If you are helping your parents age in place, an effective approach is to address the six areas of focus that most retirement homes offer. With proper assessment, planning, and finances you may be able to simulate many of the features of a retirement home environment for your parent(s). This will allow you to honour your parents’ wishes and prolong their time in the family home.
There are at least six areas of focus. These are mobility, personal care, medical care, social life, nutrition and spiritual care.
This area of focus includes home and room accessibility for your parents’ current and evolving condition. If you plan for a “continuum of care” as they age, you may need to make minor to major modifications to the home for their safe use. If they progress from requiring no assistive devices (cane, walker, etc) to requiring increasing levels of support, you need to be prepared to make matching modifications. These may include door widening for wheel-chair access or an entrance ramp and/or an electric stair climber.
This topic alone is the perhaps the most difficult to address since it usually involves others outside of the family such as professional, personal support workers. Activities such as bathing, showering, shaving, toileting, continence and dressing are important in maintaining a person’s appearance and dignity. Engaging a caseworker or a geriatric consultant will pay off when matching needs to capabilities.
Duplicating the level of medical care that is provided in most retirement homes in Ontario would be very difficult since there is usually an on-site nurse as well as weekly visits by a physician in those facilities. However, your parent(s) may not need that level of care and may be in reasonable health overall. Even though your loved one may be at home, it is still possible to arrange for the services of a visiting nurse along with an occasional doctor’s visit.
Retirement homes excel in this area of life since they usually have a variety of dedicated rooms or outdoor areas for social activities, such as games, crafts, billiards, shuffleboard, performances and movies. Of course, it is possible to approximate some of these activities in the home with family members, volunteers or church groups. You may wish to conduct an online search for “senior volunteers” in your community to identify ones who may be a match for your parent(s).
Retirement homes usually have a nutritionist within the organization, either at the local level or corporate level. Along with a professional chef, they are in the best position to ensure that residents have the proper nutrition to maintain their health. Duplicating this in an “age in place” home would be very difficult. However, given enough attention and a healthy food budget, it is possible for a family to come close. The main advantage the home environment provides is the ability to customize the menu with the person’s favourite dishes, especially if they are based on ethnic foods.
Unfortunately, this area of care is often given little or no attention. My direct experience of fourteen years as a Spiritual Care Worship Convenor at a local hospital for my church convinced me of the value of this important aspect in the life of the elderly. Isolation is not good for physical health and it is especially poor for spiritual health. Engaging church volunteers or arranging for transportation to and from church would be very supportive of anyone who plans to age in place.
Posted on July 8, 2018 November 13, 2018 by Downsizing HelpPosted in Downsizing, Sandwich Generation, SeniorsTagged age in place, elderly, family, Seniors.
We have been serving the citizens of New Westminster since 1994. As a health and fitness club we cater to both men and women of all ages and fitness levels in our co-ed section while still maintaining a women’s only section. Our club offers over 25 group fitness classes per week and we continue to offer our clients one on one personal training and small group training with some of the best certified personal trainers in the area! Whether you’re goal is lose weight, tone up, gain muscle or just feel better Dynamic Health and Fitness philosophy has not changed since we started operating our business we are – “Committed to fitness, Committed to you!”. Located in Shops at New West.
War Department. The Adjutant General's Office. 3/4/1907-9/18/1947. Anders, William K - Second Artillery (36th State Troops). Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://catalog.archives.gov/id/7127451. (Accessed November 19, 2018.)
Department of State. Office of the Undersecretary for Management. Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations. (2001). Kinshasa - Mid-Level Position Residence. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://catalog.archives.gov/id/24234798. (Accessed November 19, 2018.)
Department of State. Office of the Undersecretary for Management. Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations. (2001), Kinshasa - Mid-Level Position Residence. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://catalog.archives.gov/id/24234798
Department of State. Office of the Undersecretary for Management. Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations. (2001). Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America <http://catalog.archives.gov/id/24234798>.
Asthma is a chronic lung condition that inflames and narrows the airways. There is no cure for asthma, but it can be managed. Schools can help by adopting asthma-friendly policies and procedures; coordinating communication with physicians, school personnel, children with asthma and their families, and by providing asthma education for students and staff to better serve their students with asthma.
An Asthma-Friendly School provides a safe and healthy environment that reduces asthma triggers and maximizes the health, quality of life, and educational outcomes of all children. Schools can support asthma self-management in children by adopting asthma-friendly policies and procedures.
In a recent school meeting in Douglas County, one parent whose child suffers from severe allergies inquired about the availability of epinephrine in the event of a severe allergic reaction at school. Her inquiry prompted school officials to look into the availability of epinephrine.
After some research, school officials reached out to the Cobb & Douglas Health Department (CDPH), the Georgia Department of Education and the Georgia Asthma Coalition to secure training for school nurses and health monitors to administer emergency asthma medications.
Out of 181 school systems in Georgia, Douglas County School System is now among five that meet the Georgia Department of Public Health’s Asthma-Friendly designation requirements.
The Georgia law permits primary and secondary schools to stock albuterol and epinephrine, and it protects those who deliver the medications in good faith to any child believed to be experiencing respiratory distress.
Stocking epinephrine for allergic reactions and albuterol for asthma attacks can be a life-saving strategy for asthma management in school settings. It is also a key component of becoming an asthma-friendly school district.
A physician licensed to practice medicine in this state, an advanced practice registered nurse and physician assistant may prescribe levalbuterol sulfate or albuterol sulfate in the name of a public or private school. A pharmacist may dispense levalbuterol sulfate or albuterol sulfate to a public school or private school presenting a prescription.
Douglas County School System Superintendent Trent North sought resources to stock epinephrine and albuterol. Nancy McCready, RN, health services coordinator for the Douglas County School System, contacted Cobb & Douglas Public Health and the Georgia Department of Education for support in creating an asthma-friendly environment.
McCready was referred to the Georgia Asthma Coalition for training to properly administer albuterol in case of an emergency. The coalition also helped the school system successfully apply for a free source of EpiPens through the EpiPen4Schools program.
The EpiPen4Schools® program, offered by Mylan Specialty, the marketer and distributor of EpiPen® (epinephrine injection) and EpiPen Jr® (epinephrine injection) Auto-Injectors, helps to improve access to epinephrine in the event a person experiences a life-threatening allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) in the school setting. The program offers four FREE EpiPen® or EpiPen Jr® Auto-Injectors to qualifying public and private kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools.
Anne-Marie Coleman, M.P.H., Ph.D., policy, program and planning advisor for the Georgia Asthma Control Program, provided technical assistance to CDPH on how schools can implement the Georgia law.
“There are now five Asthma-Friendly schools equipped to help asthmatic students in Georgia: Cobb County Schools, Douglas County Schools, Ware County Schools, Coffee County Schools and Forsyth County Schools,” said Coleman.
The flu season in Georgia begins in early October and can run as late in the year as May. With such a long window of opportunity for contracting the influenza virus, the flu is regarded as one of the nation’s most common illnesses. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates 5 to 20 percent of Americans get the flu and more than 200,000 people are hospitalized each year from flu-related health complications.
Minimizing opportunities of contracting the flu is as easy as securing an annual flu vaccination– a simple message that will be touted through the Department of Public Health’s (DPH) National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) campaign.
Coordinated each year from Dec. 7 -13, this annual observance highlights the importance of continuing flu vaccinations during the holiday season and beyond. DPH will join the CDC and other national health organizations in educating the public about the flu vaccination and proactive measures they can follow to protect their health during flu season.
This year’s flu season is likely to be a tough one for two reasons. First, more than 90 percent of the influenza specimens tested nationwide are Influenza A (H3N2), and the rates of hospitalization and deaths are typically higher in seasons when H3N2 is the dominant strain. Second, half of the H3N2 samples don’t match the vaccine produced for the 2014-2015 season indicating the virus has mutated or changed since the vaccine was formulated early this year.
While the flu can vary from season to season, the fact remains the single most effective way to prevent the flu is the flu vaccine.