Author: Meghan Parsons

Do you have a bucket list? Not that bucket list, the one for downsizing!

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Starting the downsizing process well in advance of a move or de-cluttering your home early can save time, headaches, stress, and dollars later. Do you really need that much stuff in your home?  More stuff equals more stress. More clutter equals more dust.  Getting rid of the excess stuff and clutter can make your house easier to clean, create a healthier environment for you, and save you money on costs. Do you have a storage unit? Why? When is the last time you took anything out?

Before we talk bucket list, let’s talk about why we keep things too long.  The most common reasons are:

But I have to keep it…..

1. It is a family heirloom

2.  It was given to me as a gift

3. I might need it someday

4. I paid a lot of money for it

All very valid.  Give it to another family member who may even cherish the treasure more.  Give it as a gift to a charity. Now pick a room to start in! Begin in one corner and go clockwise around the room (or counter-clockwise, whichever keeps you going).  Look in every nook, cranny, and storage unit. Use the OHIO rule. Only Handle It Once.  If you touch it, it belongs in a “bucket”.

Here is your bucket list so you can start living your real Bucket List:

1. Keep it and/or move it. These are your treasures and you have reason to keep them.

2. Give it to family.  We have many ideas to help facilitate this.  Give us a call.

3. Sell it. Craigslist, eBay, Amazon, or estate sale? All are valid options. We can help you decide which method is best.

4. Donate it. There are many charities who would love to have your excess stuff.  Some will pick up and some will not. Some will take electronics and mattresses, some will not. We have relationships with many charities near and far and can help expedite the excess treasures to new homes.

5. Recycle and dispose. Sort through all of that paper.  Only keep what is really important, shred what is sensitive, and recycle what is left. Depending on the amount remaining after filling all the other buckets, you may be able to fill a garbage can or a large dumpster.

A Senior Move Manager (a trademarked term through the NASMM) can provide guidance, encouragement, and hands-on help to help you STAY in your home.  Working closely with a senior move manager that you can rely on and trust may give you great peace of mind. Most importantly, allowing a senior move manager to help with the move frees up time so that you can spend quality time with your family rather than focusing on all the action items. You can go through cherished memories and create new ones, while the senior move manager takes care of all of the details and the worry.

Article Provided By:
Soft Ladings for Seniors
503-893-4252
www.SoftLandingsforSeniors.com

Navigating Hospice: What You Need to Know

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Considering and beginning hospice care are sensitive times not only for the individual but for their loved ones too. Here are answers to a few questions to help as you begin this journey. 

What is hospice?

Those who receive hospice care are seeking comfort and compassion as they near the end of life. The goal of hospice is to help the patient rest comfortably. Caregivers focus on providing comfort, companionship, and peace.

They provide care wherever the individual calls home, whether it be their own home, a skilled nursing facility, an assisted living community, or an adult foster home.

What does hospice care involve?

Hospice care includes four levels of care: routine home care, continuous care, general inpatient care, and respite care.

Routine home care is a starting point for most patients in hospice because it allows the patient to live wherever they call home while receiving the care they need to help them feel comfortable.

Continuous care is provided for brief periods when the patient has high needs. Hospice nurses or aids care for these patients round-the-clock to avoid hospitalization.

General inpatient care includes any needs that can’t be managed at home. Patients needing this type of care are sent to a hospital or inpatient unit until their symptoms are alleviated enough to be able to return to their home.

Respite care is temporary care provided to give family caregivers a break.

How will I know when it’s time to consider hospice?

The right time for hospice is different for each individual and family. Hospice is an individualized approach to end-of-life care. It meets the patient wherever they are in their care.

Frequent hospitalization, doctor visits, and skilled nursing stays are a few factors to watch for. Talk with a physician to discuss what will work best for your loved one.

My family member is ready for hospice. Where do I begin?

People who qualify for hospice have a life expectancy of six months or less. To determine if your loved one is ready for hospice, he or she needs recommendations from two physicians. They will determine the life expectancy based on a physical assessment, medical history, and other diagnoses.

How long does hospice care last?

Hospice is an elected benefit meant to serve patients in the last six months of their lives. Your loved one is welcome to remain in hospice care as long as they meet the criteria.

Some patients remain on hospice longer than six months and some improve and graduate from hospice care, moving on to independent living or home health. Others remain in hospice care and receive help and comfort as they and their families prepare. 

Article Provided By:
Signature Healthcare at Home
800-936-4756
www.SignatureHCH.com

Regenerative Medicine – Stem Cell Therapy 101

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What is regenerative medicine?

Regenerative Medicine is the process of creating living, functional tissues to repair or replace tissue or organ function lost due to damage, or congenital defects. This field holds the promise of regenerating damaged tissues and organs in the body by stimulating previously irreparable organs to heal themselves.

Stem Cell Basics

Stem cells are unique cells in our body that have the ability to replicate and differentiate while rebuilding and repairing us since our very first injury. They can change into any type of cell found in your body including; ligaments, tendons, cartilage, or muscle tissues. They seek out areas of injury, disease, and destruction and are capable of regenerating new, healthy cells while accelerating the natural healing process. Stem cells have been especially effective in healing degenerative joint conditions.

Committed to the Advancement of Regenerative Medicine

The best stem cell treatment clinics are committed to both clinical research, and the advancement of regenerative medicine. This is important to the patient as it ensures the highest level and quality of medical treatment. One of the safeguards to look for is whether the stem cell treatment provider is part of, or working with an accredited stem cell therapy organization. This will help ensure that you are dealing with credentialed physicians who are using the same sterile-closed surgical procedures that process stem cells from a patient’s own source of regenerative cells.

Stem cell clinic networks help facilitate the collection of data from other affiliates centers to share data, best practices, and clinical experiences, helping individual clinics to achieve higher levels of scientific understanding of the field, as well as the optimization of medical care for their patients.

Patients who are looking for non-surgical options to their degenerative disorders are not required to participate in these trials. However, if they choose to, the procedure usually only requires filling out a simple treatment application in order to determine if they are candidates.

Attending Seminars for Free Education

Stem Cell Therapy seminars are free seminars to educate people about how stem cell therapies work to reduce inflammation, decrease pain, and regenerate healthy cells to return patients to a healthy state. They should NOT be used as a platform for selling medical services. Usually, the discussion is around the stem cell replacement process, what conditions it can treat, and what benefits real patients have seen. Register for a seminar near you to get answers for your specific medical issue. Also, be advised that different clinics will offer different therapies (bone marrow, adipose/fat, and others) depending upon their expertise and model. Do your research before attending, by researching the various treatments online and what that particular clinic specializes in.

Article Provided By:
Cellutions Center
360-464-1492
www.CellutionsNow.com

The Key to Healthy Aging Lies in the Gut

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Did you know that your body is an ecosystem?

Over the past several decades, scientists have discovered a whole new world. We now know our body is covered in trillions of tiny microbes, most of which live in the gut. Many people recoil at this news because we ’ve been taught for so long that bacteria are bad. While some bacteria, like Clostridium difficile (C.diff), are very bad, most of the bacteria on your body are good and live in harmony with you. Like an ecosystem, they work to allow our bodies the ability to not only survive but thrive. They create hormones that support the brain and provide nutrients needed for survival. They even influence how we process pharmaceutical medications. We now refer to this previously unseen world as the human microbiome.

So, what does the microbiome have to do with you and healthy aging?

The more we learn, the more we see that a diverse, balanced microbiome is the key to a healthy aging body. In fact, loss of diversity appears to be one of the most important things we can correlate with biologic age. So if you want to be a 90-year-old with the biologic age of a 60-year-old, the key may lie in the diversity of your gut ecosystem.

How do you know you have an imbalance from loss of diversity?

When symptoms like constipation and diarrhea appear, they are often indications of a problem with this gut ecosystem. Imbalances can come from many things including poor nutrition, troubled sleep, or even medications. For example, when a person takes antibiotics for an infection, a side effect is that the good bacteria are killed along with the bad. It is like clear-cutting a forest. Killing aspects of the ecosystem create open space for bad bacteria, like C.diff, to grow, causing infectious diarrhea. Yikes! These imbalances put a strain on your body’s ability to function as a healthy ecosystem. With aging, we lose diversity and our bodies take longer to bounce back from an imbalance. However, there are many ways to reestablish equilibrium.

How do you support the microbiome?

There are many ways to support your gut microbes. Things like a healthy diet, exercise, and even stress management all support microbiome diversity. In the specific case of people suffering from C.diff, there are options like Fecal Microbiota Transplant. It’s the process of putting healthy stool from a donor into the colon of a sick recipient. The good bacteria outcompete the infectious C.diff bacteria and re-establish a balanced environment. That may seem crazy but it’s the perfect example of the power of this microbial ecosystem. So next time you think about healthy aging, think about supporting your gut.

Article Provided by:
Flora Medicine
971-258-1152
www.FloraMedicine.com

Spotting Elder Abuse

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Perhaps you have already identified friends or neighbors who can stop in unannounced to be your eyes and ears. Sometimes, a geriatric care manager can help.

You can stay in touch with your family member by phone and take note of any comments or mood changes that might indicate neglect or mistreatment. These can happen in any setting, at any socioeconomic level. Abuse can take many forms, including domestic violence, emotional abuse, financial abuse, theft, and neglect.

Sometimes the abuser is a hired caregiver, but he or she can also be someone familiar. Stress can take a toll when adult children are caring for aging parents, or when an older person is caring for an aging spouse or sibling. In some families, the abuse continues a long-standing family pattern. In others, the older adult’s need for constant care can cause a caregiver to lash out verbally or physically. In some cases, especially in the middle to late stages of Alzheimer’s disease, the older adult may become difficult to manage and physically aggressive, causing harm to the caregiver. This might cause a caregiver to respond angrily.

But no matter who is the abuser or what is the cause, abuse and neglect are never acceptable responses. If you feel that your family member is in physical danger, contact the authorities right away. If you suspect abuse, but do not feel there is an immediate risk, talk to someone who can act on your behalf: your parent’s doctor, for instance, or your contact at a home health agency. Suspected abuse must be reported to adult protective services.

Signs of Self-Neglect

Self-neglect describes situations in which older people put themselves at high risk. People who neglect themselves may have a disorder that impairs their judgment or memory. They may have a chronic disease. Knowing where to draw the line between a person’s right to independence and self-neglect can be hard. Here are some signs that may mean it’s time to intervene, although they can be hard to recognize during a short visit:

  • Hoarding
  • Failure to take essential medications or refusal to seek medical treatment for a serious illness
  • Leaving a burning stove unattended
  • Poor hygiene
  • Not wearing suitable clothing for the weather
  • Confusion
  • Inability to attend to housekeeping
  • Dehydration

For More Information About Elder Abuse

Eldercare Locator-https://eldercare.acl.gov

National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse- www.preventelderabuse.org

National Center on Elder Abuse- https://ncea.acl.gov

Article Provided By:
National Institute on Health
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/spotting-elder-abuse-tips-long-distance-caregivers

Creating Memories for Those Struggling to Find Them

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Many aging seniors lose the ability to recall memories.  Some of this is a result of the aging process but for far too many it’s because of Alzheimer’s and Dementia.  What are the options for seniors facing this challenge?  Verbalizing stories early in the diagnosis is an exercise worth exploring.  It can allow a family member to capture in writing or via audio recording the history that still resides in a senior’s mind.  Storytelling with pictures and images is another way to spur those memories that are “stuck” and often is a successful way to help a senior articulate their memories.  These memories are the connections from their past to who they are now and the challenges and fears they are facing as they age.

Another option explored is using art.  Imagine a group of people with memory challenges, gathering in a sunlit room.  They’re tentative, cautious, don’t know each other, and all are at an early stage in their diagnosis.  They are with a caregiver, often a spouse or family member, and they too are apprehensive at this process.  Soon enough though, they begin to act as a group, enthusiastically smearing colorful paints onto white paper.  Communication in this room is comfortably awkward as words are searched for and caregivers share stories of acceptance and learnings.  Anything goes for folks who feel like everything was taken.  Relaxation is attained and memories, however fleeting, in the grip of Alzheimer’s disease, are created.  Participants are, for the duration of the session, comfortable with each other.

Welcome to the weekly “Memories in the Making” watercolor session under the auspices of the Oregon Alzheimer’s Association. While participants pay nothing, what they gain is priceless. The best of their works will eventually go to auction to raise funds for programs such as this and to help the Alzheimer’s Association blunt the pain of a relentless disease.  In 2018, nearly $180,000 was raised from their paintings in the Portland Metropolitan market alone.

Classes like these are offered at the Alzheimer’s Association office, Home Matters Caregiving office, and at more than 200 care communities across Oregon. Being able to gently guide participants in this process allows others to see the remarkable artwork created by folks who, in some cases, are uncommunicative otherwise. “You know life makes sense when you bring joy to someone’s life in a way that they weren’t exposed to prior to this opportunity,” says Christina Foutch, an Occupational Therapist and a specialist in Alzheimer’s care. Not only is art created, but also memories.

For further information contact The Alzheimer’s Association 1650 NW Naito Pkwy, Portland, OR 97209 or 1.800.272.3900 and ask specifically for locations where Memories in The Making is being offered.

Article Provided By:
Home Matters Caregiving
503-352-5634
www.HomeMattersCaregiving.com

More Older Americans are “Unretiring”

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Many Older Americans who have retired from their previous jobs are returning to the workforce, a process some are calling “unretiring.”

The main reason for seniors choosing to return to work is unsurprisingly money, according to a survey commissioned by a senior care provider, Home Instead, that drew responses from more than 1,000 “unretired” people, as well as those nearing retirement, in the U.S. and Canada. But the second-most common reason was fighting boredom, with 44 percent of respondents citing it as the reason they jumped back into employment.

In part, the trend reflects the widespread shortfall in Americans’ retirement savings. A recent Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies report estimates that workers’ median retirement savings is only $71,000, far short of what experts say is needed to retire comfortably. Only 30 percent report accumulating $250,000 or more. Meanwhile, the number of older Americans filing for bankruptcy has surged fivefold since 1991.

While financial necessity is driving many older Americans to get a job, more than half of retirees age 50 and older are open to working again if the right opportunity comes along, according to a 2017 report from the Rand Corporation.

Around 39 percent of workers over age 65 who were currently employed had previously retired, Home Instead found. Of those that do come back, nearly two-thirds changed their line of work. For former hairdresser Nancy Kading, back problems forced early retirement from her 26-year long career. But she wasn’t ready to stop working.

“I didn’t enjoy retirement. I needed something. I needed to feel like there was a reason to get up. I needed to feel like I was needed,” Kading told CBS affiliate KXJB in an interview. “My identity was taken. I was always ‘Nancy the hairdresser’, and now I just was a retired person and I was only 48.”

She decided to come out of retirement and become a caregiver.

“It’s important that I do something, and I think we are meant to help other people. We aren’t meant to just sit and do nothing,” Kading said, “Actually just yesterday, I had a caregiver call and she said, ‘you know, this is the best second career I’ve ever had.’”

Article Provided By:
Home Instead Senior Living
www.HomeInstead.com

Character

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“Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed.”
– Cavett Robert

I cannot even count the times I start a new year, planning “to be healthier, blah blah blah”, Recently someone told me to really think about WHY I set a specific goal, and that will help me achieve it. Sitting on the couch watching HGTV wasn’t helping, so I changed my habits- and now the rest is starting to change as well. I realized that what I wanted most, is more important than what I may want at the moment.

Make the Best of the Situation

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“Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.” – John Wooden

I have never believed that everything happens for a reason, but I very much believe that you can find a reason for everything that happens. I know it is a subtle difference. We may experience hardship and other moments of extreme joy. The tough times can teach us how resilient we can be, and bring support from others we never would have reached out to. It is easier to find the good when you look for it.

Schedule Your Priorities

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“The key is not to prioritize your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
– Stephen Covey

Do you manage your schedule or does it manage you? I started my business 10 years ago with 2 toddlers because I wanted more time with family. But 3 years into the work, my 4 year old told me I was a bad mommy- and he was right. I was a good person, but not the most available parent. If someone looked only at your calendar and made a judgement based only on that- what appears to be your priorities? It is never too late to make a change. Good luck!