than 71 million Americans will be senior citizens. |
Long Term Care Insurance Tools:
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Cost of care in your area
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Greetings!
In this month of Thanksgiving, Visiting Angels of Burlington & Mercer Counties
wishes to extend early holiday greetings to you and your friends,
families and co-workers. Our commitment to bringing you the latest and
most important news in home care, home health care and elder care news
continues. We recommend that you share this newsletter with others who
might also be interested, and we thank you for your continued
attention.
Please enjoy these articles in the spirit of community in which this newsletter was sent.
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The Key to Alzheimer's: Recognizing Symptoms and Seeking Early Detection
 In
a new online survey conducted by Harris Interactive and commissioned by
the Alzheimer's Disease Screening Discussion Group (ADSDG) titled,
"Alzheimer's Disease: Current Attitudes, Perceptions and Knowledge," it
is reported that nearly 95% of the survey participants agreed they
would encourage a loved one to seek early diagnosis if they suspected
signs of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
However, the report goes on
to state that of the 34% who previously thought a loved one had the
disease, only about one-quarter prompted that person to take an AD
screener test, and less than 40% encouraged initiating a conversation
with his or her doctor.
Given the rise of AD as the baby
boomer population ages - up to 16 million are estimated to have the
disease by 2050 - these new survey results are particularly important.
The ADSDG encourages everyone with a loved one age 55 and over to visit
http://www.seethesigns.com
if symptoms are suspected. The link has resources to learn more about
the disease, its signs and symptoms, and has an online memory screener
one can complete on behalf of a loved one.
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Looking Out for
the Elderly with Financial Abuse Training
It is
estimated that over 80% of incidents affecting millions of seniors who are the
victims of financial exploitation each year go unreported. Seventeen states and Washington, D.C.
have passed laws that require bank personnel to report suspected cases of elder
financial abuse and hold banks liable should they fail to report suspicions of
elder financial abuse. Another 33 states recommend that bank personnel report
those suspected cases.
The Banker's
Academy is now offering training to bank personnel through a new program, Focus on Elder Financial Abuse, that teaches bank
employees how to recognize the signs of elder financial abuse, in order to
better protect customers.
For a full
demonstration of Focus on Elder
Financial Abuse contact the Banker's Academy online here or call (888)-433-2666.
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Grandparents
Raising Grandchildren: A 21st Century Common Family Scenario
 Now there is help for
grandparents who are the surrogate parents to their grandchildren. A new audio
tape series written by Nancy Kropf, PhD, from the University
of Georgia's School of Social Work
is a series of 8 tapes, each containing a conversation. Some of the topics
covered on the tape series are:
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Taking care of
your health
- Being involved
in relationships with family and friends
- Addressing your
legal questions and concerns like custody, guardianship, or having a will
- Finding
resources in the community for you and your grandchild(ren)
- Making the best
of your relationship with your grandchild(ren)
- AND, taking care
of yourself
View http://www.isd.uga.edu/production/letstalk.htm
to order. For
more information call CTL at 706-542-3456.
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Gerontological
Certifications Meet Demands of an Aging Society
Because the
population of the United
States is growing older, the increasing
numbers of elderly persons will mean an increasing demand for individuals with
the skills and insight gained from training in gerontology. 350 college and
university programs now belong to the Association for Gerontology in Higher
Education, and offer a special course of study in addition to a traditional
discipline resulting in a "certificate." Visit their Web site for more information.
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Women at Distinct Disadvantage in Managing Independent Living
as They Age
 A new Web-based tutorial
from the Kaiser Family Foundation, "Health Care and Long-Term Care Policy:
Concerns Facing Older Women," notes that older women are more predisposed
to having limitations and needing assistance with activities of daily living as
they age. This tutorial states that of the 65 and older population, women
comprise the majority of home health users - 68% - and not only because they
live longer on average than men. The Kaiser tutorial notes that almost
one-quarter of older women have a cognitive or mental impairment.
The
tutorial states that women are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to
managing independent living as their health deteriorates because although there
are about twice as many women over age 85 than men, women are twice as likely
as men to be living alone in senior years. Due to lower average incomes during
their lifetimes, significantly more older women have incomes less than $20,000
per year. Those factors make the costs of long-term care a particular burden
for older women.
The
free online tutorial is narrated by Alina Salganicoff, Vice President and Director
of Women's Health Policy for the foundation, and available free online here.
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Webcast Resource -
How Technology Can Help Aging Gracefully at Home
Parks Associates, a research
firm, is featured in this Webcast, which outlines the latest information on the
adoption of assistive technologies such as motion-detection sensors, health
vital sign monitoring and medication compliance monitoring.
Parks Associates' research shows that advanced health
technologies will help senior citizens live more independently at home, perhaps
more worry-free for their loved ones and with capabilities to be "always-in-the-know"
for their caregivers. This Webcast features Harry Wang, Director of Health
and Mobile Product Research for Parks Associates, and invited guest speakers who
analyze the market needs and interest in these aging-at-home technologies,
assess their market-readiness, and discuss current and future service and
revenue models.
Find out more here.
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Video
Games Not Just For Kids!
 Nintendo has infiltrated the senior
activity world with Wii. The buzz about Wii is spreading rapidly as it is not
just a gaming console, but the device provides a reason to get together with
friends and family to play today's hottest video games. Seniors can enjoy electronic virtual
sports like bowling that they can play by using subtle body movements, thus
providing exercise as well as socialization. Want to get in the game? For more
information visit http://www.nintendo.com/wii
or ask your grandchildren.
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Meet Your Robotic Caregiver, uBOT-5!
A new robotic assistant, uBOT-5, can
call 911, remind people to take medications and navigate around the house to
look for them by electronic command. Among other capabilities, it can carry a
2.2-pound package in its raised arms and offer a virtual visit with a
grandchild via a computer screen. Doctors can conduct house calls through the
uBOT-5's secure Internet connection. The robot can even apply a digital
stethoscope to the patient, relaying important medical information.
However, the uBOT-5 is not yet on
the market. It was developed by researchers at the University of Massachusetts,
Amherst and built to fill the specific need of acquiring,
transporting, and placing objects -- otherwise known as "pick-and-place"
tasks.
Visit their Web site
for more information, photos and details.
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Virtual
Visiting: Remote Safety Testing
Managed from a remote Web site, ConnectR can be told to
navigate through a house to see if residents are safe. Other features: it
allows real-time virtual visits with family and pets. A national testing
program is being conducted now. For ConnectR's progress in getting the product to
retail, go to www.irobot.com.
To sign up for information, click here.
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Beep Beep: Let Me Help You Find Your Glasses and Slippers
My name is Loc8tor, and I am an
electronic device that is handheld and can help you locate items using
radio-frequency identification tags attached (at a maximum range of 600 feet).
Visit their Web site for more information.
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Man's Best Friend Suffers from
Aging Problems Also
These common problems
that affect aging pets are offered with solutions that might help:
- Dementia: Most pets suffer mild
to severe dementia in their geriatric years. Drugs like Anipryl (selegiline)
can be effective, as can behavior modification techniques your veterinarian or
a veterinary behaviorist can prescribe.
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Arthritis: Weight loss for the
heavy to obese among us is imperative to arthritis patients of any species. But
pets won't lose weight if the pain keeps them from moving about. All
arthritic pets will improve with pet-specific pain relievers, but be careful; individual
tailoring of these drugs is a requirement.
- Blindness: A large percentage
of aging pets suffer cataracts. If caught in time, vision-saving cataract
surgery can be done at a veterinary ophthalmologist's practice. Ask your vet for
a referral. Other highly treatable conditions such as ''dry eye'' can also
cause blindness. Diligent care will typically prevent vision loss in these
pets.
- Deafness: As with blindness,
loss of a sense gives dementia a boost. That's why it's important to keep tabs
on a pet's hearing and let your vet know if it's declining. While veterinary
medicine has no good solution for most age-related hearing conditions, careful
owners will help their pets adapt to this loss with a stricter routine and
training solutions vets can recommend.
To learn
more about keeping aging from affecting your pet's quality of life for as long
as possible, visit http://www.dolittler.com/ (a blog
for pet lovers).
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What's Happening at Visiting Angels
We are happy to announce that, in order to
accommodate the growth of our operations, as of December 1, 2008, the new
address of our Mercer County office will be: 993 Lenox Drive, Suite 200, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. Kindly note
this change.
- Also, we will now be
able to service both our counties, Burlington and Mercer, under one new
telephone number: 609-883-8188. We take this opportunity to remind you that Visiting
Angels responds to all after-hours calls in 15 minutes
or less!
We were very pleased to
have participated at the Princeton Senior Resource Center's ("PSRC") 2008
Caregiver Conference "Caregiving with
Confidence" on Oct. 18th. Visiting Angels' "one-on-one" with
conference attendees, as well as our various materials on eldercare and respite
care resources, were well appreciated by both visitors and the PSRC staff. And, as you can see below, a very special
winner took our "Country Angel Basket" home with delight!
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Visiting Angels was also a proud contributor to the "Annual
Caregivers' Recognition Conference", given by the Home Health Services
Association of New Jersey on October 23rd. Lucy Damacela, our Office Manager and a Conference
Committee Member, worked tirelessly in helping to prepare for this special
event.
Thank you Lucy!!!
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We
congratulate Deborah Myslinski, Aftercare Coordinator, at Saul Funeral Homes
and her team for the great turnout at Saul's "4th Annual Fall Senior Fest", which was held on Oct. 21st at Angeloni's Cedar Gardens in Hamilton, NJ.
Both the trade exhibits and the luncheon were very well attended. Our own
Visiting Angels booth was again actively visited with many seniors showing
strong interest in our homecare services programs. Shortly after, we were proud to welcome to
our office the winner of our "Car Safety Basket". See photos below:
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As part of our ongoing
commitment to reach out to the community on homecare and eldercare issues, we
are hard at work preparing for our upcoming participation as Platinum Sponsor
of:
- Burlington County Woman's "2nd Annual
Women's Expo": Saturday, Nov. 15 from 9:00-3:00 at the
Hartford Intermediate School, 397 Hartford Rd, Mount Laurel, NJ.
Stress-Free
Holidays!
The Importance of Caring for a Family Caregiver.
This
important presentation is geared towards those who care for a loved
one living at home.
It teaches that
in order to provide solid care for another, family caregivers must first take
care of themselves! The holiday season poses a specific challenge for family
caregivers, who are often overwhelmed with the multitude of extra tasks piled
high on their to-do lists. During this seminar we will cover:
- How to cope with holiday-related stress
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Tips for those who care for parents and their own
children at the same time
- Understanding "caregiver burnout": What caregiver
burnout is and how you can avoid it!
In addition, we
will educate on the importance of respite care and how respite care can be the
key to avoiding caregiver overload and burnout.
Don't be
overwhelmed with
stress and tension this holiday season!
Instead,
let pre-planning and simple tips help you relax and feel the spirit of holiday
joy.
Come join
us at the Women's Expo on
November 15th in Mount Laurel, NJ!
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Pick up a copy of the November/December
editions of Mercer County Woman and Burlington County Woman newspapers. On page 4 of each, you can read Nora's latest
eldercare/ homecare article: "Aging
Successfully In Place - Developing a Care Plan for Staying in the Home".
This is the second in a two-part series that started with Nora's article "Is Your Loved One Safe Living Alone? A Working Assessment
Guide for Families", which garnered
rave reviews from its readership. As you may recall, in this earlier article
Nora helped readers create their own working guide on how to assess a loved
one's current living situation, behaviors and independence levels.
Copies of both articles
are available on our website under "Press Room".
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Visiting Angels of Burlington & Mercer Counties:
About Our Care
Visiting Angels of Burlington
& Mercer Counties is a New Jersey-licensed, non-medical home care company
committed to going well beyond the "industry standard" to provide an
exceptional level of security, comfort and peace of mind to our clients and
their loved ones. Our "Angels", all certified home health professionals, are ready to
provide compassionate and dependable assistance with the activities of everyday
living to seniors, the disabled, those recovering from surgery and to those who
are simply frail. Our services include such simple tasks as light
housekeeping, meal preparation, errands and shopping to more personal tasks
such as hygiene assistance, bathing, dressing and grooming.
Visiting Angels' in-home
care helps make it possible for seniors and adults with special needs to
continue to live at home and maintain the independence of their daily routines
and familiar surroundings, for as long as they can do so safely. We truly
understand how challenging and alien the entire home care selection process can
be ... and we are experienced in working with families; with loved ones
"resistant" to receiving care; and with third-parties payors (such as insurance
companies and the US Dept. of Veterans Affairs) to help insure that the best
interests of the family and their loved ones are met. Visiting Angels' services
help families spend more mutually-rewarding and meaningful time with their
loved ones and also helps provide comfort and peace of mind to those who face
the challenge of long-distance caregiving.
For more information, please
visit our website, www.VisitingAngels.com/Burling-Mercer; call us at
609-883-8188; or contact us by email at
info.VisitingAngels@comcast.net.
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Angel News
