Living Well Blog » Aging well

New Devices Help Seniors Stay Longer in Their Own Homes.

Doris Bersing — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 20:01:16 +0000

An article supporting Living Well’s high-tech – high touch approach, was published by Health Day: News for Healthier Living on January 18 by Dennis Thompson. The article stresses the importance of using technology to keep seniors for longer and safer: ” Seniors who want to remain in their homes despite illness and infirmity can get a high-tech assist these days. So can their children who might worry about…Sensors, GPS and more are being used to track aging parents’ movements… So can their children who might worry about an elderly parent living alone, often far from family members.

The 1980s-era medical alert pendants made famous by their television advertising (“I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!”) are now among a wide array of devices that can help keep an eye on aging parents and get them help when they need it.

Available technologies include:

Sensors in the home to track an older person’s movement, from the front door to the medicine cabinet to the refrigerator to the stove. The sensors are linked with computers that can issue alerts when people deviate from their routine.
Global positioning system devices, using the GPS technology that’s become so common in cars, that can help locate someone with dementia who’s wandered from home.
Computerized pillboxes that track whether medication is being taken on time.

Technologies Help Adult Children Monitor Aging Parents

Doris Bersing — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:18:29 +0000

89% of Americans do not want to leave their homes when they age. Most of these people will be live alone and receive support from a variety of health and community-based providers, family caregivers. How will the long-term care system provide care to a growing number of seniors living in increasingly scattered locations? And more importantly, how can that system continue to provide quality care in the face of workforce shortages, rising care costs and decreasing resources? Technology has the potential to play a critical role in launching a new model of geriatric care that allows older people to live independently for as long as possible, supports family caregivers in the important work they do and gives health care providers the tools they need to deliver high-quality care at a reasonable cost. The just released article Technologies Help Adult Children Monitor Aging Parents on The New York Times, states that these technologies “…are godsends for families. But, as with any parent-child relationship, all loving intentions can be tempered by issues of control, role-reversal, guilt and a little deception — enough loaded stuff to fill a psychology syllabus. For just as the current population of adults in their 30s and 40s have built a reputation for being a generation of hyper-involved, hovering parents to their own children, they now have the tools to micro-manage their aging mothers and fathers as well…”

We, at Living Well Assisted Living at Home, believe the provide a safety net for the elders, an option to stay at home while providing peace of mind to the adult children and family members.

Read the full article

Living Well Independently: 7 Ways To Talk To Your Parents About Getting Help At Home

Doris Bersing — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:41:38 +0000

Shannon Martin and Alex Chamberlain affirm how difficult it can be to acknowledge the fact that your parent needs some help with day-to-day activities, let alone introducing to them the idea of hiring a professional caregiver for help. They give us nice and easy to follow advice on how to go about it. Their article on parentgiving 7 Ways To Talk To Your Parents About Getting Help At Home proposes that “…approaching the subject requires patience and tact. However, there are certain considerations to keep in mind that can help you approach a conversation about in-home care with your parent with greater success…”

Caetano Veloso on aging: at the age of 67, I feel at the “infancy of old age.”

Doris Bersing — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:28:01 +0000

For those, who like me, grew up listening to Caetano Veloso, seeing him getting older is just a reflection of our own aging and the multiple challenges and possibilities to unfold wellness, live well, and have a creative life into old age

Baby Boomers know well these challenges and also know well this poet of the Brazilian music. Caetano Veloso has been called the Bob Dylan of Brazil — a popular musician who has made staggering artistic and intellectual contributions to his country. The New York Times recently dubbed him “Brazil’s unofficial poet laureate”.

Veloso is consistently one of the most literate and beguiling forces in music. To see him in person is to see a sinuous, warm and joyous show in which Veloso’s vocals are backed by a young and edgy band. Seeing him aging so gracefully and maintaining his core values is refreshing. For Veloso family is everything and he is very close to another DIVA of Brazilian music, his sister Maria Bethania, both always look for young band players who bring new styles to old rhythms reminding us constantly that old and young play together an important role for a rich community.

Caetano and Maria Bethania, are very close to their mother and they say their love for music comes from her with whom, they love to sing. They do not shy away from politics or for family values. A great way to follow!

See them on a video with their mother

Veloso says, about his own aging: “I’m beginning to be an old man,” Veloso says. “It’s something that can excite you, because you get curious to see how changes go. You lose a lot, but you can gain a lot, too.”

When to Tell Your Parents: They Cannot Drive Any Longer!

Doris Bersing — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 02:25:22 +0000

Some of the baby boomers who also are “adult children” taking care of an aging parent face many challenges when taking care of this task. bringing awareness to our parents can be a challenging situation full of old and new family dynamics.

In an article for Forbes magazine, Living Well Assisted Living at Home mediator, Carolyn Rosenblat, Esq. calle it a new burden for boomers and states “…Denial is a very common reaction to the early warning signs of an older driver who is becoming dangerous. This denial can occur both among the elderly, who may get frantic at the idea of this privilege being taken from them, and among their adult children, who don’t want to have to deal with the consequences of Mom or Dad becoming a burden when it comes to transportation.

So make sure you start the driving conversation with your parent before he or she is 85–and preferably, when the parent is still safe to drive. My own mother-in-law is 87 and still drives…” Read the article

Combined goal: Moving 37,000 seniors out Nursing Homes!

Doris Bersing — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 02:37:40 +0000

An article in USA Today, reinforces the concept of Living Well Assisted Living at Home, which supports people aging AT HOME. Although at some point seniors need to “get better” and recover at rehabilitation centers and nursing homes, eventually the final goal is going back home. The article states that even the government is paying for people to get out of nursing homes. The program gives nursing home residents personal and financial help to live on their own or in small group settings, as well as payments for costs such as apartment security deposits, household furniture and alterations to make homes or cars accessible to the handicapped.

This proves that we are right! Read the article

We Need a Different Approach to Alzheimer’s and Any Other Type of Dementia

Doris Bersing — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 05:14:21 +0000

There is a myth in the eldercare field: “people with dementia, including Alzheimer’s need to leave their normal lives…and being institutionalized for their safety..”

At Living Well Assisted Living at Home, we are happy to offer smart technology and comprehensive services that allow people with dementia to continue with their usual lives.

To support this concept, USA Today has been publishing the “Blackwells’ journey into Alzheimer’s”. “…USA Today: Focus on the present helps couple handle Alzheimer’s. The reality of Alzheimer’s disease is different for everybody. Bob Blackwell, an Alzheimer’s Association early-stage advisor, and his wife, Carol, choose to focus on the present when dealing with his diagnosis. They travel together and blog about their Alzheimer experience, and Bob continues to exercise and partake in photography, his favorite hobby. The couple also traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby their elected officials at the Alzheimer’s Association Alzheimer’s Action Summit. Read the USA Today article

An International Initiative to Enforce the Paradigm of Aging in Place

Doris Bersing — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 16:05:47 +0000

United Jewish Communities has helped foster the development of NORC Supportive Service Programs (NORC-SSPs) throughout the federation system as part of its responsibilities to promote innovation, best practices, and program opportunities among the system’s health and social services providers. UJC’s National NORCs Initiative was derived from a grassroots movement out of New York (read more)

NORCs’ initiative supports Living Well Assisted Living at Home model by developing solutions that enable seniors to remain living at home for as long as safely feasible, is in keeping with their preferences, promotes their physical and mental wellbeing, and is a promising solution to help deflect the significant financial costs of long-term care anticipated with the retirement of the 78 million Baby Boomers. This issue is an immediate concern of the Jewish community, which is presently aging at nearly twice the national average. As such, it is a top priority of United Jewish Communities – the umbrella organization of the Jewish Federations of North America, one of the nation’s largest networks of nonprofit community-based health and social service agencies. Read more about the NORCs initiative components.

Using Montessori Method to Work with People with Dementia, Including Alzheimer’s

Doris Bersing — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:38:54 +0000

Although we oppose enfantilizing our elders, it is always amazing finding similarities in the way the brain works. The brain uses the same tricks and channels to learn as a child as much as when being an elder with dementia. Tom and Karen Brenner train family members, professional caregivers and medical staff in the use of cutting edge interventions for persons who have dementia and Alzheimer’s. The Brenners use the Montessori Method, which was created to enhance learning experiences in children, as the foundation for their evidence based memory support program. This program uses the five senses, muscle memory and spiritual engagement to maintain connections for persons with memory loss.
Tom is presently involved in creating programs for older men with memory loss. Tom and Karen also collect stories from the older persons with whom they work. They write these stories in large print (for ease of reading) and then use them in an Elder Reading Group, a technique they have developed to encourage reminiscence and socialization for older persons. The Brenners also film elders sharing their favorite stories in Video Diaries. They often accompany these stories with music and films of still photographs from the person’s life.

See the video Montessori Method for People with Dementia- Breener Pathways

I’m not twenty…by Mary Oliver!

Doris Bersing — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:26:06 +0000

Some reflections when we think everything fails… Keep’ on going. Read this “Self-Portrait by Mary Oliver”

I wish I was twenty and in love with life
and still full of beans.

Onward, old legs!
There are the long, pale dunes; on the other side
the roses are blooming and finding their labor
no adversity to the spirit.

Upward, old legs! There are the roses, and there is the sea
shining like a song, like a body
I want to touch

though I’m not twenty
and won’t be again but ah! seventy. And still
in love with life. And still
full of beans.

Read about Mary Oliver