An Alzheimer’s Caregiver Support Group meets at Christ Episcopal Church North Hills library on the second Saturday of the month from 10:00AM-11:30AM. The group is affiliated with the Greater Pennsylvania Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. All family members who are coping with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders are welcome to attend.

The goal of the Alzheimer’s Association affiliated support groups is to provide families with updated information, emotional support, and problem solving in the challenges of the caregiving. Each group meets at regularly established times with a trained facilitator leading the meeting.

Date: Second Saturday of each Month
Time: 10:00AM-11:30AM
Place: Christ Church, North Hills, 5910 Babcock Boulevard, Pittsburgh PA 15237
Questions: Karen Schaeffer 724-933-7350

It seems as though scammers are targeting older adults wherever they can – often creating elaborate mail, email and Internet, and telephone strategies.

That’s why it’s important for seniors to know how to spot a potential scam. Following are checklists for mail, telephone and computer that can help protect an older adult:

Mail

• Consider a second set of eyes to look over bill payments and mail.
• Don’t send any personal information – Social Security or Social Insurance number, bank and credit card account numbers, phone numbers or address – through the mail to anyone who you don’t know, no matter what they’ve offered or promised.
• Never respond to a sweepstakes letter by sending a check to claim a prize.
• Only send checks to charities with which you are familiar and that have been cleared through a second source such as the Better Business Bureau or Canadian Council for Better Business Bureaus.
• Don’t respond to requests to send a “deposit” to “get started” with a work-at-home offer or a pyramid scheme.
• If you continue to get mail that is obviously a scam, take it to your local post office and the mail will be forwarded to the Postal Inspector.
• Buy and install a locking mailbox, or set up a P.O. box.
• Don’t leave bill payment envelopes in your unsecured mailbox for pickup – take them to a postal mailbox.
• If you’re getting unnecessary mail, contact the sender and ask to have your name removed from the mailing list. To cut down on the volume of unwanted bulk mail, get off as many national mailing lists as possible.
• Know when bank statements, credit card statements and pension payments are supposed to arrive each month. Consider getting statements online.

 CLICK HERE to ~ Download the Anatomy of a Scam Senior Mail Checklist

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We came across another wonderful organization for you to check out.

At Friendship Village of South Hills, simply having a fireside chat with friends and family or practicing your golf swing on the adjoining golf course is an amazing experience. That’s only the beginning. Join a fitness class with their own personal trainer. Be creative in their art studio. Relax with friends in our Pub. Enjoy a movie in their Chestnut Theater. Use the computer lab. It’s all here for you.

Learn more by clicking on the video below or by visiting their website.

Lifespace Senior from Lifespace Communities on Vimeo.

Earlier this week, we came across a wonderful organization that we wanted to make our readers aware of.

Caring Mission is a locally owned business that was started in 2000 and now includes two companies, Caring Mission Home Care and Caring Mission Home Health that share a single Mission of continuing to be “Your Solution to In-Home Services”.

The company is focused on the continuum of care at home. Providing you and your family members with carefully selected clinicians and caregivers who deliver high quality, compassionate in-home support services and home health care in the privacy of your own home.

Visit their website to learn more!

By Karen Schaeffer, Eldercare Consultant with Age & Dignity Consulting, LLC

Money issues are always of paramount concern when an eldercare discussion begins. The presumed cost of eldercare can frequently frighten a family from any type of action—even when action is necessary for the safety and well-being of their aging loved one. In addition, poor communication, rumor and assumptions, and a generalized lack of eldercare knowledge frequently undermines the process—well before an effective eldercare solution can be formulated. Add in a heavy dose of family conflict, and solutions can be stalled, fought over, or avoided. Avoidance of the topic can prove to be even more costly, as delays in quality care often compromise the safety and well-being of the senior.

The topics of money and the cost of eldercare need to be addressed—and often the discussion starts around the parent’s kitchen table. However, a generalized uneasiness is often present when an adult child is forced to discuss money issues with a parent. Children, regardless of age, are often not privy to their parent’s financial balance sheet. Parents frequently do not share their income or financial portfolio with their adult children, so assumptions are often made that may not be accurate. Mom and Dad could have lived a modest life and now have substantial savings and a comfortable retirement income; whereas, a more extravagant couple could have spent every penny they earned.

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“Remember that time when…” Uncle Bob began, launching into a story that soon had everyone smiling and laughing. “At Dad’s surprise birthday party, the real surprise came when Mary was carrying the cake into the dining room. She tripped over the cat and the cake went flying right out of her hands and into Mom’s lap! Dad didn’t miss a beat—he grabbed a glass of water from the table and doused the candle flames as Mom was yelling ‘Make a wish! Make a wish!’ We couldn’t believe it—there was more food on her lap than on the table and all she was concerned about was Dad making his birthday wish!”

Sharing “remember when” stories like these warms the heart of every family member in the room as those special moments of shared history are remembered. When a mind-altering disease like Alzheimer’s or dementia begins affecting the memory of someone you love, shared recollections become all the more important.

For someone experiencing memory loss, memories from long ago are usually more vivid and easier to recall than more recent memories. If the person with Alzheimer’s or dementia has trouble recalling specific details from the past or present, you and your family can help remember for them.

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The local Home Instead Senior Care^® office is offering a unique approach to help area families in Southeast Allegheny County manage the challenges of Alzheimer’s and other dementias, diseases that eventually rob seniors of their memories and independence. Free training for families caring for these older adults is now available through online e-learning modules, available at HelpForAlzheimersFamilies.com.

The Alzheimer’s or Other Dementias CARE: Changing Aging through Research and Education^SM  Training Program offers a personal approach to  help families care for seniors with Alzheimer’s disease at home, where 60 to 70 percent live, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

“Until there is a cure, we offer an interim solution,” said David Baron, owner of the Home Instead Senior Care office that serves Southeast Allegheny County.

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“Good morning everybody,” says Dr. Shawn Files, Medical Director, Gateway Health Plan^®, as she cheerfully greets everyone at the Mt. Washington Senior Center. “We’re going to discuss something many of you probably already have heard of… high blood pressure.”

“Oh yeah, we know that topic well,” the group wryly replies. They come here to listen to Dr. Files who will answer their specific questions and offer advice on the importance of keeping their doctors appointments and taking their blood pressure medications regularly.

The Health Awareness Series (H.A.S.), sponsored by Gateway Health Plan^®, is a collaboration with Pittsburgh Citiparks and Giant Eagle Pharmacy. Over the next six months a new health topic will be presented at the City’s five senior centers, located at Brighton Heights, Greenfield, Homewood, Mt. Washington and South Side. The topics include shopping smart for better nutrition, heart disease, breast cancer, and vaccinations for the elderly. The goal of H.A.S. program is to provide a free public service to the community and educate Pittsburgh seniors about health issues specific to them.

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A recent study says a brisk walk can reduce a variety of psychological symptoms such as anxiety, stress and depression.  “With the aging population, physical activity represents one way for women to stay mentally healthy,” said Temple University public health researcher Deborah Nelson, Ph.D, the study’s lead author. “Physical activity can help throughout the menopausal transition and afterwards.”

The study followed 380 Philadelphia women for more than eight years. The women reported their physical activity level and menopausal symptoms, which included stress, anxiety, depression and hot flashes.

When it came to stress, researchers found that high levels of physical activity were the most beneficial to postmenopausal women. They reported lower levels of perceived stress than those who did not exercise.

“In the urban setting, these women walked outside on city blocks or in shopping malls. Groups could organize to take walks after dinner. It didn’t require going to the gym,” Nelson said. “You don’t have to run 20 miles a week to reap the benefits of exercise. If you stick to a moderate-paced walking schedule, it can keep your body-mass index down and lower the risk of stress, anxiety and depression,” she added.

Another way to help is companionship. Daily human contact can improve your stress level. Someone with whom you can enjoy activities and who will support you in your quest to remain independent often will improve your mental outlook, too.

Exercise has a double benefit for senior women, including lessening menopausal symptoms and sustaining better overall health. Walking with a companion – a friend, family member or CAREGiver^SM — is an even better way to relieve stress and build a healthier outlook.

CAREGivers from Home Instead Senior Care can make a difference in the lives of older adults and their families by providing support with activities of daily living to help keep them independent for as long as possible.  For more information visit www.homeinstead.com/greaterpittsburgh or call 1-866-996-1087.

*Source: Temple University. “Walk Away Menopausal Anxiety, Stress And Depression.”  http://www.temple.edu/newsroom/2007_2008/01/stories/menopause.htm

There are nearly 100,000 emergency hospitalizations each year for adverse drug events that involve U.S. senior citizens, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Of the thousands of medications available to patients, a small group of blood thinners and diabetes medications caused two-thirds of the emergency hospitalizations, the report said.

The study used data collected from a nationally representative sample of 58 hospitals participating in CDC’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-Cooperative Adverse Drug Event Surveillance project.

Almost half (48.1 percent) of these hospitalizations occur among the elderly aged 80 years or older, and two-thirds (65.7 percent) of the hospitalizations were due to overdoses, or to situations in which patients may have taken the prescribed amount of medication but the drug had more than the intended effect on the patient’s body. Four medications, used alone or together, accounted for two-thirds of the emergency hospitalizations:

• 33 percent, or 33,171 emergency hospitalizations, involved warfarin, a medication used to prevent blood clots.
• 14 percent involved insulins. Insulin injections are used to control blood sugar in people who have diabetes.
• 13 percent involved antiplatelet drugs, such as aspirin or clopidogrel, which prevent platelets, or pieces of blood cells from clumping together to start a clot.
• 11 percent involved diabetes medications that are taken by mouth, called oral hypoglycemic agents.

Having someone check on you or your senior loved one could make you feel more at ease.  A Home Instead CAREGiver^SM can provide personal care services including medication reminders and transportation to doctors’ appointments to help give you peace of mind.

CAREGivers from Home Instead Senior Care can make a difference in the lives of older adults and their families by providing support with activities of daily living to help keep them independent for as long as possible.  For more information about Home Instead Senior Care visit www.homeinstead.com/greaterpittsburgh or call 1-866-996-1087

More information about how to be better prepared for medical emergencies can be found at www.SeniorEmergencyKit.com. To learn more about this study, go to http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2011/p1123_elderly_risk.html.