Questions to Guide the Assisted Living Decision

Submitted by administrator on Sun, 05/06/2012 - 5:52pm

Graceland Assisted Living Garden Ridge Texas

The decision to make a move into assisted living is enormous. Seniors and their family members struggle to decide the best living situations when age begins to limit a person's abilities to care for themselves at home.  The decision to leave one's home and transition into assisted living is actually more a series of decisions than simply one big one.

When the realization hits that it is no longer feasible for someone to live by themselves at home, it can be more easily managed by thinking carefully through variables and issues as one makes the best plan possible.  There are resources in the community to help provide guidance through this process.  While it may seem overwhelming at first, it is an important thing to remember when faced with this kind of decision is that inaction is not a solution.  A good first step is to accept the reality that a change will have to be made, and then begin to explore the options that are available.

One of the biggest questions families ask is How can I make the move easier on my loved one?

Spend the first day, move-in day, with them. Set a realistic expectation about how much time you will be able to spend with them afterward. Help them get to know others in their assisted living community by engaging in structured activities. Take another resident along when you take your parent out for a visit, shopping, or for a meal.

Get them as involved in the decision, and in the move, as they can possibly be:

Resveratol and Anti-Aging Research

Submitted by administrator on Mon, 04/30/2012 - 12:12pm

Graceland Assisted Living San Antonio Texas

For some time, we've been hearing about the benefits of moderate intake of red wine.  David Sinclair is a professor of genetics at Harvard University Medical School in Massachusetts and is the lead author of a recent study on the benefits of resveratrol, a compound found in red wine.  Dr Sinclair and his colleagues have now confirmed that this ingredient indeed is beneficial.  Offering proof that it can counteract the harmful effects of aging and potentially increase life span.  Resveratol in studies has been show to increase healthy life span by limiting cancer and heart disease.  The research team believes that this finding and others could lead to the development of an anti-aging pill in the near future.

Now, scientists for the first time have created a mouse model that could lead to the development of an anti-aging drug.  

"Work from our lab, and now some companies, is aimed at finding medicines and developing medicines that could use the body's natural defenses against disease," says David Sinclair, a professor of genetics at Harvard University Medical School in Massachusetts and senior author of the latest study showing the health benefits of resveratrol in mice, "and, hopefully, one day have medicines that could delay multiple diseases and hopefully slow down aging."

Human trials involving resveratol are currently being conducted.  The hope is that the within five years, the concept of an anti-aging drug will no longer be just a concept, but a reality.  

Read more here

Is Your Parent Ready for Assisted Living?

Submitted by administrator on Wed, 03/21/2012 - 2:27pm

Graceland Assisted Living San Antonio Texas

Making a transition to assisted living from living independently is full of challenges. Sometimes, elders struggle as they make the decision to leave their homes and admit that they need help with day to day responsibilities and matters of caring for themselves.  Other times, adult children may be the ones who struggle to face the reality that their parents can no longer manage to care for themselves at home.

 

Is Your Parent Ready for Assisted Living? Ask Yourself These Questions:
It’s easy to overlook signs of decline in older adults, so ask yourself the following questions to help you determine if your parent is ready for assisted living:

  • Is your parent telling you that he is eating, but you’re seeing food go bad in the refrigerator?
  • Is your parent covering up bruises from falling that he or she doesn’t want you to see
  • Have you seen your parent wearing the same clothes when you go to visit?

    Read more here

Philosophy of Old Age Video: George Carlin

Submitted by administrator on Thu, 03/15/2012 - 2:03pm

Graceland Assisted Living San Antonio Texas

Geroge Carlin was primarily known for his humor, often on the edge of propriety. But George was also a "thinking person" and the following video provides a glimpse at some of the wisdom of the man. Enjoy the humor and wisdom shared in this video Philosophy for Old Age.

All of us, caregiver, senior adult and child share the comon experience of aging.  Carlin presents us with some important things to consider as we live.

 

Sodalis Graceland Participates in the Schertz/Randolph Metrocom Biz Expo

Submitted by administrator on Tue, 03/13/2012 - 4:20pm

Greetings everyone,

Pete and I participated in the above Biz Expo last night and there were over 45 venders and decent turn out of visitors to the event.  We won 3rd place for the booth decorating contest!  We have an nifty 5x7 plaque to hang on the wall too.  Pictures of the event and winners will be printed in the Schertz Connecting The Corridorz magazine next month.  

Respectfully,

Michelle Sutton
Director
GraceLand At Garden Ridge

Don't Overlook Bone Tests

Submitted by administrator on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 3:42pm

Graceland Assisted Living San Antonio Texas

 

Osteoperosis affects so many. It is one of the most common ailments of aging women. It is very important to get bone density exams, but they are not as often provided as other routine examinations for againg populations. Unfortunatley, many people don't know they suffer osteoperosis until it has greatly depleted bone density. These could be prevented with adequate preventative care and more widespread bone mass measurement.

How few? A 2008 study using a 5 percent sample of all Medicare beneficiaries revealed that from 1999 to 2005 only 30 percent of women turning 65 (and 4 percent of men) had bone density tests. About two-thirds, by contrast, had gotten recent mammograms, even though an older woman’s risk of osteoporosis is higher than her risk of breast cancer. One reason that only a minority of older women get bone density testing is that osteoporosis is asymptomatic: People often don’t know they’re at risk until they break a bone, said Jeffrey Curtis, a rheumatologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who was lead author of that study.

The dangers of falling are almost exclusivley due to bone loss. It creates brittle bones, and a small stumble can quickly become very serious. Osteoperosis should, ideally, not be seen as a normal part of the aging process. It doesn't have to be. Preventative care is available, and hopefully will become more widely utilized.

Read more here

Responding to an Elder's Controlling Behaviors

Submitted by administrator on Thu, 01/05/2012 - 2:47pm

Graceland Assisted Living Garden Ridge Texas

Caregiving is one of the most challenging jobs in the world.  The demands are enormous and often the rewards may seem few and far between.  There are a wealth of articles addressing how caregivers need to find ways to care for themselves as well as their loved ones.  There are many articles that touch on help to address specific behavioral challenges that one faces in caregiving.  This particular post looks at the very fine line that caregivers walk.  It peeks behind the curtain of controlling behaviors and offers some assistance to those struggling to offer care without accepting a role of one being abused by controlling behaviors.

What are the motivations behind controlling behaviors?  What is the pattern of their existence?  What can a caregiver do to provide appropriate care, while providing self care as well?

Sometimes, however, if the caregiver gets brave enough to decide what is just bad temper they can live with and what is abuse and then can set boundaries and stick to them, the situation can be made more bearable. There is something else to consider. If the controlling, abusive behavior is not deeply entrenched in the family, the caregiver may be helped to understand the situation by understanding that much controlling behavior by their elders is fear driven. 

Read more here

No matter what the motivation or the pattern of controlling behaviors, every caregiver needs and DESERVES to set boundaries as to how much negative behavior they will tolerate. 

Caregiving of the Abusive Parent

Submitted by administrator on Wed, 12/28/2011 - 10:44am

Graceland Assisted Living Garden Ridge Texas

Caregiving is never easy. Caregiving provided to someone who is ungrateful or impossible to please is even tougher.  Caregiving provided to a parent who was abusive may be the biggest challenge of all.

Even adult children who suffered in abusive familial relationships often want to provide care to their parents.  They may struggle with a parent's behaviors that remind them of their childhood and that stir feelings that have long been buried.  How can one provide loving, appropriate care to someone who has been (and may continue to be) a source of emotional pain?

 

Many counselors would suggest "detaching with love." Detaching is a method of setting boundaries to protect yourself. It can also mean that you give up the notion that you can control their behavior, and you stop allowing them to control yours. It's hard. It takes practice. But for many, detaching works.

One thing that can help is to realize that the little kid inside of us most likely still wants our parents' approval. When we can't get that, even as adult caregivers, it hurts. To cope with those needs, it often helps to learn the techniques of detachment.

People detach by learning to understand  that they can't control their parents (or spouse), so they stop trying. 

Self care and good boundaries are VITAL to the wellbeing of an adult child who is serving as a caregiver to an abusive parent.  If you struggle with this type of issue, find help.  There are resources online such as www.agingcare.com/ & www.thefamilycaregiver.org that can provide links to assistance.  

Home for the Holidays- Reality Check

Submitted by administrator on Fri, 12/09/2011 - 1:22pm

Graceland Assisted Living Garden Ridge Texas

It's that time of year... when families gather and adult children make their way home to see parents in order to celebrate the holidays together.  With more and more families separated by great distances, this season of reunions can often be a season of surprise.  Often, elder adults will want to prevent their children from worrying about them.  They often reassure by mail and telephone that "everything is going great" when in fact, they might actually be beginning to have difficulty with health or activities of daily living.  When adult children arrive from for a visit, they can be shocked to find that their parents have undergone significant changes.

The reality that adult children may find, can create a great deal of concern and a sense of urgency to try to address problems quickly before they need to return to their own homes.

 

Some organizations urge families to use these holiday gatherings to raise the issue of advance directives, giving parents a chance to express their preferences for future care decisions before a real crisis hits. It’s a fine idea to initiate these conversations in person, when older relatives can hear and see their children and when siblings may also be on the scene.

The evidence suggests that it doesn’t happen terribly often (perhaps it seems insufficiently celebratory?) given that most people, even very old and sick people, don’t have advance directives. But, as Ms. Saltz urged, “even if Mom sends you packing, give it a try.” These are seldom one-shot conversations anyway.

The Ability to Make One's Own Decisions

Submitted by administrator on Mon, 12/05/2011 - 3:11pm

Graceland Assisted Living Garden Ridge Texas

Most of us want to be able to have control of our own destiny, but in truth, we all face circumstances that limit us and our power to make decisions.  We want to be able to "steer" the course of our lives as long as absolutely possible, but we all face the reality that we juggle issues of personal safety and autonomy. 

Looking at it from the outside, a decision to move the elder to assisted living, or even a nursing home, can seem like a no-brainer. However, as caregivers we must put ourselves in our elder's place. How would you like someone who had always reported to you at work to turn around and suddenly start giving you orders? Perhaps this person would even try to re-arrange your office and put a tracer on your phone calls. You'd be, um, rather upset, right?

Respect should guide every decision made on behalf of seniors who are facing loss of their independence.  Seniors need to know that their loved ones are on their side and will work to do everything with their best interest at heart.  It takes work, time and patience to manage allow seniors power to manage their lives as much as possible.

Read more here