Medication, Aging.. What Every Caregiver Should Know!

In the changing healthcare climate, more and more families need to care for their elderly family and this presents many new skills to be learned. With cutbacks and tighter budgets in our healthcare systems there are fewer and fewer funded homecare hours to go around.  For those that have prepared for their retirement years and are able to stay in their own homes, having professional caregivers come in can alleviate much stress on family members and assist with medical needs such as medication administration.  For those that rely more on family assistance, caregivers are now having to learn to take care of much more than just groceries.  They may be required to assist with medication administration, injections, personal care such as incontinence and bowel routines.

Part of the aging process includes normal deterioration of the body and with this many seniors turn to their medical practitioners to assist them with coping with aging, disease and pain.  It is inevitable then, in our society that medication is a viable solution and widely used as we age. When caring for seniors, you will generally find medications and in some cases copious amounts of pills and solutions to go through on a daily basis.

When a senior gets to the point that he or she can no longer take care of their own affairs, this will inevitably include medical care. As a result of either physical or mental ailments, they are likely to have several prescriptions on the go for the various maladies, and all at the same time.  This may present them with a mammoth task to sort through all of them, which makes it extremely important that the caregiver be up to date on all aspects of the medication prescribed. The elderly person in your care has been prescribed the medication for a reason and, in some cases confusion on when and what to take may get complicated.

A caregiver must be sure to check medications for dates, diagnosis and duplications.  Many times, seniors seeing multiple doctors may be prescribed different meds by each of their doctors. Although many pharmacies now have double and triple checking processes in place to ensure patients are not being prescribed meds that can counter act with each other... different doctors may not be appraised of the many meds a senior could be taking. Due to many people having no family doctor, people are seeking the assistance of walk in clinics which most definitely presents the issue of medications interactions. 

There are steps you can to take to help yourself where the elderly person in your charge is concerned. Firstly, you must sort through all of the medications and make sure that you are fully informed about all of the dosages as well as checking that the prescriptions are up to date. One way that you can check your findings against the relevant prescriptions is a brief consultation with the doctor or pharmacist who has been dealing with the person you are looking after. Of course, they are not allowed to tell you about another individual’s medical history unless they receive the express consent of the individual in question. You should therefore take the senior in question with you or have Power of Attorney in place. Not only can the doctor or pharmacist then provide you with all of the information that you need, but he or she can also place your name on the necessary medical records to denote your status as primary carer.

Secondly you should ensure the prescriptions are all being filled by the same pharmacy each and every time.  Meet with the Pharmacist yourself including your senior if able and have a Med Check done.  Have your seniors medications changed into blister packs (some pharmacies charge a $2 fee and some waive this fee) for ease of administration for the senior and the caregiver. 

Thirdly, a caregiver should learn all he or she can about the diagnosis, the dosage and what the medication will accomplish.  Learning the implications and possible side effects can alleviate much frustration in the long run.  Speaking to the Pharmacist, reading on line on a reputable site are both good ideas. If you have a professional nurse coming into the home – speak to them and be sure to check their notes, keep apprised of their assessments and changes in status of your senior.

As soon as you are armed with all of the information you need, you can start to get organized. The most important thing to do is establish a routine so that no medications are ignored or forgotten about. The routine will also help the senior in your care to settle knowing they can trust you with this very important part of their health care.  He or she will be reassured by the fact that there are specific times for certain medications and will feel all the better for it. It will also give you peace of mind so that do not worry about the finer details that you may forget from day today. The routine will effectively take care of all of that.

You can use all kinds of tools to ensure that medications are taken in the correct doses at the correct times. It may be an idea to compile a checklist for you to fill in every day when medication has been taken. This will also enable you to keep track of the supply of each medication that you have. You will then know when it is time to refill the prescription. Daily dose boxes are also a fantastic idea in this sort of situation as well as the blister packages mentioned above. They come in little grids that are sealed to prevent the senior from getting to them and taking them at the wrong times or in the wrong doses. You can fill them at the start of every month, daily or weekly thus making your daily task of regulating the medication that little bit easier. It will also keep them all in the same place and save you valuable time that can be better spent doing other things.

Medication is an important part of any senior’s daily routine, but it is one that should be adhered to at all costs. Taking one tablet at the wrong time or in the wrong dose can have severe adverse effects and also cause further health problems that would best be avoided. By creating a highly organized system, you can avoid any such mistakes and enhance the life of the elderly person in your care as well as alleviate your own worry. 

T&E HealthPros offers nurses that can help you with creating a system for medication administration. Call 905.665.0518 for more info.

Caregivers, the Work Place and the Cost to Your Business!

Worth Noting!

As the baby boom generation ages and moves into retirement years and becomes elderly, the workers that make business function so efficiently are going to have additional demands placed on them of becoming the primary caregiver for an aging parent or loved one.  With many boomers reaching retirement age they are ready to leave the workforce themselves.

Never before has this created such a problem as it is about to in our economic climate as there are not enough younger workers to replace those retiring.  This means less skilled labour force and less taxes being paid in to cover costs of those retiring.    

It’s an issue that businesses can no longer afford to ignore in their employee population.  Just as the demands of parenting can have a huge impact on the workplace, the personal needs of your employees to take care of their aging parents will have an impact on the office and the productivity of your business.

The brutal truth is that skilled, trained and mature employees are not easily replaced.   With the work force shrinking, it’s foolish to think that a solid hard working employee who does a good work for your business can easily be replaced with a young person right out of school. The costs of training along with the learning curve of a job alone will be substantially more than any costs of accommodating existing employees.  Moreover, you cannot just replace knowledge, relationships, market savvy and wisdom which many of the employees in this age bracket bring to your business.

The first step to ensuring smooth transitions and focus on business is to understand what your workforce is experiencing.  Many may already be in the sandwich generation which includes caring for aging loved ones and still have children in university.  If you can partner with them to make them successful at home, they will work at their optimum in the workplace.

Start with some seminars and brown bag lunches where people can come and share the demands they are going through as caregivers for elderly parents or loved ones.  Invite everyone to these lunches because there may be many in your business who know that is coming up for them and want to learn all they can about what is ahead.  By making an open discussion of elderly care issues part of the discussion at work, you are communicating that you want to help what your employees are facing.  Creating a balance between work and home life is essential to employee production – offering workshops, speakers and information that allows them to learn skills to take into their care giving duties will alleviate stress.

Not all employees who are caregivers will need accommodation all the time.  If their parent’s needs are not that demanding or they have professional caregivers or have found a good day program to assist it may be more of an emotional adjustment than a demand on the schedule.  By encouraging employees who may be entering into a time of being the primary caregiver for their parent to communicate this through meetings with the Human Resource department and to their boss as well will help the adjustment period.  

Understanding what your employees are going through will keep you ahead of work interruptions and assist you both in anticipating issues therefore allowing you time to adjust schedules accordingly ahead of time.   As part of the human experience we spend a lot of time with our co-workers and employers and they become part of our extended family… knowing that an employer cares about their workforce is essential to good relations between the two.   

Be sensitive and sensitive with your employees and you can truly become their partner in dealing with this tough part of their lives.  In doing so, they will feel that you support them and their loyalty to the company will skyrocket.  That loyalty will translate into better productivity and longevity in your workforce.  That stability translates into a more efficient organization which is a more profitable organization.  So in the long run, partnering with your caregivers in the workplace just makes good business sense.

For more information for solutions for caregiver see www.fulllifecentre.com

Dealing With Guilt..

If the job of being a caregiver only involved giving help to your aging parent such as doing the dishes, visiting and helping fill out the paperwork they are having trouble seeing or understanding, your life would be considerably easier.  And if that were the case, even if there was a lot to do, the problem of caregiver burn out would not be such an issue.

The real drain on you and your loved one you are caring for often comes in the emotional sense that the care giving relationship brings with it.  Because the “assumed understanding” of the care giving relationship is based on the extended giving of a very large favor, guilt becomes a common element in every aspect of the time you spend with your aging parent for both of you…

The once independent senior feels guilty for asking you for the help and feels a loss of control at the same time.  The situation becomes strange for them because in most cases, they never asked.  You may have stepped in because you saw your loved one’s life beginning to unravel and you knew that someone had to help get their life organized.  And yet, the senior feels a lot of guilt because huge amounts of time that is taken away form your family and maybe your work to do things for him unpaid.

It doesn’t help that the time of transition from independence to assisted care is one of huge loss of self esteem for your aging parent.  Tremendous changes that happen in rapid order for your loved one seem to happen in areas of life that have remained unchanged for decades.  Negative emotions arise for them, depression and guilt come with changes such as illness that may force them into assisted living, or living with you, having a caregiver come in to do personal care, loss of their home, loss of mobility because they cannot drive or require mobility devices, confusion and of course a loss of independence because everything is being done for them. However unfounded, guilt makes its appearance as they realize that they are growing old and require care from someone else when they have taken care of themselves and possibly a family for years…

Guilt is also an issue for you, the caregiver.  There always seems to be something more you could be doing for your parents.  It doesn’t help if that the senior you are caring for becomes more demanding and may say things such as “I wish you didn’t have to leave” or by complaining about their lives and getting angry. 

So what can be done about all of this guilt?  Guilt doesn’t serve anyone nor does it make the relationship better.  It certainly does not improve the quality of life for the caregiver or the senior being cared for.  Learning to cope with those feelings is paramount to both parties mental health.

Probably the most proactive thing you can do about guilt is confront it directly.  Sit down with your aging mom or dad and get those guilt feelings out in the open.  It’s not their fault they got old.  Your parent should not feel guilty about being cared for by you.  After all they cared for you for decades.

By removing guilt from the relationship you both have more enjoyment out of your new roles and promote health and happiness in this stage of a senior’s life.  Your enjoyment of spending time with them increases. By learning not to put guilt on each other, you become a team in care giving, not combatants.   Seeking professional help from a counselor to help you all realize an easier way to cope, find support groups in your area and talking to each other are all ways of working through guilt. 

Positive steps toward a healthy senior and caregiver relationship will give you many joyous moments and allow you both to enjoy.  For caregiver support groups and counseling please go to www.fulllifecentre.com

Choosing Day Programs as a Means of Caring for Loved Ones

Today, 80% of care for the elderly and disabled adults is provided by family members. Adult day programs help family caregivers maintain their balance by providing a safe, dignified place for their loved one to spend the day, and by allowing the caregiver to continue to work outside the home, attend to other household duties, or take a needed break.
When caring for a loved one you have choices. Choosing between homecare, nursing or retirement homes, having your loved one live with you are all viable solutions to assist you with caring for them in the best way possible.  Add to that list Day Programs that can give families peace of mind, knowing that their loved one is enjoying companionship and care which allows them to handle their daily commitments without worry or interruption. Most importantly, participation in an adult day program allows the individual to remain in the community enabling their families to continue caring for them at home.

The deep funding cuts in homecare, lack of available beds in long term care facilities and the push to keep hospital beds empty has made caring for elders at home either in their own homes or moving in with family members the method of choice.  This does entail digging into your pockets to help fund the necessary additions in care to assist elders to stay in their homes. However, families in this situation are finding it increasingly difficult as they spread themselves thinner with existing commitments in their lives, caring for their loved ones and trying to find a balance in it all. There is no getting away from it this situation will add a heaping helping of stress whichever way you look at it.

There are solutions that can help ease the stress, care for elders and stretch the money so it lasts longer.  Working with a professional that can assist you to look at the overall needs, available options and put a plan into place that will best suit your situation. 

Let’s take a look at a scenario:

Scenario #1:

Susan moved her mother (85) in with her after a few years of caring for her mother in her own home became difficult.  Mom was becoming increasingly confused, started to fear staying alone in her home, calling Susan at night because of noises she heard or not feeling well and was not eating. Susan’s mom is a diabetic, has high blood pressure, poor eyesight, is experiencing some hearing loss and walks with a walker due, has had a knee replacement 10 years previous and is experiencing pain again in her knees.  Susan worries about her mom being alone on a daily basis even in her home – mom left the burner on all day last week, left the refridgerator open, unlocked the door and left it open when someone came to the door. Susan works full time, has 3 children ages 10-16 who are active in school, activities such as dance, hockey and band and they are busy with activities of daily living.  She has some funded homecare hours and has topped it up paying privately within her budget… but she still has hours where she is alone.. She needs another solution… Help!!!

Susan is receiving 5 funded hours a week which she has a PSW coming in first thing in the morning to bathe her mom and assist her with her morning care.  She pays for another 10 hours a week spread out having a PSW coming in at lunch time to check on her mom and another at bedtime to help her get ready for bed.  On the weekends Susan helps her mother get up and going, prepares her meals, takes her to appointments such as hair, cleans, runs the kids around, does her grocery shopping and all other errands she needs to do to raise a family and keep a household going.

Susan realizes she needs to increase the hours she pays for privately in order to keep her mother safe by another 5 at least.  However she really feels that she needs someone with her all day now. She fears she will let someone in the house, is not eating, needs more than 1 hour to get bathed and dressed in the morning and just feels she should not be alone all day.  

Susan currently pays: $24.00 per hour x 10 hours weekly = $240.00 (+HST) or $960.00 per month.

If she was to increase it to 8 hours a day she would then take on the evening care of getting mom ready for bed and move that hour to the day so she would need to increase by 5 hours a day at a cost of $24.00 per hour x 25 hours weekly = $600.00 (+HST)

Using her 1 hour of funded time + her existing 2 hours she pays for + 5 more gives her 8 hours for a cost of $840.00 per week or approximately $3360 per month. 

Her mother’s pension is not enough to cover the extra costs, Susan can barely make ends meet with her own expenses and can’t increase her salary any more at this point in time – she needs a solution!

Solution to Scenario #1

Susan toured Full Life Centre, a brand new day program that includes full assessments, stimulating programs, social interaction, hands on care if needed, clinical therapies and programs to assist caregivers as well.  While there she met with a director who helped her see she does have options.  FLC could care for her mother’s physical and emotional needs while protecting her from harm and assisting her with her medications for a full day saving her money!

FLC Option:

Full day Program = 8:00am – 5:00pm (Drop in rate is $25 per day but Susan needs 5 days a week which drops the rate to $19.99 per day = $399.99 per month)

This enables Susan to use her 5 funded hours to get her mom ready in the morning while she attends to her own needs and gets her children ready for school.

Now Susan, knows her mother requires alittle extra help toileting so she has the option of paying for personal care additional time at the centre which she only needs 1 hour of care during the day split into 4x 15 minutes at a cost of $20 per day = $100.00 per week. 

Susan drops her mom off on the way to work with a packed lunch and picks her up at 4:30pm on her way home.  Susan feels so relieved that her mother is taken care of during the day that it is a pleasure to assist her with her bedtime care. Susan feels less stressed our and feels a load of worry is off her shoulders. 

Her new costs = $399.99 per month + $100 per week of care= $799.99 saving her $260 per week. 

This solution may not be for everyone however FLC can be an extension of your care team and provide much needed respite without breaking the bank.  Give them a call for a tour and a meeting to see what they can do to help you and your family enjoy this time of your life..

Contact info: www.fulllifecentre.com or 905.436.2772