In This Issue
FEATURE ARTICLE: New Look, New Message, New Focus. The Value of Extraordinary Service
Kudos From Kelly
8 Tips for Getting Your Loved Ones with Alzheimer's to Stop Driving
Want to raise empathetic kids? Get them a dog
Alan Weiss on New Year's Accountabilities
Providers We Love



Photos in top banner: Luke
Dolan practicing motorcycle
riding!; Regina, Zoё and
Charlotte laughing;  Judy and Charolette playing on the floor.


 






































































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Regina McNamara RN, MSN President   *    Kelly McNamara, Chief Operating Officer



Here at Always There Home Care, we are grateful you are slowing down to read our newsletter full of items that relate to home care, home health care, aging and eldercare, as well as some useful tips for daily living. Please enjoy in the spirit of community and cooperation in which this newsletter was sent.

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FEATURE ARTICLE

New Look, New Message,
New Focus. The Value of Extraordinary Service
By Regina McNamara, RN, MSN, MPH, Owner

We enter 2016, our ninth year of service, during a watershed time in our industry.  New federal regulations, state mandates, and other changes have reversed over 35 years of agency oversight.

These transformations have led many owners to initiate quick fixes, over react, or worse, do little, waiting for their world to change.

It will be a year of agency closings, consolidations and massive caregiver shortages as home care workers seek stable work environments.

This is the year of our greatest opportunity. We have built our company on a simple commitment to providing exceptional care and support to the loved ones of our clients who need substantial guidance in planning the care of their elderly and disabled family members. 


Kudos from Kelly
 
 KUDOS from Kelly
   By Kelly McNamara
  
Jennifer Adu Gyamfi: Jennifer has in her care for one of clients for several weeks now, following the departure of their regular caregiver of several months.

Jennifer is caring, eager and young.  She was excited about the new assignment and its many challenges.  Luckily she is an animal lover since the family included a very large dog and 2 very nosy cats that rule the household.  Like many of our caregivers Jennifer is an immigrant who is a bit unfamiliar with food customs in the USA.  Her diet for example does not consist primarily of meat and potatoes.

But her gentle ways, her interest in the many interests of the couple in her care her family members and especially great grandchildren, combine to make her a special match for this family.  She learned American cooking customs by going over simple cookbooks which she and the client's wife enjoyed reading as much as using for meal prep.  Having lost a bit of interest in cooking, the client's wife now showed a renewed interest in cooking and eating, a wonderful change.

As a recent birthday day gift to this lovely lady, A. C, the company purchased an iPad for her.  Thus 90 something now has a keen interest in large print books an endless source of her beautiful great grandchildren.

Still a rookie to our company, Jennifer is now a very special member of our team and a real asset to the C family. Welcome Jennifer!

All caregivers mentioned in this column will receive a gift card and our sincere appreciation!  Many many thanks to all of you for once again extending yourselves to ensure that we are of course Always There...!!


8 Tips for Getting Your Loved Ones with Alzheimer's to Stop Driving before They Hurt Themselves or Someone Else  Getting a loved one with Alzheimer's disease to stop driving is one of the most difficult tasks you will ever have to accomplish. 
By Marie Marley  Alzheimer's Reading Room 
 
ACCIDENT - an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance; an unexpected happening causing loss or injury for which legal relief may be sought.
 
A person living with dementia will usually strenuously object for many reasons, but primarily because it means giving up a great deal of their independence.

Two primary questions are involved: When should the person stop driving? How do you get them to stop?


  Want to raise empathetic kids
  Get them a dog. The unexpected   
   developmental benefits of having a pet.  
   By: Regina McNamara

The newest research in empathy in healthcare has as its conclusion an unfortunate trend. While patients and families value empathy highest on the list of valued traits in their health care providers, these same professionals pay it scant attention.

I was fortunate to learn about the program Empathetics. LLC and to spend time with its director Helen Riess MD, In Boston last year.  Her commitment to the science/art of empathy and her comprehensive research demonstrates that patients who receive empathic care from their health care providers have better outcomes and  more satisfaction at lower costs.


Alan Weiss on New
Year's Accountabilities

Forget about "resolutions," which have as much power and authority as a Congressional resolution or UN resolution: zero. Here are some New Year's Accountabilities:
  • Take time to exercise and improve/sustain your physical health. Don't get around to it when you can. Schedule the time and the trainer.
  • Engage in at least one developmental activity per quarter. Build your assertiveness skills, or learn to paint, or develop coaching approaches, or take up an instrument or all of the above or whatever suits you.
  • Acquire new friends. You don't have to abandon the current ones (although some you probably should) but you do need to find people who can make you "stretch" and from whom you can learn.
  • Lower your stress level. Stress is a killer, from masking talent to creating serious illness. Practice more patience and stop taking random events personally.

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

Seabury Active Living Retirement Community,  
and Seabury at Home, Bloomfield

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 impressive participation of its residents in the fitness facility. Seabury also has an innovative Life Care program and Seabury at Home service. 


 About Always There Home Care


Always There Home Care provides compassionate, dependable and professional one-on-one care for seniors who need assistance in the comfort of their homes or residential care communities.  Services from highly qualified and trained caregivers range from companionship, meal preparation and incidental transportation to personal care, medication management and RN-directed case management. Available 7 days a week, services range from a few hours a day to 24-hour care.

Always There Home Care understands that every situation is unique and creates individualized care plans to help improve a client's quality of life.

Even Longer Dotted Divider Line

Our caregivers 

 

Our caregivers are totally committed, highly qualified and carefully selected individuals who are personally and thoroughly screened, bonded and insured. Most are Certified Nurse Assistants or Home Health Aides. Most importantly our caregivers are dependable and extraordinarily caring of others. In addition to their previous experience, our caregivers receive continuous training that includes dementia, hospice care, home safety, nutrition and other topics related to seniors. These highly qualified and trained caregivers are ready to help you and your loved ones with a variety of daily activities such as:

Personal care   /  Meal planning and preparation

Transportation to doctor appointments and other errands

Caring companionship   /  Light housekeeping

Medication reminders  /   Information and referral services   

Our personalized, nurse- supervised services are available 7 days a week and can range from a few hours a day to 24 hour and live in care.


Even Longer Dotted Divider Line

For more information or service needs, call 24 hours a day at: 800.348.0485 or visit www.AlwaysThereHomeCare-CT.com.

We are Always There!