Hoarding: Seniors who keep items and refuse to throw them out?

Hoarding is one of the hot topics today. Everyone is talking about Hoarding and the people who do it, hoarders. There is even a television show about it. Often that show depicts the worst case scenerios. One show featured a man who had so many rats in  his home and another show had elderly person with so many items and then a screaming match out in the yard when  an adult child tried to help sort and throw away.

If you have an aging loved one who you think is a hoarder and you want to talk to someone about it, I suggest you seek out a geriatric physician or psychiatrist in your area. These doctors are often few and far between and being that hoarding is a new issue we as a society are beginning to address, it is not always the easiest to diagnosis or treat.

If you live in Southeastern PA and are close to Delaware County, PA area, Crozer Keystone Health Services offers the G.E.M. Program which stands for Geriatric Evaluation and Management. The program is designed to assist seniors and their families with memory impairment diagnosis, mental health concerns, medication management and other issues. The program has several wonderful geriatric doctors, nurses and a social worker who will meet with the family to discuss concerns regarding your loved one. To read more about GEM or to contact them, click HERE. If you are interested in speaking with an organizer who can give you some tips on how to begin conversations about de-cluttering, click HERE.

Congressman Patrick Meehan hosts Working Families Summit January 28, 2012

Working Families and Seniors can pick up information from organizations who assist families and seniors at the first Working Families Summint hosted by Congressman Patrick Meehan on Saturday, January 28, 2012 from 10am to 3pm. The event is free and open to public and will held at Interboro High School, 16th and Amosland Rd, Prospect Park, PA. Staff from Comfort Keepers will be on hand to answer questions regarding care for seniors or anyone suffering from illness or disablity over age 18. For more information on Comfort Keepers, click HERE.

Curling Championships Delaware County PA? Chamber Foundation offers event.

The National Curling Championships are being held at Ice Works in Aston, PA. The Delaware County Chamber’s Foundation is hosting an event to celebrate the event. Come on out and watch the championship and enjoy good food. For more information on the event click HERE.

Dementia: Understanding Difficult Behaviors Free Class Media PA Boscov Granite Run

Have a loved one suffering from Dementia and you are not sure what to do? Attend a free class on Understanding Dementia and get some practical tips for dealing with the behaviors that can be difficult. The class is free to attend and is being taught by Melody McHugh of Comfort Keepers. Melody has been in healthcare for over 20 years and has spent almost half of her professional career working with senior citizens and their families. Below is the information regarding the classes. These classes are free and open to public but please register. To register by phone for classes, please call (610) 565-6009 ext. 1278

To see full calendar of events for Boscov, click HERE.

Dementia: Understanding the Disease

and Practical Solutions for Difficult

Behavior

Melody McHugh M.A. – Comfort Keepers

Information on dementia and progression of

the illness. Suggestions and ideas are given

for how to deal with challenging behaviors.

Class #9 Tuesday, Feb. 7 .

6PM to 7PM…………………………………. FREE

Class #10 Wednesday, Feb. 8

11:30AM to 12:30 PM……………………. FREE

Class #11 Thursday, Feb. 23

6PM to 7PM…………………………………. FREE

Caregiver Stress: The Signs of Burnout

Melody McHugh M.A. – Comfort Keepers

This class helps caregivers to identify the

signs and symptoms of stress, how it

affects the caregiver’s health and

suggestions on how to decrease or

eliminate the stress.

Class #12 Monday, Feb. 20

6PM to 7PM…………………………………. FREE

Delaware County Chamber Bowling event supports Stop Senior Hunger donate canned goods Springfield PA

Do you like to bowl and are you looking to meet new people and network? If so, sign up for the annual Delaware County Chamber of Commerce’s Bowling and Networking event on Friday, January 20, 2011 at Sproul Lanes in Springfield, PA. To attend the attend there is a $25.00 fee but that includes food, drink, shoe rental and 3 games of bowling. Plus you can network with over a 100 people who usually attend. Companies often treat their staff to the afternoon of bowling and use the time as both networking and team building.

This is the third or fourth year the chamber has run this event and it has always been very successful. Since the beginning the Chamber has also supported the Stop Senior Hunger campaign by asking attendees to bring a box of dry food or canned good to the event. The donations are collected by Comfort Keepers staff and are then taken to local low income senior living residences. To read more about Stop Senior Hunger, click HERE.

To register for the Chamber Bowling Event, click HERE. Want to learn more about the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce and how it can help your business to grow? Attend the new member reception as a guest. No pressure to join but you must register to attend. To register, contact Joanna Brune, Membership Director by calling 610-565-3677.

In-home senior care: smallest room in house can be most dangerous for aging elderly loved one

In-home senior care: smallest room in house can be most dangerous. If your loved has had a fall and is in need of some assistance, click HERE. If you are concerned about falls and have been considering Emergency Response Technology, click HERE.

The Smallest Room in the House May Be the Most Dangerous for Seniors We all want the best for the senior loved ones in our lives. For many seniors, living independent lives at home is their main desire. Seniors are able to do so provided they are physically and mentally able to care for themselves. Sometimes, depending on their situations, seniors need help and guidance from friends and relatives, or from even caregivers who can facilitate the potential of seniors living home alone for as long as possible. The key to seniors maintaining independent lifestyles depends on many factors and most importantly their safety in doing so. With that being said, it should be noted that one of the most common dangers older seniors face is falling. In fact, research shows that injuries and subsequent complications due to falls are the leading causes of death in seniors who are 65 and older. Furthermore, one out of three seniors in this age group fall each year. While not every tumble guarantees an injury, these statistics should prompt you and your senior loved ones to make every effort to prevent falls occurring within their homes. The first place to evaluate is the bathroom. While this is the smallest room in the house, bathrooms potentially offer the most opportunities for falls to occur. Bathtub edges may be hard to step over for some seniors. Once in the shower or tub, wet surfaces can cause seniors to slip. Some seniors may not be able to stand steadily while bathing. Others may have trouble sitting down on toilets or standing up again after using them. Wet floors after showers or baths and even bath mats can cause seniors to slip and fall. Comfort Keepers offers these ideas and solutions for safety in the bathroom: Bathtubs and Showers Install grab bars in proper places to aid in safe entry and exit of tubs and showers. Consider replacing a bathtub with a walk-in shower for seniors who have trouble stepping over high bathtub sides. Non-skid mats or decal applications should be applied on the floors of showers and tubs to help prevent slipping while bathing. Seniors who have trouble standing to bathe should use sturdy shower chairs made specifically for this purpose. Make sure soap, shampoos, towels and other bathing necessities are within easy reach. Toilets and Floors Seniors who have trouble sitting and standing up can have raised toilet seats installed to make this process easier. Grab bars should be installed for additional support. Make sure the toilet paper dispenser is easily accessible. Use a bathmat for the bathroom floor just outside the shower or tub to prevent slipping on slick floors after bathing. Place a non-skid material between the bathroom floor to prevent the mat from sliding or creasing. While none of these safety features guarantees a no-fall zone, they certainly add layers of protection and aid for seniors at risk for falling. Your local home improvement store or durable medical equipment company carries safety devices made for specific purposes, and to ensure the safest results these items should be used instead of homemade devices. Another crucial element is installing safety aids properly and also teaching your loved ones how to use them. The discussion may be a bit hard to broach but the end result fosters safe, independent living for seniors in their own homes for as long as possible.

This article taken from the Comfort Keepers website. To read more like it click HERE. For more information about in-home senior care services click HERE.

My aging loved one needs help: where can I find in-home help in King of Prussia, Montgomery County PA area

If you are looking for in-home help for senior citizen, make sure you that you contact a reputable agency that has employed caregivers who are bonded and insured. An agency such as Comfort Keepers, provides in-home services to anyone over the age of 18 who is sick, disabled or elderly. The caregiving staff is employed, bonded and insured. Why is this important?

Well from a practical standpoint, an employed caregiver has to report in to the company. The process is very much like a service person who arrives at  your home to clean your rugs, install your cable or fix your heater. The service person or caregiver is employed and the company is responsible for overseeing the customer service, the quality of service you are given, the dependablity of the worker and address any issues or concerns that might arise when the worker is in your home.

If you use an unemployed caregiver, you may have some practical problems. What if one day the private caregiver decides he or she does not want to go to work, who will you call to complain to? What if the person is in the home and falls and sprains an ankle, who is responsible for the emergency room bill? What if something is missing from the home or there is a personality clash with your loved one? How will ask the person to leave and never come back to work?

Sometimes people who are looking at care only want to focus on price. The price for a private caregiver is often only a couple dollars less an hour and the senior or family hiring the person thinks this is  a much better deal because we need alot of care. There is only one problem with that scenerio. The problem is families do not realize that once a caregiver is hired that is the start of a relationhsip with that person. A relationship that is much much different that that of a service person you may see once or twice a year to fix your car or clean the heater. It is a daily relationship that becomes somewhat intimate in the sense that the caregiver has access to everything in the home. The caregiver is in your cupboards, in your underwear drawer and providing care such as help to bathroom. Things don’t get more vulnerable or intimate than that in caregiving process. Once the relationship starts it becomes like another family member and often it becomes difficult to keep boundaries intact.

If the caregiver is employed and the company is doing its job the company gently reminds the family and the caregiver that there are boundaries and the company is managing the care with the family not the caregiver with the family.

To learn more about this process and others, go to Comfort Keepers website by clicking HERE.

Help Senior Citizens Winterize Home Falls and safety medical alarms are a must for senior citizens

Winter months can be particularly harsh for seniors, especially for those who live in northern states where temperatures are coldest. It is important that the ones you love stay safe during the winter season. Their safety includes not just dressing appropriately for the weather but also making sure their homes are in good shape to face the dangerous drops in temperature.

Depending on where your senior loved one lives, you may have very little to do to ensure winter safety in and around their home. However, for the colder regions, that to-do list may be quite long. The following are a few pointers to help you get started when visiting your loved ones this season.

Exterior
Install weather strips around doors and caulk windows to keep cold air out and warm air inside. Insulate exposed pipes to protect them from freezing. Seal any holes in the house’s foundation to keep animals from crawling underneath the house for shelter. Clean out gutters and ensure spouts are clear so any water flows away from the house. For locations that expect extended temperatures of 32 degrees or below, install additional insulation in the attic for protection. Check to make sure all snow and de-icing equipment is in working order. Ice-melt salt or sand is handy and provides additional safety during icy times. Drain gas from mowers and water from garden hoses.

Interior
Make sure the furnace is in good working order and clear any materials that may become a fire hazard.  Install carbon monoxide and smoke detectors and store enough batteries for both. Have other heating units inspected and serviced. Clean the fireplace and leave wood in easy reach for seniors to use. If your loved one does not already have one, purchase a fire extinguisher and teach him or her how to use it.

Emergency Preparations
Now is also a good time to create bad weather emergency kits for the home and even the car. For the house, make sure there are plenty of extra water bottles, candles, matches or lighters, flashlights and batteries in case of a power outage. Canned food and other non-perishable items should be stored for this purpose, as well. Keeping flashlights on the bedside table in case of such emergencies is also a good idea.

Emergency kits for cars are just as essential. While you do not want to store water in the car during freezing temperatures, you can keep a to-go bag by the door for outings. Inside this bag include plenty of water, some snacks or other easy-to-eat non-perishable food, flashlights, batteries, and a cell phone charger for the car. Packing a warm change of clothes or a blanket may be a good idea. Better to be safe than sorry if your loved one’s car happens to slide off of an icy road. At least the senior will be prepared to wait for help.

If you live away from the senior in your life, now may be a good time to contact an in-home care agency, such as Comfort Keepers®, to check on your loved one and ensure  he or she  is safe during the winter. These agencies have qualified staff that can help with grocery shopping, light housekeeping, and can even provide transportation to appointments or other errands.  Most importantly, someone will keep an eye on the senior living alone, providing crucial care and much needed socialization during cold wintery days.

Remember, you’re loved one might fall in the home and during the winter months with all the windows closed and house locked up tight no one might hear your loved one call for help. Consider giving the gift of a Personal Emergency Response System. For information on the medical alarm system nationally, go to Comfort Keepers website by clicking HERE. For Southeast PA, Delaware County, Montgomery County, Chester County and Philadelphia, click HERE.
^{References
Weintraub, Elizabeth. Winterizing your home. Preparing your home for winter. Retrieved on October 30, 2011, from http://homebuying.about.com/od/buyingahome/qt/92607_WinmterHom.ht}

^{This article was copied from the main national Comfort Keepers website. To read more like it go to www.comfortkeepers.com.}

 

 

Stop Senior Hunger: Senior Citizens Montgomery and Delaware County PA

Looking for food donation locations in Montgomery County PA? Delaware County, PA? look no further. For past couple years, several local businesses and organizations have supported Comfort Keepers’ Stop Senior Hunger campaign by acting as donation sites throughout the year and the holiday season.

United Savings Bank in Springfield PA and Media PA are collecting food as well as many organizations and companies in Montgomery County PA to help provide canned goods and dry foods to low income senior citizens.

Are you interested in donating or learning more about Stop Senior Hunger? If so, click here to go to our donation site page. If you would like more information about senior nutrition please go to our national Stop Senior Hunger page by clicking HERE. For more information about in-home services that Comfort Keepers provides including meal preparation and grocery shopping, click HERE.

Activities to do with senior citizens during holiday season, suggestions holiday gifts seniors elderly

The holidays are fast approaching, and for most of us this means fun times spent with family, friends and other loved ones. However, for seniors, holidays can be difficult. Many have lost a spouse and friends through the years, or perhaps live far away from their families and may be unable to travel long distances to see loved ones. This means the holidays can be a lonely time for many seniors, especially those who live by themselves at home.

This year, Comfort Keepers® encourages you to reach out to elderly people you know and give the gift of holiday cheer. There are many ways you can make a huge difference in the life of seniors by simply spending time with them. Offer to bake holiday goodies together, or invite a senior friend shopping for Christmas presents or a cup of coffee. You can play games and even spend an afternoon writing holiday cards to send to friends and family. Take a walk or an evening drive to enjoy holiday lights and decorations.

Reach out to seniors you do not know for the same reasons. Organize a holiday get- together at your church for seniors. Take a visit with your children to an assisted living facility and sing Christmas carols. You can also volunteer at local organizations that offer services to seniors in your community. You can help plan activities such as trips, exercise classes, book clubs or other gatherings that provide avenues for seniors to expand their circle of friends. Call an organization like Comfort Keepers, which employs caregivers to assist the elderly during the holidays and throughout the year to provide grocery shopping, light cleaning or other duties that make it easier for seniors to live independently at home alone. Comfort Keepers offers more than just physical assistance – we provide important social interaction for seniors on a daily basis. During the holidays, for example, caregivers could take your loved ones to holidays events, sit with them to go over old photo albums, and similar activities.

Spending time with seniors makes them feel valued, involved, and less lonely and isolated during the holiday season. The holidays can provide unique opportunities to connect with seniors in ways that enrich not only their lives, but your own. Giving the gift of your time is a small way you can make a large difference in the lives of seniors. They may not use words to express the value of your time with them, but watch as their faces light up with smiles and their steps become a bit lighter during your visit. You are certain to find your gift of holiday cheer comes to mean as much to you as it does to the elderly people with whom you share it.

This article printed by Comfort Keepers, provider of in-home services to seniors. For more information on services or to read articles like this, click HERE.