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Persons caring for elderly loved ones now have a valuable resource available to them with the launch of an innovative program designed specifically to support and guide the caregiver at every step — ElderTouch Health. As we age, our health care needs increase and change, requiring greater attention to preserve health and minimize the impact of illness. This places a significant burden on caregivers. Identifying and coordinating appropriate care resources can be extremely time consuming and difficult for caregivers. ElderTouch Health offers a comprehensive health coordination program that:
- Provides caregivers and family members with information and guidance while reducing the confusion and stress associated with elder-care responsibilities
- Maintains and enhances health of elderly loved ones through comprehensive health assessments, improved coordination of care, and ongoing review of the appropriateness and affordability of prescribed medications
- Facilitates aging in place
According to AARP, the typical caregiver, a 46-year-old woman who works out of the home while taking care of a loved one, is generally required to reduce the hours she works by 41% in order to attend to eldercare responsibilities. And the cost also shows up in the health of caregivers, who report higher rates of conditions such as high blood pressure and depression.
For more information, visit eldertouchhealth.com
Good intentions only get baby boomers so far in trying to care for their aging parents. No matter how hard one tries to get the best care possible for a loved one, it’s still easy to get overwhelmed, frustrated, angry and disappointed in the process.
One Minnesota baby boomer seemed to have an ideal combination of resources to care for her aging mother — 10 siblings as caretakers; a doctor, a lawyer and a geriatric social worker in the family; and multiple housing options from which to choose.
Even with these resources and a carefully considered plan, this was not enough. Her mother experienced three broken hips (including two in one week), staffing issues that added to medical problems, continual shifts in housing to address changing care needs, medication complications, and sudden memory problems. The greatest frustrations and struggles though, have resulted from the bureaucracy of the elder care system, which culminated in a letter sent from the government telling the family members their mother was dead (she wasn’t).
Julie Groshens wondered how families get through the maze of elder care options without a social-worker sibling to guide them. Nearly every day, she heard similar stories from colleagues, friends and family. So Groshens decided to form Elder Care Expos, LLC, a Minnesota-based company that produces elder-care resource events for the public.
On May 9 and 10, Groshens and her two partners will launch the Elder Care Expo 2008 in St. Paul, Minn. The expo will be held in the Education Building at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day.
For more information, visit choosingeldercare.com
Tender Tidings, Inc. announced today the launch of a new Internet based solution for caregivers of the elderly. Caregivers will be able to visually monitor their aged loved ones via streaming video from any computer with a high speed Internet connection.
Whether at work, at home, or traveling, caregivers now have the ability to check on their senior loved ones through a convenient, affordable, easy to install wireless camera that can be placed in any room of the senior’s home.
Besides the high-quality wireless camera, TenderTidingsSeniors.com offers a collaborative, on-line calendar so family members can keep up with important appointments and events. They also have access to convenient notepads and reminder tools for communicating with in-home caregivers.
TenderTidingsSeniors.com was created by a mother/daughter team: Elaine Osteen, whose mother-in-law with the early stages of dementia lives right around the corner, and Amy Howell, who lives two hours away from her grandmother.
Because so many caregivers share that responsibility with siblings or other family members, the whole family can share one subscription. The main caregiver, or the Guardian, can issue passwords to other trusted friends or family members and each can access the video of their elderly loved whenever it’s convenient for them.
TenderTidingsSeniors.com gives peace of mind to the elderly as well as their caregivers. They know they are not alone. One woman in her 80’s remarked that she loved Tender Tidings because now her children call her more often just to talk about what they saw her doing that day! That’s what it’s all about - keeping families better connected.
For more information, visit tendertidingsseniors.com
LifeBio, Inc., a company that empowers both consumers and residents in senior living communities to record their memoirs, grew 300 percent last year with dozens of independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing communities adopting the life story and reminiscence program. After such a successful 2007, the company has nothing but high hopes for 2008.
The LifeBio Certified Community Program provides easy-to-use tools for people to record their autobiographies in various ways.
Participants can choose to type their memoirs online or handwrite them in a specially-designed fill-in-the-blank guide called the Memory Journal which provides carefully-crafted life questions. Other shorter templates are available as well as specific materials for journaling and conversation starters for people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. LifeBio.com’s online autobiographies can be printed in a hardbound Legacy Book or outputted as an Adobe PDF file.
LifeBio provides intensive training for the staff of communities on reminiscence and also curriculum so residents can take a LifeBio 101 class together and prompt each other to remember more.
The program is also a healthy brain exercise for the residents.
For more information, visit lifebio.com
