Monthly Archives February 2020

One Conversation Can Make All the Difference

One Conversation Can Make All the Difference

February 27, 2020

Planning for the realities, and misconceptions, of long-term care   The phone rings and it’s your client’s son – his aging father’s health has taken a turn for the worst, and the family is now faced with the possibility of having to make rushed, emotional and potentially expensive long-term care decisions. The son is asking you what plan his father put in place to prepare for a long-term care need… Did they plan for how to pay for the care that’s now needed, or will they need to use assets such as personal savings or retirement income? This type of
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What Every Dementia Caregiver Must Know

What Every Dementia Caregiver Must Know

February 20, 2020

With over five million people in the US with Alzheimer’s/ dementia today and this number expected to grow exponentially every year, it is of vital importance to empower the family and professional caregivers with support and dementia care skills. Providing care that yields positive outcomes for both the person living with Alzheimer’s/dementia and the caregiver is very important and challenging. To help, I provide a few things every Alzheimer’s/dementia caregiver must know. 1. Obtain the necessary help and support Whether a family or a professional caregiver such as a nurse, aide, or therapist, it is important to establish a dementia
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Millions of Americans and their families know the journey of the ‘long goodbye’

Millions of Americans and their families know the journey of the ‘long goodbye’

February 13, 2020

KARE 11’s Karla Hult is one of them. Only, she prefers to describe Alzheimer’s disease as a series of “so many goodbyes… each one of them, heartbreaking.” MINNEAPOLIS — She sits in front of the man who raised her, served as her role model and supported her throughout life’s most challenging moments. And she misses him. Millions of Americans and their families know the journey of the “long goodbye.” KARE 11’s Karla Hult is one of them. Only, Karla prefers to describe Alzheimer’s disease as a series of “so many goodbyes… each one of them, heartbreaking.” Karla and her family
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Strategies for Long-Distance Caregivers

Strategies for Long-Distance Caregivers

February 3, 2020

— They need special types of help due to the unique challenges by Nursing@Simmons February 2, 2020 Being a primary caregiver for a family member who lives in a different city or state can feel like a full-time job, complete with its own set of stressors and related emotions. “I think caregivers can be disappointed at times,” said Vicki Williford, a chronic care nurse in Greensboro, North Carolina. “The home health nurse comes and goes, and [the caregiver] still has another 23 hours to go.” That’s 23 more hours to make sure the care recipient has taken medication, avoided falls, eaten healthy meals, and
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