Caring for My Senior (06)

Caring for the Elderly: Topics of Interest
When should you put an aging parent or elderly loved one in an assisted living facility, and should you consider assisted living at all? This site includes information and articles about caregiving and elderly care. The housing section includes summaries about various assisted living and nursing home facilities, and gives you information to make sure that if you have to choose one, you can choose a facility that provides good care. Other topics include: elder law, gerontology programs, day care, end-of-life care, diseases, elderly events, transportation for the elderly, statistics on senior citizens, Medicaid, Medicare and more.

Caring for Your Elderly Loved One: 12 Tips for Success
What should you do when your elderly loved ones wants all your time and attention? What if your elderly loved one is critical and negative? Here are 12 common questions about caring for a senior citizen that will help caregivers get a grip on what they can do to ensure that they can properly care for their loved one in a stress-free way. How can you deal with a paranoid senior citizen, or one that exhibits bizarre behavior? These are all normal parts of aging and caregivers can find out how to deal. A great source that deals with sensitive issues in a gentle way.

The Journal of Chiropractic Educaton: Exercise Therapy for Low Back Pain
This article, posted on the Journal of Chiropractic Education's web site, explains that many people who have lower back pain look to a chiropractor for treatment first, and several others are referred to one by their primary care physician. Low back pain is a common health complaint, and healthcare professionals are recommending exercise as part of the treatment plan. The article goes on to set out how a study involving 450 practicing chiropractors was conducted to find out how many of them recommended exercise to their patients suffering from lower back pain, and what type of exercise formed part of the overall treatment recommendation.

Long-Distance Care for Seniors
Nowadays, most people don’t live in close proximity to each other. But many people want to help care for their senior parents. This article is about a man living in Hawaii who wanted to care for his aging senior parents. He recommends gathering information and assessing your parents’ needs. Sometimes it may make sense to hire a geriatric care manager who can properly assess senior needs. Another great idea is for caregivers and family members to complete and distribute an emergency information kit, which should include all relevant medical, financial and legal information, Social Security numbers, will information and more. There are some fabulous tips for senior caregivers here that will help them get everything in order to care for their parents across the miles.

A Handbook for Senior Caregivers
Sometimes an aging senior parent or friend may need help with everyday life. While caregiving is a special, valuable job, it can be stressful for the caregiver. This book offers information on putting together a caregiving plan, talking to your loved ones about the caregiving plan, getting resources for senior citizen care, and addressing legal, financial and medical issues. You can assess the needs of your loved one with a valuable questionnaire. This book was prepared by Harvard-based editors, and includes a lot of information that will help you better care for the loved one in your life.

Choosing Assisted Living
Many senior citizens do not want to leave their familiar surroundings when they need long-term care. That’s why assisted living is so popular. Developed in the mid-1980s, the concept of assisted living in this MetLife handout is defined as residential care alternative to a nursing home that allows people to age in place while receiving services to help them retain their dignity and preserve and enhance their autonomy. This has some information on how to make a decision about moving into an assisted living facility, which is very useful for children taking care of aging parents.