Masking and social distancing have made it possible for many to venture out into the w
For individuals who spend a lot of time alone or have social barriers because of COVID-19, this new technology can help connect them to loved ones and their hearing healthcare professionals remotely. Through the Thrive Care app, users can share useful information like step count and social engagement levels with designated contacts. With Hearing Care Anywhere, Starkey’s new remote programming feature, hearing aid users can reach their hearing health professional for real-time adjustments to their devices.
Starkey is revolutionizing the hearing aid, but it’s just the beginning. Artificial intelligence and integrated sensors make it possible to push the hearing industry even further. Starkey is using technology to improve patients’ lives. Our president and CEO, Brandon Sawalich, has made this a company that prioritizes big ideas and pushes the hearing industry forward. We are using technology to help people hear better and live better. There have been more developments in hearing aids in the past seven years than in the past 70. Source: Home Care Magaizine |
Viruses can live for two to eight hours on hard surfaces. So it’s no surprise that many people get infected by touching a germy household doorknob, light switch, or remote control. Disinfect these surfaces frequently, using sanitizing antiviral wipes. If you don’t have wipes on hand, spray those germ-catchers with white vinegar, and then dry with paper towels.
Viruses and bacteria can hang out in mud, dirt, and debris, and once that muck gets stuck to your shoes, those germs can thrive in the treads. Keep a clean doormat outside every entrance to your home, and take off your shoes as soon as you enter the house. Go the extra mile and wash the soles of your shoes regularly with hot, soapy water.
Another hidden hotbed of germ activity is one you frequently hold to your face—the phone. If someone has touched, sneezed, or coughed on your phone, the next person to pick up the receiver could become infected. That’s just one reason why it is important to clean your phones frequently with antiviral wipes or sprays. Make it a habit to wipe off the phone every time you answer or hang up.
Everyday surfaces like countertops, desks, and tabletops are hubs of activity, and as a result they are commonly contaminated with bacteria and viruses. Indeed, some health experts say that your home desk can contain up to 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat! To prevent those bad bugs from getting transferred to your hands, wipe down household surfaces often and be particularly conscientious about disinfecting any surfaces where food is prepped or served.
Stovetops, cutting boards, sinks, faucets, dishcloths, and sponges are all breeding grounds for germs. Wipe down kitchen surfaces daily, and run cutting boards and sponges through a sanitizing cycle on the dishwasher to eliminate contamination. Alternatively, you can clean sponges in the microwave—one minute on high should do the trick. Replace used kitchen towels and dishcloths with fresh ones daily.
Dust rags, mops and other cleaning tools may just be spreading germs around your house instead of eliminating them. If you don’t sanitize and disinfect your mops and other cleaning tools between uses, you may be giving germs and viruses a free ride throughout your home. Wash all cleaning gear in hot, soapy water after use; a drop or two of bleach will do for disinfecting. You may also want to switch to disposable cleaning cloths.
Your washer and dryer can be powerful allies in the war on germs. Wash bed linens, towels, and rugs frequently in hot water to keep bacteria at bay. If you’re in the market for new appliances, maximize the cleaning power of your laundry room arsenal by looking for models whose ability to sanitize clothing has been certified by NSF International.
If you are looking to invest in a sink or countertop that is both beautiful and antibacterial, consider copper. Not only does copper create a warm ambience, but it also kills bacteria. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states that copper and copper alloys, including brass and bronze, are proven bacteria busters, and research suggests that copper may be effective against viruses as well.
Whole-home air filtration can help reduce the spread of bacteria, pollen, mold spores, and any viruses that may be attached to a larger host. Modern air purifiers are designed to remove up to 99 percent of airborne particles and can help the whole family breathe easier. For an added punch of purification, consider installing an ultraviolet (UV) component to your system.
The moisture that a cold- or warm-mist humidifier adds to the air can help deter the spread of viruses. Air that is in a healthy humidity range—that is, 40 to 50 percent relative humidity year-round (slightly lower in colder months)—also creates a more comfortable home environment and helps prevent your nasal passages from drying out.
Place tissue boxes strategically throughout the home so that you always have one close at hand. A single sneeze can spray germs up to six feet, so it is important to “achoo” into a tissue, and then throw it away. If a tissue isn’t readily available, sneeze into the crook of your elbow.
*adapted from BobVila Tried True and Trustworthy Home Advice article by Donna Boyle Schwartz
Copied – Tennessee Magazine, American Association of Retired Persons
View the original copy of the Tennessee Magazine 50 Years ago – October 1969
Alternative transportation services vary widely by community. The services available to your mom will depend on where she lives.
While most urban areas offer seniors a variety of transportation services, the options may be few for those living in the suburbs, small towns and rural areas. Alternative transportation is an essential link helping seniors who no longer drive get to their doctor’s appointments, stores, social activities and more.
Here is a rundown of possible solutions that can help your mom get around, along with some resources to help you locate them. These solutions will vary depending on where she lives.
Family Staffing Solutions specializes in providing the best in-home assistance services. Our services include transportation to Doctors visits, trips to the mall, to visit family and friends, church, and other interests and errands. (Added by Family Staffing Solutions)
To find out what transportation services are available in your mom’s community, contact the Rides in Sight national toll-free call center at 855-607-4337 and the Eldercare Locator (800-677-1116), which will direct you to her area agency.
You can contact local senior centers, places of worship and retirement communities for other possible options. Additionally, you may want to check with the state department of transportation at www.fhwa.dot.gov/webstate.htm and the American Public Transportation Association at publictransportation.org.
Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of “The Savvy Living” book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization’s official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.
My 70-year-old mother has become somewhat of a hoarder. Since my father died a few years ago, her house is so disorganized and messy with stuff that it is becoming a hazard. What should I do to help her?
Clutter addiction is a problem that affects up to 5% of Americans, many of whom are seniors. The problems can range anywhere from moderate messiness to severe hoarding, which may be related to a mental health condition such as obsessive-compulsive disorder. Here are some things you should know along with some tips and resources that can help your mom.
Many people hoard because they have an extreme sentimental attachment to their possessions, or they believe they might need their items at a later date. Hoarding can also be a sign that an older person is depressed or showing early signs of dementia.
Common problems for seniors who live amongst excessive clutter include tripping, falling and breaking a bone; overlooking bills; missing medications that are hidden in the clutter; suffering from the environmental effects of mold, mildew and dust; and even living among insects and rodents.
If you find that your mom has a moderate clutter problem, there are a number of things you can do to help. Start by having a talk with her, respectfully expressing your concern for her health and safety, and offering your assistance to help declutter.
Most professional organizers recommend decluttering in small steps. If your mom accepts your offer to help, start by taking one room at a time or even a portion of a room at a time. This will help prevent your mom from getting overwhelmed.
Before you start, designate three piles or boxes for your mom’s things – one pile is for items she wants to keep and put away, another is the donate pile and the last is the throw away pile.
You and your mom will need to determine which pile each item belongs in as you work. If your mom struggles with sentimental items that she never uses, like her husband’s old tools or her mother’s china for example, suggest she keep only one item for memory sake and donate the rest or give to family members who will use them. You will also need to help her set up a system for organizing the kept items.
If you need some help with the decluttering and organizing, consider hiring a professional organizer who can come to your mom’s home to help you prioritize, organize and remove the clutter. The nonprofit National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals has a directory on its website to help you locate a professional in your area.
*Aging In Place Transition Services is a local team of professional organizers that Family Staffing Solutions is familiar with.
If your mom has a more serious hoarding problem (if her daily functioning is impaired or if she is having financial difficulties, health problems, or other issues because of her hoarding) you should seek professional help. A doctor may prescribe antidepressants or therapy to help address control issues, anxiety, depression and other feelings that may underlie the hoarding tendencies to make it easier for her to confront her disorder.
To learn more and find professional help see the International OCD Foundation which provides a hoarding center on their website, which offers information, resources, treatments, self-help groups and more.
Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of “The Savvy Living” book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization’s official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.
Numerous studies have demonstrated the real impact of travel on adults. Men who take vacations once a year are over 30% less likely to die from heart disease. Women who take vacations twice a year are less likely to experience depression and more likely to have lower stress levels. Travel also provides people with the opportunity to expand their horizons and become more open-minded and emotionally stable. For elders, travel also offers numerous low-impact and high-impact ways to get moving and explore a new place.
Unfortunately, some of the potential challenges to senior travel often prevent retirees and elders from exploring the world around them. There are plenty of things that could go wrong, but planning ahead can offset many of them. To prepare for a trip this summer with your loved one:
Source: Ellen Platt, Options in Geriatric Care
The holidays are a time when family and friends often come together. But for families living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, the holidays can be challenging. Take a deep breath. With some planning and adjusted expectations, your celebrations can still be happy, memorable occasions.
In the early stage, a person with Alzheimer’s may experience minor changes. Some may withdraw and be less comfortable socializing while others may relish seeing family and friends as before. The key is to check in with each other and discuss options. A simple “How are you doing” or “How are you coping with everything?” may be appreciated. Plan the holidays together, focusing on the things that bring happiness and letting go of activities that seem overwhelming or stressful.
For people in the middle or late stages, consider rethinking holiday plans. Everyone is unique and finding a plan that works can involve trial and error.
The holidays are full of emotions, so it can help to let guests know what to expect before they arrive. If the person is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, relatives and friends might not notice any changes. But the person with dementia may have trouble following conversation or tend to repeat him- or herself. Family can help with communication by being patient, not interrupting or correcting, and giving the person time to finish his or her thoughts. If the person is in the middle or late stages of Alzheimer’s, there may be significant changes in cognitive abilities since the last time an out-of-town friend or relative has visited. These changes can be hard to accept. Make sure visitors understand that changes in behavior and memory are caused by the disease and not the person.
>> “I’m writing to let you know how things are going at our house. While we’re looking forward to your visit, we thought it might be helpful if you understood our current situation before you arrive.
>> “You may notice that ___ has changed since you last saw him/her. Among the changes you may notice are ___.
>> “I’ve enclosed a picture so you know how ___ looks now. Because ___ sometimes has problems remembering and thinking clearly, his/her behavior is a little unpredictable.
>> “Please understand that ___ may not remember who you are and may confuse you with someone else. Please don’t feel offended by this. He/she appreciates your being with us and so do we.”
>> “Please treat ___ as you would any person. A warm smile and a gentle touch on ___’s shoulder or hand will be appreciated more than you know.”
>> “We would ask that you call when you’re nearby so we can prepare for your arrival. With your help and support, we can create a holiday memory that we’ll all treasure.”
For more ideas on how to let others know about changes in your loved one, join ALZConnected, our online support community where caregivers like you share tips on what has worked for them.
A holiday is still a holiday whether it is celebrated at home or at a care facility. Here are some ways to celebrate together:
Source: Alzheimer’s Association alz.org/help-support/resources/holidays
At Family Staffing Solutions, Inc. we proudly care for our Veterans, their spouses and surviving spouses every day. Our commitment to their care is just one of the ways we demonstrate appreciation for their service to our country.
These heroes – our fathers, mothers, spouses, and friends, – may be eligible for benefits through the VA. To find out if these funds may be available to help you pay for long-term care, we encourage you to call:
Contact Carroll Dale for a free pre-filing consultation to check eligibility to understand how or if these funds can help pay for long-term care. A married couple can access over $2100/month, single veteran over $1800/month and a surviving spouse over $1200/month. You must have a medical need requiring assistance and a limited net worth.
Visit their website www.veteransbenefitsaidcounsel.com for a chat feature or private online inquiry.
Qualifying dates of service for Pension plus Aid and Attendance:
WWII: 12/7/1941-12/31/1946 Korea: 6/27/1950-1/31/1955
Vietnam: 12/28/1961-8/4/1964 (in country) Vietnam II: 8/5/1964-5/7/1975
90 days consecutive active duty days with 1 day falling in the listed time frames
Mideast Conflicts: 8/02/1990 to date
Two years active duty with 1 day falling in the listed time frame
We also invite you to visit the Family Staffing Solutions’ Veterans Corner
According to the International Osteoporosis Foundation, more than 44 million Americans aged 50 and older either have or face the threat of developing osteoporosis due to low bone density levels. Projections put this number at more than 60 million by 2020. Across the world, a fracture due to osteoporosis happens about once every three seconds, causing nearly 9 million fractures—just from stress being put on weak bones.
Osteoporosis is treatable, reversible, and can be prevented for longer periods of time with the knowledge of what it is and how to attack it. So let’s dig into osteoporosis to find out what it is, how to notice it, its causes, and what to do once you or a loved one have it.
Osteoporosis is a degenerative bone disease that causes the loss of bone mass and bone tissue. Over the course of your life, old bone is removed from your body through a process called resorption, and new bone replaces it through formation, according to the National Resource Center for Osteoporosis and Other Bone Diseases.
However, there comes a time when your body can no longer keep up with the amount of bone you are losing. Most humans reach their “peak bone mass” in their early 20s, and then your body slowly (very slowly) starts lose more bone than it creates. This process takes a long time, though, especially when it comes to impacting the strength of your bones. The resource center also says that the process of resorption usually starts to outpace the process of formation by the time you hit 30, whether you’re a man or a woman. In most cases, men develop more bone over the course of their lives than women do, which leaves women more susceptible to suffering from osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis has onset once your bones get to a point where they are brittle, weaker, and easily broken. There are little to no symptoms of the disease, so easily breaking a bone may be the first sign that you have osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is a large reason why seniors falling is such a big deal. If bones become easier to break, they also become a lot harder to heal, because not as much bone is being created to heal the fracture. The longer bones take to heal—especially hips and legs—the longer the elderly have to stay in the hospital. Longer hospital stays have been proven to show increased rates of mortality. They’re are related to increased complications while you’re in the hospital, because you’re more likely to develop more issues the longer you stay. You can even reach a point where your bones are no longer able to completely heal themselves, which causes issues with normal daily routines for the rest of your life.
Osteoporosis can develop from a wide range of reasons, some of them medical (like autoimmune diseases, cancer and mental illness), and some of them from medications you take that can have bone loss as a side effect. This is why more than 10 million people have been officially diagnosed with osteoporosis. Let’s take a look at what exactly causes it to develop. Continue reading….
Yes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that adults age 50 or older be vaccinated. There is a new shingles vaccine on the market that is far superior to the older vaccine, so now is a great time to get vaccinated. Here is what you should know.
Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is a burning, blistering, often excruciating skin rash that affects around one million Americans each year. The same virus that causes chickenpox causes shingles. The chickenpox virus that most people get as kids never leaves the body. It hides in the nerve cells near the spinal cord and, for some people, emerges later in the form of shingles.
In the U.S., nearly one out of every three people will develop shingles during their lifetime. While anyone who has had chickenpox can get shingles, it most commonly occurs in people over age 50 and people who have weakened immune systems. Note that you cannot catch shingles from someone else.
Early signs of the disease include pain, itching or tingling before a blistering rash appears several days later. The rash and symptoms can last up to four weeks. The rash typically occurs on one side of the body, often as a band of blisters that extends from the middle of your back around to the breastbone. It can also appear above an eye or on the side of the face or neck.
In addition to the rash, about 20% to 25% of those who develops shingles go on to develop severe nerve pain (postherpetic neuralgia, or PHN) that can last for months or even years. In rare cases, shingles can also cause strokes, encephalitis, spinal cord damage and vision loss.
The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new vaccine for shingles called Shingrix, which provides much better protection than the older vaccine, Zostavax. Manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, Shingrix is 97% effective in preventing shingles in people 50 to 69 years old, and 91% effective in those 70 and older.
By comparison, Zostavax is 70% effective for people in their 50s; 64% effective for those in their 60s; 41% effective for people in their 70s; and 18% effective for those in their 80s.
Shingrix is also better than Zostavax in preventing nerve pain that continues after a shingles rash has cleared — about 90% effective versus 65% effective.
Because of this enhanced protection, the CDC recommends that everyone age 50 and older receive the Shingrix vaccine, which is given in two doses, two to six months apart.
Even if you have already had shingles, you still need these vaccinations because reoccurring cases are possible. The CDC also recommends that anyone previously vaccinated with Zostavax be revaccinated with Shingrix.
You should also know that Shingrix can cause some adverse side effects for some people, including muscle pain, fatigue, headache, fever and upset stomach.
Shingrix — which costs around $280 for both doses — is (or will soon be) covered by insurance, including Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. Be aware, however, that the shingles vaccines are not always well covered. So before getting vaccinated, call your provider to find out if it is covered and, if so, which pharmacies and doctors in your area you should use to ensure the best coverage.
If you do not have health insurance or are experiencing medical or financial hardship, you might qualify for GlaxoSmithKline’s Patient Assistance Program, which provides free vaccinations to those who are eligible.
Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of “The Savvy Living” book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization’s official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.
Published May 11, 2018