According to a survey by AARP called Home and Community Preferences of the 45+ Population, most adults want to grow older living in the home and community they know. Of the 1,616 respondents who participated in the survey, three-quarters strongly agreed with the statement, “What I’d really like to do is stay in my current residence for as long as possible.”

In the same survey, when respondents were asked about the different aspects of their community and how important they are, two-thirds said that being near friends and family is extremely or very important to them, as well as being near places that they visit, such as grocery stores, doctors’ offices and the local library.

“(Home) is a known quantity. Your family is around you, your community is around you. It’s not a sterile, institutional situation; you’re not just a bed in a room,” explained AARP spokeswoman Christina Clem.

Of course, there is that ubiquitous baby boomer generation that is going to have its hands in defining the future of in-home care as well. There are about 6 million seniors age 65 and older who need daily assistance, 4.6 million in the community and 1.3 million in nursing homes, according to the AARP Public Policy Institute. But because of the boomer generation, these figures are going to keep rising.

The number of Americans turning 65 or older is occurring at a rate of about 8,000 per day. By the year 2025, there will be 72 million boomers, which is more than double the 35 million in 2000.

And they aren’t exactly shy about asking for what they want.

As Clem put it when referring to the growing push for more government and community support for home care: “The baby boomers say they want to stay in their home, and they’re very vocal that they will advocate for it.”

They also are getting more educated about what home-based care entails, in many cases because they are looking for ways to meet the needs of their own elderly parents.

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Valerie VanBooven RN BSN

888-404-1513

Valerie@ltcep.com

www.LTCSocialMark.com

For Immediate Release

(St. Louis, MO, May, 2012) LTC Expert Publications is proud to announce that Gary Skole, Owner of Assisted Living at Home, is a featured contributor for LessCaregiverStress.com, a website dedicated to family caregivers.

LessCaregiverStress.com contains articles and information specific to the family caregivers, long-distance caregivers, general caregiver tips, and articles written by experts in the home care and assisted living industries.

“We have dozens of experts nationwide who are happy to share information and advice to caregivers across the country. Many are home care agency owners who speak to family caregivers every single day. They know and understand the challenges of being a caregiver full time, part-time, and long-distance. We are sharing their expertise on this new website,” states Valerie VanBooven RN BSN, Co-Owner of LTC Expert Publications, and author of three books on senior care, elder care, and caregiving.

LessCaregiverStress.com will highlight and feature different experts who will share tips and information on caregiving each month.

“We are honored to have Gary Skole, (www.AssistedLivingInHomeCare.com) as one of our official featured experts. Gary is the owner of Assisted Living at Home offering families the services of professional caregivers to assist them with activities of daily living and aging in place. He just submitted a new caregiving article, “Enjoy Less Caregiver Stress with a Daily Schedule for Family Members with Alzheimer’s Disease” adds VanBooven.

From Gary Skole:

We have been in the home care business since 1989. We started our New Jersey based business with a traditional style of home care and after years of listening to our clients, learned that there was something missing. Good, quality care was being provided and seniors were happy to be able to live at home, but for many, it was merely existing from day to day. There was little joy or enrichment in their lives. For their children, they escaped the guilt of institutionalizing their parents, but felt more like a caregiver than a son or daughter.

Call Us (856) 432-2602

We knew we could do better and after years of planning, came up with the concept of Assisted Living At Home

Assisted Living At Home is a model of care which is a cross between traditional in home care services and assisted living facilities. It represents the best of both worlds. Studies show that 89% of seniors wish to remain living in their own homes for as long as possible. The owners of Assisted Living At Home have been in the home care industry for over two decades in NJ and realized that home care services did provide seniors the ability to fulfill their wishes and age in their homes, but was lacking in several areas that made assisted living attractive.

After studying the assisted living model, several key components were adapted for home care.

These include:

• Specialize in live-in caregivers while also offering hourly help.
• Unique AlzBetter At Home Program developed with a leading Alzheimer’s expert. This home care program trains office staff, care managers and caregivers how to work with Alzheimer’s/ dementia patients in the home to give them the most enriching and managable experience available.
• Music For Memory – This program provides free iPods programmed with meaningful music.
• Focus on both physical patient care and patient happiness with enriching activities.
• Caregivers trained to look for opportunities to provide life enrichment.
• Visiting Paws program provides certified therapy animals to visit seniors who love animals.
• Visiting beauty parlor/barber service for homebound seniors or those that enjoy the convenience of having their hair done at home.
• Visiting physician service where doctors make house calls to homebound seniors.
• Personal concierge to help schedule and coordinate appointments and social events, to assist in ordering medication refills and to help seniors with non-care issues like scheduling household repairs with plumbers, electricians and handymen.

The end result is the next generation of home care services. This holistic approach promotes health, enjoyable aging in place using certified home health aides who are bonded, insured and supervised by a registered nurse.

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May is Older Americans Month, a terrific occasion to exhibit our  admiration for the older adults in our neighborhoods.

Since 1963, neighborhoods across the country have come together to celebrate Older Americans Month—a very proud tradition that displays our country’s loyalty to acknowledging the influences and successes of older Americans.

The topic for Older Americans Month 2012, “Never Too Old to Play…”
inspires older Americans to continue to be involved, active and involved in their own lives and in their communities.

Here are some creative ideas for Older American’s Month

Brain Activities

Older adults may experience multiple changes in the structure and activity of the brain that can affect how we move and think. But developing studies show that specific actions can teach and spark the brain, bettering its efficiency and potentially even decreasing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. While we do not know which specific daily activities may be of benefit, the ones mentioned below are fun ways to engage your brain.

Consider offering some of these events for Older Americans Month:

- Trivia competition. You’re never too old to play trivia! It’s a great way to bring together older adults and their younger friends and neighbors for a couple of hours of fun and discovery. As a featured activity for Older Americans Month 2012, AoA has developed a team trivia game for your Day of Play. Players will exercise their minds in a 90-minute competition, where intergenerational groups of four to six people gather to answer trivia questions about culture, major events, and sports.

-Crossword puzzles. Crossword puzzles are excellent mental exercises. In the spirit of Older Americans Month, AoA has developed a series of crossword puzzles that you can print and distribute to Day of Play participants.

-Traditional games. Games like Scrabble, bridge, and pokeno are timeless classics and have the potential to be fun intergenerational games. Hold a game night and invite participants to form teams to play these traditional games. Provide a venue, a few decks of cards, a handful of board games, and let the good times roll!

-Continuing education/speaker series. Talk to the older adults you work with and find out what topics interest them. A speaker series as part of your Day of Play might include local professors, authors or others expert in their fields giving presentations on the topics of greatest interest.
To learn more about brain health, please visit:

National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging Memory/Cognitive Health

Alzheimer’s Association: Brain Health

Take care of the seniors in your life and celebrate National Older American’s Month.

Home health nurses can be an invaluable resource for many families, providing aging loved ones with skilled, home-based services that include:

• patient assessments;

• disease treatment, education and prevention;

• injections, intravenous therapy and wound care.

And all of this is administered in the comfort of your loved one’s home and in a way that is designed to minimize hospital visits.

When choosing a home health care provider, there are several important questions to consider:

• How long has the home health agency been in business? Working with an established agency will allow you to investigate its reputation and evaluate its track record.

• Is the agency licensed and certified? You can review home health licensure information at www.medicare.gov. Understanding these credentials is critical because Medicare will only cover home health services if the agency is Medicare certified.

• Is the agency staff specially trained? The staff should specialize in the unique needs of older adults and utilize outcome-based care programs.

• Does the agency create a personalized plan for each patient? By providing individual plans, a home health care provider is less likely to overlook important aspects of the patient’s needs.

For information on home health services or to find a home health agency in your area, visit www.liftcaregiving.com.

To honor the dedication, commitment, and tireless commitment of the nearly 3.1 million registered nurses nationally to increase and care for the health and wellbeing of the US, the American Nurses Association is elated to acknowledge registered nurses in all places on this selected day for the caregiving and top quality work they provide seven days a week, 365 days a year.

In tribute to Nursing: Advocating, Leading, Caring, all registered nurses in America are encouraged to proudly wear the official ANA “RN” pin or any other pin that plainly recognizes them as registered nurses, and/or their nurses uniform on May 6, 2012.

Nurses: Advocating, Leading, Caring 

Often identified as an art and a science, nursing is a job that embraces committed individuals with distinct pursuits, skills and loves because of the many choices the profession has. Nurses are caregivers, work in emergency rooms, school based clinics, and homeless shelters, among others. They have many assignments – from staff nurse to educator to nurse practitioner and nurse researcher – and perform all of them with excitement for the industry and with a strong commitment to patient safety.

National Nurses Week History    

National Nurses Week starts off yearly on May 6th and ends on May 12th, Florence Nightingale’s birthday. 

These solid dates improve planning and positions National Nurses Week as an organized recognition event. As of 1998, May 8 was designated as National Student Nurses Day, to be recognized each year. And as of 2003, National School Nurse Day is celebrated on the Wednesday within National Nurses Week (May 6-12) each year.

The nursing business has been backed and publicized by the American Nurses Association (ANA) since 1896. 

Each of ANA’s state and territorial nurses associations promotes the nursing profession at the state and regional levels. Each conducts celebrations on these dates to recognize the contributions that nurses and nursing make to the community.

If you know a registered nurse, be sure to thank him or her for their service during National Nurses Week 2012.

But have you ever read the obituaries? Here you find a story that is about a lifetime; about a meaningful, connected and productive life.

Today’s elderly are living longer, adding to their already storied life. And those of us who provide home care services get to learn about history through those we serve. We learn about life during different decades, eras and fads. We learn about our client’s personal life, family life, and what it takes to get as far as he or she has. We go right into our clients homes and see pictures, furnishings, what they eat, where they sleep, and who comes to visit or not.

The people we have the good fortune of serving inspire us. Did you see the human spirit in the woman in the wheelchair at a recent senior dance? There was a lot more left than a tired body.

What did it take to get through the Holocaust, a world war, the Depression? Coming into this country as an immigrant, having nine children, being a devoted spouse, being one of the first women allowed to be in active duty in the military, a dedicated educator, an inventor, a factory worker, or builder of tall buildings?

Home care workers see it all in diminished bodies but still vibrant souls with a lot to offer through their stories told, in the sparkle of their eye and in their smile.

We now get to carry the laundry basket, make the bed, drive the car, wipe the tears, help plant the garden, assist in getting washed up and dressed, navigate the curb, call the oil company, talk to the daughter and wheel around Wal-Mart together.

Life is rich, people are strong, and the message our seniors give the younger generation is, “We can do this!”

Plant a Row for the Hungry at a Local Community Garden

In this land of great quantity it’s hard to picture not having access to good food at a affordable cost. Even so, for millions of Americans, getting a healthy meal is not always easy. It’s estimated almost 33 million people, including 13 million children, end up with emergency food because they cannot afford the food they need.

Host a Plant Swap at a Neighborhood Church

The greatest plants aren’t always from your community garden center or seed catalog. As a substitute they are gathered through quick cuttings or by gathering seeds from the garden of a friend or family member. These “pass-along plants” supply both grace and affection to your garden.

Have a Spring Cleaning Green Up Day at a Senior’s Home

Spring cleaning — indoors and out — is a ritual that marks the end of winter and the start of a new season, and similar to many things to do, it’s more fun when you share it. A senior’s home, your street, neighborhood, town park, and any other public space could use some greening up; it just takes someone to organize a small group.

Yard Sale Philanthropy

The coming of spring, coupled with longer days and higher temperatures, gives you dreams of green oases teeming with tomatoes and brimming with beans. Spring is also a time for cleaning out. This year, celebrate National Garden Month in an unexpected way-by visiting yard sales in search of second-hand stuff that every senior’s garden needs.

Organize a Garden Visit with Senior Friends, Over Tea!

Gardeners grow more than plants – every one of us has stories to share. For a change, why not share them in over tea? Socialization and admiration of another person’s garden brings joy to everyone.

Other tips for having fun with seniors in your local community:

-Organize or play a role in a town beautification day.

-Visit your regional farmers’ market.

-Flatter a neighbor on his or her garden.

-Gather with neighbors to purchase compost and mulch in bulk quantities.

-Volunteer to plant and sustain a garden at your area library.

-Publish a gardening article or essay to your neighborhood paper.

-Arrange to Talk With an elder to learn what foods his or her family grew when he or she was a child.

-Search for neighbors from numerousethnic groups to learn about their native cuisine and gardening techniques.

-Green up your street or a local park by picking up trash.

-Share a cutting of one of your favorite landscape or houseplants with a senior neighbor.

-Inventory your gardening gear (e.g., pots, seeds, stakes) and gift the excess to a community gardening program, assisted living facility or school garden.

-Celebrate other important “green” holidays: Earth Day (April 22) and National Arbor Day (April 26).

-Volunteer at your local school’s garden.

-Volunteer at a local senior center’s garden.

-Start a neighborhood garden club.

-Share your garden’s bounty with a senior neighbor.

-Have fun doing a gardening project with a senior.

-Deliver houseplants or flowers to a nursing home, assisted living or children’s hospital.

-Donate past issues of gardening magazines to your library, or buy the library a gift subscription.

Earth Day was introduced by John McDonnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference on the Environment. The United Nations started to recognize Earth Day on the March equinox but has since moved it to April 22 of each year. Earth Day is intended for all of us to recognize how we influence the use of our limited resources on the planet.

Recycling paper, cans, bottles, home goods and clothing is an easy way to help limit our impact on our environment. Seniors can set a good example for younger generations by reducing the use of unnecessary stuff and recycling the things we do use.

Did you know that every adult in the nation gets about 40 pounds of junk mail each year? Unsolicited letters, credit card offers, fliers and catalogs are not only a nuisance, they are impacting our wallets and the environment.

We do a good thing when we throw junk mail into the blue cart, but it is not enough. The advertisers continue to blanket the market with tons of paper and are content to get less than a 0.25 percent response rate. Printed matter is made from pulp, and pulp is made from trees. It takes 24 trees to make a ton of paper. More than 100 million trees are harvested each year to produce junk mail, according to the Native Forest Network. Transporting the mail uses fuel, and we all know that demand for gas helps raise the price we pay at the pump. Producing paper also uses a lot of water, another precious resource.

Why not take a few simple steps to reduce the amount of junk mail that gets to your mail box in the first place? You could call each company and request that your name be removed from its mailing list, however that takes a lot of time and effort. It can take months to see results because your name is on marketing lists are sold again and again. Your profile is worth anywhere from 3 to 20 cents each time it is sold.

If you do not have the time or inclination to contact each company, here are some of the organizations that will do it for you:

Consumer credit reporting companies can prevent you from getting credit and insurance company offers. Go to www.optoutprescreen.com or call 888-567-8688.

The Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service lets you opt out of receiving unsolicited commercial mail from many national companies for five years by registering at www.dmachoice.org or mailing to PO Box 543, Carmel N.Y. 10512 and enclosing a $1 processing fee.

You can choose which phone book you want to receive by visiting www.yellowpagesoptout.com.

To eliminate getting unsolicited mail when ordering any item or when providing your name and address, look for and check the box next to “I do not want my name shared” or write it on your order form.

There are other ways you can do things to minimize your impact on the environment. Limit the purchase of bottled water. Get a reusable bottle and refill it yourself. Take a look at product packaging and select those items that use less plastic and other wrapping. Keep reusable grocery bags visible in your car so that you will remember to bring them into the store. Keep your tires inflated, your car tuned, and plan your routes when you travel to minimize fuel consumption.

By reducing your consumption of unnecessary stuff and recycling the things you need to use, you will help to leave a better place for your grandchildren, and for generations to come.