Mini horses, big hearts

Mini horses, big hearts

For the last couple of weeks, Senior Concerns’ Adult Day participants have had been treated to two special guests. Their names are Romeo and Ziggy, and both are wonderful visitors – kind, friendly, affectionate and they seem to really enjoy their time at the center. What may be a bit out of the ordinary is that Romeo and Ziggy are miniature horses.

Given a moment or two of social interaction with these visitors, the participants brighten and become more outgoing. Romeo and Ziggy have that special effect on those around them.

One participant, as she petted Ziggy, broke out in an ear-to-ear smile as she reminisced about her time around horses as a child.

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Lessons learned for keeping loved ones safe

Lessons learned for keeping loved ones safe

My friend Ronnie and her sister just signed their mom up for a personal emergency alert system. It’s the kind that hangs around your neck and will signal the company if you press the button.

An emergency dispatcher will respond and attempt to talk to you to see if you pushed the button in error and are OK, or if you need help. If you do not answer, the dispatcher will assess the situation and call an emergency contact that is best suited to your circumstances. Sometimes the dispatcher needs to call your second contact in case the first one cannot be reached.

Ronnie’s mother is in her nineties and lives alone at her home in Michigan. Ronnie’s sister lives near her mother and is the first point of contact for the emergency alert folks. Ronnie lives here in California and is on the list as the second contact as a fallback position.

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Local support for caregivers awaits

Local support for caregivers awaits

My husband and I have established roles in our daily lives. I am the shopper, the cook, and the social secretary. My husband is the accountant, the contract reader, and the sprinkler repair man. Our roles have been established and reinforced over 33 years of marriage.

I can’t imagine my husband taking over my roles (we would clearly starve) and I can’t imagine taking over his, but that is exactly what my friend Marty has done for his wife Debbie.

Debbie first showed signs of cognitive changes and decline five years ago. After that first year. Debbie had testing and brain scans done, which caused them to then seek out a neurologist. Then the diagnosis came, Alzheimer’s disease.

It was no surprise really, as Debbie’s mother and three older sisters also had Alzheimer's.

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Watch expiration dates during COVID

Watch expiration dates during COVID

A few months back a friend told me she was not feeling well and was trying to find an at-home rapid COVID test. She needed the test because in a few days it would be her turn to care for her mother, who has mild cognitive impairment.

I offered to go find her a test and drop it off at her home, and after checking a dozen pharmacies, I finally found one.

My local pharmacy told me they had over 1,000 units come in the day before and they were gone within hours. The clerk said she wished the store’s policy would put limits on the number of tests people could buy, as some people were buying dozens. This, of course, made it difficult for me to find one for my friend.

Besides causing lack of availability, stockpiling tests is not recommended because most tests right now have a fairly short expiration date.

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Assessments offer clarity in uncertain times

Assessments offer clarity in uncertain times

Barbara’s parents, like many seniors in their 80s, are trying to keep from contracting COVID-19 by isolating at home.

To keep fed, they signed up for the governor’s Great Plates program, which delivers two restaurant-quality meals per day; other groceries are ordered online by their daughter.

In normal times, Barbara, who lives two hours away, would visit weekly. Now she uses the phone to connect.

Over the past several months, she has become increasingly worried about her mother’s health and well-being. On a recent phone call, her mother related a story about her arthritis flaring up.

“I just don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said again and again. Barbara must have heard that phrase over 20 times in the span of a few minutes.

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Giving a coffee maker a dual purpose

Giving a coffee maker a dual purpose

My friend, let’s call him Alfred, who is in his 70s, has been trying to devise a system to alert his close contacts if something were to happen to him while he’s at home.

He’s sensitive to the topic because his former girlfriend died in her home and it took over 48 hours for her body to be found. It pains Alfred to think of her having died and not being discovered for such a long time. She had a dog, and the poor animal was without food, water or his master for two days.

Alfred has a beloved canine companion, too, that he wants to be sure is fed and cared for if he becomes incapacitated and cannot call for help. He has an Apple Watch, which has a built-in electrical heart sensor, as well as fall detection and an emergency SOS—one piece of technology to help him in case he falls or his heart begins to fail.

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Long-distance caregivers have a role to play

Long-distance caregivers have a role to play

If you live an hour or more away from a loved one who needs your care, you’re a long-distance caregiver.

Based upon the needs of the care receiver, as well as the skills, abilities and limitations of the caregiver, every long-distance caregiving experience is different.

I’ve been a long-distance caregiver on two occasions, each with its own set of responsibilities.

In the first instance, my mother and sister were the hands-on caregivers for my father, and since I was 3,000 miles away, I took on the role of long-distance caregiver.

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Honoring our caregivers can take many forms

Honoring our caregivers can take many forms

Recently my mother returned home to New Hampshire after two wonderful weeks visiting me and my husband here in California. I had lots of goals for the visit, and we accomplished many of them.

Two remarkable things happened that I did not plan for.

Because we finally had some quality time together, my mother opened up about some of the high and low points on her journey caregiving for my father. When times were physically and emotionally the hardest for her, she told me, she would will herself to get through just one more day, especially in the last few years of my father’s life.

Parkinson’s disease was a battle they both were fighting.

She recounted the last time she and my father made the trip from New Hampshire to Myrtle Beach, S.C., for two months over the winter. They took a commuter plane back home, and on this particular day, my father’s “freezing” from Parkinson’s was so bad, he could not get himself out of the seat when the plane landed.

 

 

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Think about shaving as a shared activity

Think about shaving as a shared activity

Shaving one’s face is a fundamental part of being a man. A generation ago, the act of shaving denoted manhood, pride of appearance, cleanliness, neatness and a person in control and well-groomed.

In the U.S., Canada and Europe, about 85 percent of men shave their beards.

Throughout recent history we have been a society where the appearance of the body is seen to reveal the state of mind of an individual—and men often grew beards when they were in crisis.

Ever hear of the playoff beard? This describes the superstitious practice of male athletes not shaving their beards during playoffs. Introduced in the 1980s by ice hockey players participating in the Stanley Cup playoffs, it’s become a practice in many sports leagues and among fans as well.

But what can be more intrinsic to the emotional well-being of a man than to be able to shave if he wants to?

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Influx of seniors challenge emergency room system

Influx of seniors challenge emergency room system

The number of older people in emergency rooms is expected to increase significantly over the next 30 years, doubling in the case of those older than 65 and potentially tripling among those over 85.

Our healthcare system is in critically short supply of primary care physicians and geriatric specialists to treat seniors. As a result, many seniors end up in emergency rooms rather than being treated in the community.

The emergency room can be an overwhelming place for seniors, as they must enter an unfamiliar environment, field rapid-fire questions, then experience fear and anxiety about the diagnosis that awaits.

Are our emergency rooms prepared for this significant growth in senior patients? The answer might be no, unless we heed a call to arms in the following critical areas.

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