Heat Taking a Toll on Seniors

Local Senior Care Company Advises Family Caregivers to Keep a Close Eye on Elderly during Heat Wave

Nobody likes extreme and prolonged heat, but such conditions can be deadly for seniors.  On average, more than 1,500 people in the U.S. die each year from excessive heat, according to NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).(http://www.noaawatch.gov/themes/heat.php). This number is greater than the 30-year mean annual number of deaths due to tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and lightning combined. 

The elderly are often the most vulnerable to severe heat, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/elderlyheat.asp).  Why? Their bodies do not adjust as well as young people to sudden changes in temperature, they are more likely to have a chronic medical condition that changes normal body responses to heat, and they are often on a prescription medicine that impairs the body's ability to regulate its temperature or that inhibits perspiration.

If you are a senior or caring for an elderly individual, the following tips, from the local Home Instead Senior Care^® office, will help them combat the heat:

• Keep a glass of water in every room to quickly and easily access fluids. Drink plenty of fluids, even if you don’t feel thirsty.
• Go through the closet and remove all heavy materials, long sleeves and dark colors. Store them until fall.
• Set fashion trends. If you’re in need of new clothes, check out the latest fashion magazines. Look for short sleeves, lightweight rayons or cottons, and light-colored clothing that reflect the heat.
• Stay out of the sun during the hottest times of the day. Fill up your bird feeder in the morning and water the lawn at night. Sunburn makes the job of heat dissipation that much more difficult.
• Put down that broom! Save household chores, particularly washing and drying clothes and operating the dishwasher, for evenings, when the weather is cooler.
• Take a nap during high heat times – between 3 and 5 p.m. in the afternoon, for instance – or find a good television program or movie to watch.
• While you’re napping or enjoying a movie, keep shades down and blinds pulled.  Keeping a house tightly closed is more energy efficient.
• Invite your friends over for an iced tea break. Replace coffee breaks with iced tea or lemonade breaks in an air-conditioned spot – not the patio. Staying in an air-conditioned dwelling during hot days is safer.
• Go on a shopping spree. If you don’t have an air conditioner, or if yours is broken, spend the afternoon at the mall. You can shop or just enjoy cool drinks and a good book.
• Put away that meat loaf recipe for the summer and track down new recipes for fruit and vegetable salads. Foods like proteins that increase metabolic heat production also increase water loss.
• If increased use of a central air conditioning system causes higher utility bills that are a problem for your budget, consider purchasing a fan or small window unit that can cool down a home at a lower cost. In fact, window fans provide an effective way to exhaust the day’s hot air during the night.  

For more information about the heat, visit the National Weather Service Web site at http://www.noaa.gov and the Federal Emergency Management Agency Web site at www.fema.gov. Or, to learn more about Home Instead Senior Care, log on to www.homeinstead.com

ABOUT HOME INSTEAD SENIOR CARE

Founded in 1994 in Omaha, the Home Instead Senior Care^® network is the world's largest provider of non-medical in-home care services for seniors, with more than 875 independently owned and operated franchises in 14 countries and 15 markets, spanning four continents. Home Instead Senior Care local offices employ 65,000+ CAREGivers^SM who provide more than 40 million hours of client service each year through activities including companionship, meal preparation, medication reminders, light housekeeping, errands and shopping. Home Instead Senior Care founders Paul and Lori Hogan pioneered franchising in the non-medical senior care industry and are leading advocates for senior issues in America. At Home Instead Senior Care, it’s relationship before task, while continuing to provide superior quality service that enhances the lives of seniors everywhere.

888-294-6785

Homeinstead.com/nepa

Home Health Costs Flat While Nursing Homes, ALFs Increase

Keeping your parents in their own home could be the best deal, according to a recent Genworth study. The cost of a private room in a nursing home jumped 3.4 percent in the last year to a staggering $77,745 a year, according to Genworth’s 2011 Cost of Care Survey. Not far behind is a 2.4 percent jump in the cost of assisted living facilities, which is $39,135 a year. The bright light was on home health care, which held steady cost-wise.

At $18 per hour for homemaker services and $19 an hour for home health aide services, the national median hourly cost to receive care in the home remained flat over the past 12 months. “Understanding local caregiving expenses is an essential first step for families faced with rising care costs,” said Buck Stinson, president, U.S. Life Insurance Products at Genworth.

For consumers interested in learning more about the cost of care in their local market, Genworth offers an interactive map of long term care costs in 437 regions across all 50 states at www.Genworth.com/CostofCare. The site offers a range of resources:

·         Find specific cost information that matters to your family – by state and type of care setting for 437 cities and regions across the country

·         Compare costs across up to three locations including where your senior lives currently

·         Calculate the cost of care 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years out so you can plan well for your own future

·         Download the full survey report, complete with executive summary, and overviews of long term care services and financing options, or just download a specific state’s data

Industry surveys typically reveal that most seniors prefer to age in the comfort of their own homes. Surveys conducted for the Home Instead Senior Care^® network show the preference at nearly 90 percent.

And with home care costs so affordable, families can now consider that option to be one of the best. For more information, contact your local Home Instead Senior Care office at 570-586-3135 to find out how a CAREGiver^SM could help your senior loved ones.

Survey: Most baby boomers lack a plan to care for parents

A majority of Baby Boomers say they are likely to become caregivers for their parents, but only half can name any medications their parents take, a new survey shows.

 

The survey of 600 adults ages 45 to 65, conducted for the Home Instead Senior Care network, also found:

•31% don't know how many medications their parents take.

•34% don't know whether their parents have a safe deposit box or where the key is.

•36% don't know where their parents' financial information is located.

Nurse practitioner Mimi Mahon recommends putting health care information on 3-by-5-inch notecards and keeping copies in the medicine cabinet and the car, and encouraging aging parents to carry a copy.

"The majority of caregivers we work with have done no advance planning,'' says Jeff Huber, president of Home Instead Senior Care, a company that provides non-medical care services. "It is not important until it's urgent. So much stress and uncertainty down the road can be prevented."

Lack of planning can lead to serious complications when decisions need to be made quickly, says palliative care nurse practitioner Mimi Mahon, an associate professor at George Mason University in Virginia. "It's vitally important to plan ahead and have these conversations with parents, or families can act out of fear and make mistakes when emergencies arise."

Prescription drugs are of particular concern. In the survey, 49% couldn't name a single drug their parents took. Ask parents about their medications and, if necessary, do research, experts say. Find out the dose, what it's for, who prescribed it and why. People 65 and older account for about a third of all medications prescribed in the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health, and older patients are more likely to have long-term and multiple prescriptions, which could lead to unintentional misuse.

"It's kind of a never-ending process for caregivers," says Sandy Markwood, head of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, part of the Department of Health and Human Services. "It gets further complicated when there is more than the family practitioner. A parent might have several specialists. It's a lot for a caretaker to keep up."

Markwood says the Administration on Aging, also under HHS, has been encouraging better record-keeping by seniors and stronger communication between seniors and caretakers since Hurricane Katrina. "Then you had a situation when seniors were evacuated without their medications and no one knew what medications they were on," Markwood says. "Doctors had to start from scratch."

One must-have answer for caretakers: What drugs can parents go without and which ones must be taken on schedule. For instance, blood pressure and anti-depressant medications cannot be missed, Mahon says.

The bottom line, she says, is being a staunch advocate for your parents' health care starts with "having conversations and putting plans in place."

Fat-to-Fit Program Can Help Seniors Lose Weight

Fitness expert and author Carole Carson lost more than 60 pounds at age 60. She now works with AARP, which recently launched the third annual “Fat-to-Fit Summer Weight Loss Challenge,” an online program challenging and supporting people to make positive, permanent life changes to improve their health.

Studies show people are more likely to stick to exercise plans when they have support. The Fat-to-Fit program focuses on personal interaction with both Carson and other participants through the Fat-to-Fit online community of more than 18,000 members.

Challengers will be able to access free diet and fitness tips, Carson’s columns and blogs, videos, recipes and more. They are urged to post frequent updates and to exchange ideas, encouragement, recipes and moral support.

And registrants have a chance to win $2,000. Official registration, rules and details are available at www.aarp.org/fat2fit.

“Most of us know what we need to do, but we need help making lifestyle changes,” Carson said. “The Fat-to-Fit community will help you make new friends as you learn how to incorporate exercise into your schedule. You’ll find an exercise that fits your specific needs and cuts calories, leading to a longer, healthier life.”

The challenge runs through July 9, 2011, and visitors to AARP’s Website (www.aarp.org) can register to join throughout the duration of the challenge.

Carson will select weekly small-prize winners and, at the end of the program, she will select three overall winners. Winners will be chosen based on three criteria: serving as a role model for the entire community, facing and overcoming challenges, and demonstrating the principles of the Fat-to-Fit program.