Adults with cognitive and/or physical challenges often need help with dressing, taking medications, preparing meals, and getting around the house and to the bathroom. Personal and home care assistants (PHCAs) are employed to do this work and, as such, they become a trusted companion and resource for their client. The work they do is vital to the dignity of each client’s quality of life.

Despite the important role of PHCAs, workers are commonly undercompensated and often work with few, if any, medical or retirement benefits. However, organizations such as the LeadingAge Center for Applied Research are working hard to scaffold the level of training these workers receive, increase their compensation, and to raise the profile of PHCAs to the point that they are seen as a critical component in the care and treatment of an increasingly large population of seniors in America.

In addition to the work of organizations such as LeadingAge, persons that employ PHCAs need to inquire about each worker’s level of training and to ensure workers have the level of competency required by their clients. Additionally, be sure to pay competent workers a fair and living wage. This ensures that quality eldercare workers can afford to continue their important work.

Home care is a growing business. As it evolves, it needs to be filled with trained and well-rewarded personal and home care assistants. All of us benefit when the ones we love are taken care in a professional and caring manner.

Source: Huffington Post

Hunt, in summing up the issue and suggesting a solution, stated, “”There is a broader problem of loneliness that in our busy lives we have utterly failed to confront as a society.”

He goes on to suggest that Britain should take a hint from Japan and China where elderly parents often live with their children and their families. He emphasizes a reinvigoration of respect and cohabitation across generations.

In England, the cause for concern has been heightened in recent months by reports of abuse and neglect in care homes as well as in studies indicating that elderly patients received only 15 minutes of personal attention a day.

Across the Western world, the attitude surrounding aging must improve, and as Hunt notes, “it will only start with changes in the way we personally treat our own parents and grandparents.”

Source: Channel Asia News

To read more on this article click HERE.

Crain’s Detroit Business

To read more on the article click HERE.

Popular providers United Healthcare, Bravo Health, and Highmark all cancelled some of their low-premium, low-deductible offerings. Seniors will need to select a new plan for 2014. Changes have occurred to several other plans, so it is worth looking into if you currently receive Medicare.

You can click here to read more at the Pittsburgh Post Gazzette.

Click and continue reading more HERE about the article, “Near or Far, Caregiving is Essential” .

Few things in life are as significant as becoming a grandparent. This familial growth creates opportunities for nurturing relationships and enduring legacies. As a grandparent, you create those legacies by sharing the activities you love as well as by listening to your grandchildren. You have an opportunity to influence a developing mind, to support your own children in their role as parents, and to provide joy in a child’s life.

Typically, as a grandparent, you are not part of the day-to-day responsibilities of parenting. Your presence, however, provides a child with continuity to an extended family. You can share family histories, funny stories of their own parents, and the traditions of your own upbringing. Additionally, contact with grandparents can teach children positive attitudes towards aging.

The most important activities between a grandparent and grandchild start with time spent together. This time is unique and essential. You share the things you love with your grandchild, while at the same time learning about the events, activities, and people that excite them. An excellent path towards nurturing this relationship is to enjoy leisure time together. Slow down; spend time outside, on a hike, or going to the pool. Sometimes the simple activities bring the most joy.

Of course, not all of us live close to our grandchildren. In fact, in this age of mobility, more and more grandparents live further and further away from their kin. A child’s life evolves very quickly, so special efforts are required for those long-distance relationships. However, the extra work is the foundation for a strong long-term relationship. Start at an early age, working with the parents to keep you up-to-date on your grandchild’s growth and interests. When the child is old enough to interact, whether on the phone, via email, or through regular mail, start engaging the child directly.

The digital age has broadened the capabilities to stay engaged and in contact with grandchildren. Email, instant messaging, video chat, and even social media networks provide multiple avenues to remain engaged with grandchildren. Try to use digital technologies for more than simple “How ya doing” questions. Start an online book club or fantasy sports league with your grandchild, or share videos of you or your grandkids enjoying a favorite hobby. The technology creates multiple avenues for increased interaction, particularly if geographical separation limits face-to-face contact.

Research notes the bond between grandparent and grandchild is a pure form of love and support. Grandparents provide an emotional safety net and a strong relationship with a grandparent creates an emotional security as well as respect and healthier attitudes towards older persons. Many successful young adults declare their one-on-one relationships with their grandparents as important aspects of their development. Creating this nurturing relationship, however, does not come without work. As a grandparent, you must share activities, communicate openly, hand down traditions, and stay in touch despite likely geographical separation. In the end, building and maintaining a relationship with your grandchild takes planning and foresight. However, the rewards are immeasurable. The investment pays dividends for the entire family.

It’s a growing phenomenon due to the fact that people are living longer, and young adults are struggling to get a solid start in the grown-up world. In recent studies conducted by Bruce Gregor of Financial Demographics, the number of adults who have parents still alive, and are now grandparents as well, has more than doubled since 1970. The trend is going to grow as strides in medicine and science continue to improve and people simply live longer.

The financial and emotional strain on a family can be significant. Many sandwiched homes still have adult children living with them, as well as caring for an elderly parent. While there is no official data held for ‘sandwiched’ homes, the number is significant and sure to become more prevalent in the future.

So what can a sandwich family do about this? Proper financial planning is critical. When elderly parents move into the home, checking on their current and future financial health and how to integrate it into the family can be helpful. Also, with young adults around, spreading out the burdens of taking care of older parents can relieve pressure off the home. Having a large family unit around can often be less of a burden and more of a boon if everyone is pitching in to run an effective home.

Source: Business Day

When I was young, my mother seemed so much older than she really was. I remember when she was forty and believed that she was wizen and aged. Well, now that I’m in my forties, it dawned on me just how young she was back then. I never considered though that someday she might actually pass away. I guess I figured she’d always be ‘mom’ and just live forever. But as she does actually move through the eventide of life, it’s time to take a few steps now that will help her later.

• Open dialogue. As much as I hope she lives another thousand years, we both know it most likely won’t happen. It’s ok to talk openly about her fears and needs as she ages. And this includes finances. Medical care and housing are going to need to be addressed, and the more I can make sure her wishes are fulfilled, the happier we will both be.
• Tidy up the legal aspects. Is the will updated? Who has power of attorney? Getting these legal matters resolved now, while everyone is clear of mind, will make the requirement later an easy task.
• Safety in the home. It’s amazing how some of the simple things are taken for granted, like the ability to walk up stairs. Taking a close look at how accessible a home is for someone that is aging can really help prevent falls, inconveniences, or worse: a dangerous injury. Check carpets for snags that can catch shuffling feet; faucets that are difficult to close off completely; clearly mark hazardous chemicals, medicines and other items that need close reading; consider installing easy to access handles, to name a few.

I am counting on my children to consider these few tips as well when I someday take the journey my mother is on right now.

Source: Care for Aging Parents