Family Caregiver Gets a Break - Essay Contest

Every family caregiver has a story. Caring Today & Home Instead offers you a chance to win the Grand Prize worth $5,000.00! Just submit a 500 word or less essay telling them you caregiving experience for a chance to win! You may qualify for the FIRST PRIZE worth $2,500 or an Extraordinary Caregiver Award worth $500. Deadline to submit entries is July 16, 2008. See below how to enter to win.

Just them about your day-to-day experience of caregiving: How you've embraced the role of caregiver for a senior loved one, what impact it's had on you and how you've inspired others, demonstrating how a Home Instead CAREGiver could make a difference in your life. 2008 Caring Today "Give a Caregiver a Break" Essay Contest

I read stories about your giving hearts & challenges and have experienced many myself helping mom & dad. Now it's your chance to share with Caring Today and Home Instead your personal experiences with a chance to gain financial help on this arduous path.

Your days are filled with concern, worry, and love - so take advantage of this great opportunity to win cash. The deadline to submit your essay entry is July 16, 2008.

Good luck to you all!

Carol at WorkingCaregiver.com

www.WorkingCaregiver.com

Who Pays for Long Term Care? Remedy for Austin Caregiver Burnout and Texas Financial Help with Elder Care

Introducing Patti Wilikins with Genworth Financial at (512) 970-3428. She can help with Long Term Care Insurance and answer concerns on caring for yourself when getting older.

Who Pays for Long Term Care? In the past 12 months, how many conversations have you had about LTC?

Caring for aging relatives can quickly climb the ladder of stress, depression, and isolation. Family caregivers find themselves consumed with the elder's life! I've watched my own siblings shred apart when worrying about our dad. A hard topic to bring to family meetings is; "When does dad go to the nursing home?" We struggled with that question for a year.

I watched my two older sisters labor with that senior event - well, actually, they battled more with guilt the whole time dad went downhill and finally made the grueling decision to move him to the nursing home. I hated it. I hated the fact we could no longer care for him, we were thankless adult children and could not continue to do for him what he did for us. We then had the horrifying experience watching him resist moving to the "old folks" home.

Although dad passed eight months ago, guilt is still alive in my heart, mind, and soul. How can I come to terms with it? I don't know.

There is a better choice for you though. And there are many options for happier aging relatives. Yes, living out their lives living with you is not one that I'm referring to. Thank goodness. That can be a tough one especially if you work full-time and care for children of your own. Although, it can be a good, temporary option in the meantime.

I remember my dad, while discussing his move to the nursing home, he cried and said to us, "I wish I had done this differently." Yes, me too.

How could he/we have done it differently? Years before a Long Term Care Insurance Representative visited my parents and presented a long term care plan with LTC insurance. I was there. I sat on the living room floor and listened. After his presentation, I begged my parents to PLEASE think seriously about this option. My mom simply replied, "No, I'm going to the nursing home when I can no longer care for myself." Guess what??!! That never happened to her. But it did to my dad. Looking back he GREATLY anguished over losing the option of living his life out at home.

What I profess to seniors and family caregivers is consider your options. Look at all your choices. You may not have to choose just one but know you have options! So, how do you know "what" to do for yourself or your aging relatives? First, plan ahead. Think about how you want to live out your life... and start planning.

Long Term Care Insurance? What's that? If you parent's are like mine, they are unclear what it is, what it does, and how it can be a life saver for them and you, the caregiver.

Patti Wilkins, a career representative for Genworth Financial, speaks about the misconceptions of Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Administration, and all the topics that get us confused about who's going to take care of me when I get old?

Click here to download…

Yes, there are misconceptions on what it can and will do for the senior and family. It can be confusing and LTC Insurance has changed since there are so many of us living longer. It works well for a lot of seniors. When doing your homework consider the facts; what LTC does and does not do for you.

Call Patti Wilikins today at (512) 970-3428. Ask her to help you understand all your long term care options. She's patient and thorough when helping put forth a plan for the future. Long Term Care Insurance can take the stress out of caregiving and tears out of aging.

Call now! You do have options but only if you plan ahead.

Thank you for visiting. Carol @ WorkingCaregiver.com

Other Things to Consider When Assessing an Elder

If your hiring a professional geriatric nurse to complete an assessment with the elder in your life or filling out forms with your parents, be prepared to spend from three hours to potentially a couple of days. Either can take considerable time. What factors should be considered doing taking a closer look the aging relative's life? A thorough assessment should include the following:

Health - Physical & Mental

Has the elder been diagnosed with any chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, congested heart failure? Or maybe illnesses such as bladder or bowel problems are evident or another form of heart disease, stroke, cancer? Does the elder have allergies? Make sure they, with your help track weight loss or gain. Do they have problems with incontinence? Unless you spend some time with them, that one may be difficult to detect. Do they have a balance problem? Notice their skin color or growths, see changes? Persistent fatigue or sleeplessness? Swollen feet or legs, or they limping? Vision problems sucfh as cataracts, or do they require vision aids to help them read or see? Can they hear you or do they ask you to repeat what was just said? Dental problems; gum disease, strongbreath, ill-fitting dentures? List their vital signs and health professionals currently being seen. Recent hospitalizations?

Mental assessment can include: Are they diagnosed with having psychiatric disorders, depression, anxiety disorder? Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or other dementia? How alert are they? Have you or other family members noticed mood swings? Forgetfulness or wandering off? Are they confused or/disoriented? Do they seem sad or lonely? Decreased interest in reading, writing, and communicating? How well do they maintain friends? Or have an interest in life?

Using medications; all medicines taken, both prescription and/or over-the-counter, with times per day and doses. Are they taking the medications as directed and know how to avoid negative interactions. And do they understand the barriers to proper medicine use such as forgetfulness, expense, poor understanding of why they've been prescribed.

Daily living: Are they mobile or do they need walking aids? Special dietary needs, do they have favorite foods? Ability to dress, bathe, get up from a chair, use a toilet, use the phone, climb stairs, get help in an emergency, shop, prepare meals, do housework and yard work, drive safely.

Home and community safety: the neighborhood. Home safety - what are the hazards, adaptive aids needed, presence of alarms for burglary or fire. Ability to avoid telephone fraud and door-to-door fraud. Is the yard and house maintained?

These are a items that my family put together when we began to look closely at our parent's lives. You'll come up with your own too.

Check out Travis County's Caregiver's Resource Helpline - 1-888-797-7806. A good place to learn more infomation on assessing an elder's life and learn about care.

Guiding Working Family Caregivers

Are you in a caregiving role for aging relatives? Let me help you find the answer. Do you answer "yes" to one of the following?

• Driving to and from doctor and other health care appointments.
• Communicating with healthcare professionals
• Assisting someone to pay their bills
• Helping someone clean their home or arranging for house cleaning
• Assisting with or arraning for home repairs
• Helping arrange for home health care or hospice services
• Contacting or helping someone communicate with community service organizations Area Agency on Aging or Alzheimer's Association

Based on the research,caring for an elderly person requires understanding of the aging process, knowledge of community resources, legal and financial matters, long-term planning and, of equal importance, knowledge of how to take care of yourself, as the primary caregiver. Additional research reports caregiver stress as the most pervasive health problem, stemming from worry about their loved one�s condition as well as being overwhelmed with caregiving responsibilities.
For help in understanding the aging process - giving you quality answers go to - WorkingCaregiver eBook preview! You will find it useful.

The problem for most family caregivers is that they do not readily reach out for help. They find it difficult to give themselves permission to ask for help even when they have family or friends willing to help. Support from family and friends can help relieve the burden of caregiving. Purchase and download the Caregiver's Resource Audio E-book and you'll learn how to take charge, avoid burnout, isolation and involve your family members.

So, whether you're new to caregiving or used to weathering the storms, we're excited about offering the Caregiver's Resource Audio E-book to help you feel more confident, shorten your learning curve and empower you to meet the challenges of caring for an aging family member or an elderly loved one.

You'll feel more confident to meet the challenges of caring for an aging family member.
Preview Here.

Thank you for visiting and checking out the eBook... we love it! Carol at WorkingCaregiver.com

Working Caregivers, the Challenges

An interesting study funded by MetLife Foundation and presented by the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP: The frequently reported unmet needs of working caregivers are:

34% finding time for myself,
29% balancing work and family responsibilities, and
29% managing emotional and physical stress is a burden.

When I was helping with mom in her care, the biggest issue for me was balancing work and my family responsiblities. This is the reason I cannot understand how a manager at work would comment about separating business from personal life! (REF: A quote in my last blog.)

It's merely impossible to disect one's life into compartments. But I found what we can do is find resources that help us find the balance we seek.

When searching for ways to find time for yourself, as a working caregiver, you may find services that help you make phone calls or provide transportation to run errands or take your elder loved one to a doctor's appointment for you. That would save me a couple of hours to focus on my tasks at work or simply free up some time for me to accomplish personal to dos.

WorkingCaregiver.com is putting together packages and products to help your solve some of these unmet needs. Check back here to read about more options and to find out when these packages are available.