There are many chances to explore new information when the door is open to people’s life journey and the adventures that happen along the way.

www.lifebio.com/communities.htm—for communities

http://www.lifebio.com/—for individuals

Caregiving is tough for everyone, and believe it or not, it’s sometimes even harder on men than it is on women. The fact is, society has stereotyped men has protectors, not nurturers – so they often worry that caregiving won’t come naturally to them. The good news is, you’re not alone. Studies show that 40% of the caregiving population is actually men. Here are some of the common challenges that these male caregivers face, and how you can conquer them:

Delegation. Many men don’t like to ask for help; others don’t even know how to recognize that they need it in the first place. But you need to treat caregiving the way you would any job - no one (not even Superman!) can do it alone. Make a list of your duties, and assign what you can to family members and close friends. Share this list with them and set clear expectations in terms of what needs to be accomplished.
Communication. This doesn’t always come easily, but caregiving can take a tremendous toll on the body AND the mind -  so it’s important to talk openly about how you’re feeling. Whether with friends, a support group or therapist – an outlet for your frustrations is key. If you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t expect to be able to effectively take care of others.
Conflicts at work. Many men (and women, for that matter) avoid bringing their personal situations into the workplace, fearing loss of respect or even losing their job if they need to take time off work for their caregiving duties. But the fact is that many of today’s businesses understand that caregiving has become a major factor in their employees’ lives, and are stepping up their efforts to provide support. Some have even instituted policies such as telecommuting, flexible hours, split shifts and flex spending accounts for caregiver services. Find out what your company offers to see if it can help bring some extra piece of mind.
No matter what the challenge, following your instincts and make sure to pay attention to the needs of your loved one.  Good luck!

Over the last 40 years, Dr. Marion (Marion Somers, Ph.D.) has worked with thousands of seniors and their caregivers as a geriatric care manager and elder care expert. It is now her goal to help caregivers everywhere through her book (“Elder Care Made Easier”), iPhone apps (www.elder911.net) web site, columns, public service announcements, and more. For more information, visit www.DrMarion.org

With Community blogs, you as a caregiver will be able to create a website devoted to updating family members and friends about health challenges to your patients.

Personal Care Records allow you to track important vitals and health conditions, while being able to freely communicate this information to healthcare providers.

More to come soon.

The statistics offer a compelling backdrop — the ‘Florida’ problem. If you count the 44 million people estimated to be caregivers, that’s an eye-popping number — and if you add various valuations of the care they provide at $350 billion, we’re talking about a sizable phenomenon — and an opportunity for well-designed assists from technology innovators. The core characteristic of the problem that vendors seem to be tackling is the fact that worried family members are not physically present — the ‘Florida problem.’  Aging and sun-drenched seniors have children who are scattered around the country and want to know via an electronic smoke signal that all is okay with a mom or dad. And vice-versa: Mom or Dad do not want to be pressured into leaving Florida or Arizona or wherever to live near a daughter or son in New Jersey or California.

Ask yourself — who is the user, the buyer, the caregiver? Last year, I heard ideas about charging seniors user fees to participate in a caregiving app. That seems to have run its course, thankfully. Now in general I hear that prospective buyers in the ’smoke signal’ circle are adult children, but also included in this circle are professional caregivers for notification, perhaps a call center (think service fees), and if all else fails, 911. Professionals that serve seniors can also be ‘buyers’ for resale to their constituent family members — think home care agencies, geriatric care managers, and senior housing organizations — although it’s a new business model and entrants seem uncertain about it.

The caregiver market level of technology adoption. It’s instructive to look at what technology caregivers say they use today: in the recent Caregiving in the US of 50+, 16% of caregivers reported using an emergency response system, 12% use some eHealth device, and 10% reported using safety-related sensors. Twenty-three percent said they turn to the Internet for information, although this seems low given that 8% also are seeking information from government programs and another 14% from disease or age-related programs, so easily found on the Internet. The top information need: 38% (up from 31% in 2004) were concerned about ‘keeping recipients safe at home’, followed by ‘easy activities to do with the recipient’ (34%).

What infrastructure do caregivers and recipients have? Let’s look at the late December, 2007 responses from caregivers in the AARP Healthy@Home survey: 78% said they have a computer, 51% said they had broadband, 81% had a cell phone, and 71% said they had cable television. Staying with that same survey, two-thirds of those 65+ have a computer in their home, one-third had broadband (higher than the most recent Pew Research number of 26%)and 42% have dial-up.

Build assumptions around the facts. Caregivers are users of technology, will access the Internet to solve problems they have, most likely will search for what they know (like PERS devices or government or age-related sites, then possibly disease-related). So as you design software and web marketing, use these assumptions to design websites and search terms. From the Caregiving Information Needs alone, combining safety and care recipient activities (games, photo slide shows, camera-based chat) would be optimal — transforming a minimalist ’smoke signal’ interaction into a quality of life improvement. Does that mean innovators have to build all that into their products? Not necessarily — working with a channel partner or partnering with other vendors could be the most sensible strategy.  Step 1 for entrants considering whether to enter or what to do: attend a trade show event where other vendors exhibit, so that you can self-educate and decide in a larger context about functionality and partnerships.

Thoughts welcome.

1. Ensure seniors have a chance to give back to the community. They have been caring for others their whole lives so this is a time when they still may want to be volunteering and doing for others as well. Give older adults the opportunity to connect with youth in the community. Seniors have their rich and interesting life stories to give, and the younger person gains more from this living history than any history book. We’ve found that young people’s lives are changed from hearing these stories (they realize how lucky they are) and they appreciate the older generation so much more.  LifeBio’s Connect program could help bring youth and adults together with reminiscence tools and training.

2. Bring everyday life into the daily experience and highlight what certain people love. So maybe everyone doesn’t enjoy stamp collecting, but a resident named Bill sure does. Cookie cutter activities just don’t work for everyone. There’s no reason why you can’t focus on Bill’s love of stamp collecting and think about ways to make his day or week—while at the same time involving other residents in learning about his joy during that time. Perhaps you bring in an unusual speaker—someone who knows the history of stamps to present some history on this topic or tour the local post office. One-on-one visits could involve letter writing—and choosing a beautiful stamp for the letter. NOTE: The best way to find out about Bill’s love of stamp collecting may be by listening to his life story first. The Life Story Journal or Memory Journal could help.

3. Bridge the gap between family and residents. Frankly, they do not know what to do when they come to visit. They don’t know what to say. It’s your job to help them have a project…or something to talk about that isn’t the “same old, same old” stuff. Instead of the big four: weather, health, sports, and food (”How was breakfast?” or “How’s your knee feel today?” is really no fun to talk about anyway. YAWN). It will work well for you to provide conversation starters or other reminiscence ideas to involve the children and grandchildren in the life of their loved one. When it’s FUN to visit, they will want to visit more often. And that’s good for you and it’s very good for them! The resident and his or her family can make a Storyboard display or use Story Cards with thought-provoking “outside the box” autobiography questions as visiting ideas. 

Enjoy your time with each person—celebrate each person’s amazing uniqueness. He or she has gifts to share; especially their life stories. Even with some memory loss, many older people remember their childhood years like it was yesterday; so it’s a good thing to talk about. Share your life with them and they will share their lives with you.  Your job is so important, for you are the community builder and the love giver.

If you would like more information on LifeBio’s Certified Community program, please call 937-303-4574 or email info@lifebio.com. http://www.lifebio.com/communities.htm

Why Health Savings Accounts Are a Win For Employers, Employees, and Insurers

The HSA is based on a high deducible insurance plan which allows the employee to take on a higher level of responsibility and risk for medical expenses than a traditional insurance policy. Employees that are quick to go to the doctors office because of low copays (because visits only cost $10) are less apt to go when they experience less serious conditions such as the sniffles. You think twice about paying when you have to pay the full $75 that the insurance company doesn’t make up.

How To Implement a Health Savings Account

Ask your employer to implement a health savings account program, or implement one for yourself individually. Healthcare costs are increasing at a faster rate than wages with employees bearing more of the expense burden. A health savings account provides a pretax way to contribute to an account that will grow over time. You have the option to use the money for medical expenses on a tax free basis or for any purpose ona retirement level if you want to pay the penalty.

Health savings accounts ultimately save money for all those involved by giving more accountability to the consumer. Lowering the cost of healthcare should be a priority for all informed citizens. When considering employee benefits, it is important to consult a licensed financial professional.

My company is rolling out a Health Savings Account program for all of its employees. What is a health savings account and why is it beneficial for me?

Problem: Healthcare Costs

If you think that increasing healthcare costs are problems reserved for your employer or insurance companies, you are wrong. Most employees pay 10-90% of their healthcare costs, when all of the costs are included. Healthcare costs have risen 8-10% each year for the past three years and is slated to grow two to three times the rate of inflation for the foreseeable future. All it takes is a quick review of your last few pay stubs to see that the insurance companies are passing down the costs of healthcare to employers. These employers in turn are passing the costs off to you.

Health Saving Accounts:

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) were established as part of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. It is a hybrid between health insurance and retirement programs. It was established so that savings used for medical expenses for you and dependents would be free from taxes. The qualified medical costs include: medical physicians, dental and optic care, chiropractic care, long term health care, Medicare Part A and B, and Medicare HMO insurance premiums.

You can contribute to the HSA only if your insurance company has an accompanying deductible of at least $1,100 for individual coverage or $2,200 for family coverage. The current contribution limit per year is $2,850 for individual coverage or $5,650 for family coverage. For people over 55, the contribution limit goes up by $800.

All contributions are pretax which provides a tremendous tax advantage. If the savings are used for qualified medical expenses, the entire amount in the account can be withdrawn free of taxes. If the account is used for non qualified expenses, the withdawal is taxed as income and a 10% penalty is put n place if you are under 65 years old. At age 65, Medicare kicks in and withdrawals are only taxed as income at your given tax rate at the time. All the gains, interest, and dividends in a health savings account are sheltered from taxation.

Unused balanced roll over from year to year. To many employees, the health savings account is viewed as a retirement plan. This provides them a tax advantaged way to save for retirement outside of their Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or 401(k).

Juggling your family and career is never easy - and caring for an aging parent, can make things extra tough. But in this modern age, there are definitely some technological tools that can help. Since you have an iPhone, you already know that there are hundreds of thousands of downloadable applications available - and now, some of those have been designed specifically with the caregiver in mind. I’ve been doing my due diligence on these apps to help the people I work with, and - as you may already know - even created a few myself. Here are a few of the ones I like best:

Personal Caregiver: Make sure that medications are taken at the right time, by sending alerts and reminders. Also, includes a comprehensive database of important drug information such as precautions and interactions.  (www.personalcaregiver.com)
Care.com: Easily search for local caregivers, including job posting functions to help caregivers locate senior and in-home health aides - as well as nannies, babysitters, and more. (www.care.com/press-release-iphone-app-p1186-q58700.html)
Polka; AllOneMobile: Both of these apps store, track and share important medical information (like diet, prescriptions, fitness regimens and blood pressure levels) with doctors or family members, which can be helpful for any caregiver needing to coordinate care for an older loved one. (www.polka.com) (www.allonemobile.com)
Care Connector: Created by Johnson & Johnson, this adds a community/support component to the information tracking process – connecting caregivers with others like them through message boards, video stories, and more. (www.strengthforcaring.com/util/about.html)
Elder 411/Elder 911: These are my apps, designed to “put an elder care expert in your pocket” with quick access to caregiving insights, checklists, and support - for everything from how to deal with financial and housing concerns, to what to do in an emergency or crisis situation, and more. (www.elder411.net)

Don’t have an iPhone? Don’t worry. These apps are also part of a larger trend of technology that’s making life easier for seniors and their caregivers - like Apple’s iPad with its large-print reader, Verizon’s Coupe phone with bigger keys and quick emergency access, and more. The fact is, when it comes to caregiving, knowledge is power.  Even when you’re on the go, it is so important to have the right information at your fingertips, so you’re not without answers when you need them.  Good luck!

Over the last 40 years, Dr. Marion (Marion Somers, Ph.D.) has worked with thousands of seniors and their caregivers as a geriatric care manager and elder care expert. It is now her goal to help caregivers everywhere through her book (“Elder Care Made Easier”), iPhone apps (www.elder911.net), web site, columns, public service announcements, and more. For more information, visit www.DrMarion.com

By all means, encourage your father to explore his spiritual thoughts and feelings. Many seniors believe there are forces at work in the universe, and many of them have tapped into some form of spirituality. It’s just not possible to understand everything that happens, and spirituality can help explain things. Even if spirituality is not discussed, it does exist in most people’s conscious life. The connectedness to a spiritual life helps people deal with hardships, face fears, and can ultimately give hope. Most of my clients get a great deal out of their religious activities. It helps them feel that their life has a meaning and a purpose.

Nearly every one of my clients experiences an inner awareness or a quiet peace before they pass on. Even if fishing is their “religion,” they know where they need to go to find that quiet space for reflection, to recharge and gain perspective. This process helps our elders find a way to let go of emotions and worldly trappings, and become ready to travel free.

Not everyone acknowledges or feels the need to have a spiritual life, and I respect that, too. We all have a right to make the decision on our own. But for those who embrace a spiritual life, it can provide a source of strength above and beyond a person’s own weak humanity. I’m not talking about spirituality in terms of the regular routine and/or regimentation of going to a house of worship. It need not be confined by four walls and icons and meeting times and rituals. Spirituality is the path each of us takes to find the quiet within ourselves.

Some people like the routine. Going to a house of worship can also provide a sense of community and companionship. Spirituality can really be whatever a person wants it to be. The crucial part is to have a quiet knowing that there’s something beyond you that can help give meaning to the peaks and valleys of life. Religion and spirituality can be a way to center oneself and find internal and external comfort.

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Over the last 35 years, Marion Somers, Ph.D., (Doctor Marion) has worked with thousands of seniors and their caregivers as a geriatric care manager. It is now her goal to help caregivers everywhere through her book, “Elder Care Made Easier,” web site, public service announcements, national bus tours, and media appearances. For more information, visit DoctorMarion.com.

Watching a grandparent age can be very confusing for young children. I always try to deal with this in a very practical and straight forward way. First, you should closely observe grandpa and note any changes that are occurring. What physical, mental, and/or emotional changes are apparent? Discuss them with your son and back it up with facts. Keep all information age appropriate.

Always be careful with your word choice. Try to allay any fears in person, not over the phone. Sit on the floor and use a favorite teddy bear so your son has a tactile comfort level while the information is being imparted. Use a gentle tone and be comforting. Sit in front of him so he can see your face and clearly understand what you’re saying.

If grandpa is now in a wheelchair, discuss how the wheelchair helps him retain mobility. If gramps needs more rest, tell your son why. If there is a change in diet, explain that softer foods make it easier for grandpa to chew and digest. Get interactive with any walker, cane, or wheelchair that’s being used. If grandpa is now using a hearing aide, explain why, and what it’s like for him to use it, and how it benefits him. Being straight forward about these difficult subjects should allow your son to be less confused or intimidated by the changes.

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Over the last 35 years, Marion Somers, Ph.D., (Doctor Marion) has worked with thousands of seniors and their caregivers as a geriatric care manager. It is now her goal to help caregivers everywhere through her book, “Elder Care Made Easier,” web site, public service announcements, national bus tours, and media appearances. For more information, visit DoctorMarion.com.