Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

You know, spring break can be a nice break if it is planned out. With having two kids in elementary school we always seem to have a tight schedule and be on the go here and there. Whether it be running my son to basketball or Cub Scouts or running my daughter to gymnastics or swimming, oh and don’t forget all the play dates with their friends…who’s house will they be at today and when do we need to pick them up?

You always feel like you are on the go and our house always seems like Grand Central Station. Spring break was a welcome vacation from all that.

We recently made a week long trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico over spring break with the kids. It was our first time going on this long distance of a trip and taking them out of the country, so we were always thinking of how things will go or ‘what if’ scenarios that might come up and detour our travel plans. But nothing major happened and it was a great time and experience for all of us.

However, the questions that came to my mind surrounding the kids and traveling are the same ones that could be asked and applied to our parents or someone else, anyone else for that matter that needs the supervision and care of another person.

I will say, it was enlightening and encouraging to see the number of people traveling in the care of others. I mean, not just people like us with kids but, elderly folks traveling and sight seeing on a charter of some kind with a group leader, a disabled person in a wheelchair being chauffeured around the hotel campus to and from the beach, young adults with someone on their arm directing them around the downtown streets through all the endless shops, and etc.

The point of this being the fact that people of all ages and of all places can be in need of personal care assistants. Whether in Mexico or Minnesota, our personal needs are the same.

One of the first steps you can take is to call upon a strong home care provider in your time of transition that can be there to answer your questions. It’s nice to know, Aspirience is here for you.

Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

Having an elderly or ailing parent move in with you and your family rather than shuttling between two homes might make sense, but this is not the kind of move to make on a whim. Some due diligence and solid thought process must be done beforehand.

Consider these five tips that could help you address some important issues before you bring your parent under your roof and into your daily life:

- Get your legal ducks in a row. To protect your parent’s legal rights, be sure to have in place a will, an advance health-care directive or living will, a financial power of attorney, and a health care power of attorney. Also, decide before the move how much you and your siblings will each pay toward the cost of extra food, utilities, home retrofitting and nursing or other care. An attorney should draw up an agreement that spells out all the details; you can alter the document later if your parent’s medical or care expenses change.

- Understand the finances. If you pay for at least 50 percent of your parents’ expenses, you can claim them as dependents on your tax return. That means you’ll be able to deduct related medical expenses like doctor’s visits, dental care, insurance premiums, medical equipment and home care that exceed 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income. Modifications that you make to your house to accommodate your parent’s health care needs such as installing handrails, putting in a ramp, or widening doorways are also considered medical expenses.

- Retrofit your home. You will want your parent to feel as comfortable as possible in your home. Ideally, that means providing a separate bedroom and bathroom. If you don’t have a spare room, consider closing off a dining or living room with a wall or even just a curtain for privacy. Make sure that the rest of your home is safe and accessible: Install bright lighting in hallways, tuck electrical cords away from walkways, and replace door knobs with easier-to-open levers. Also, if your parent is disabled, lay down commercial grade rather than plush carpeting, which makes it easier to maneuver wheelchairs and walkers.

- Arrange for services. If you are not sure what health care services your parent will need, talk to his doctor or consult a geriatric care manager. If you need to hire a home care agency to assist your parent with basic activities, stress that it will allow him or her to remain more independent in the long run. Set ground rules for the aide in order to maintain some privacy for your own family. A paid caregiver needs to know that there may be some areas in your home that are just for you, your spouse and kids unless there is an emergency.

- Don’t overlook your family’s needs. Bringing a parent to live with you will affect your family’s lifestyle and emotions significantly. Be sure to take time for yourself and exercise, eat healthfully and keep up your social contacts as best you can. Explain to your kids that they may not be able to have friends over as much, or will need to be quiet after a certain time of the evening. Spend time just with your spouse or kids, even if that means asking someone to stay with your parent while your family has a special outing.

One of the best steps one can take is to partner with a strong home care provider in your time of transition and need. It can make a world of a difference in moving a parent.

Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

Imagine this; your elderly mom was in and out of the hospital three times last summer. First with a serious liver ailment, then to treat an infection related to the liver problem and then finally to have her ‘angry’ gall bladder removed.

But as agonizing as those medical complications were, her doctors then decided it was time to leave the hospital. Mom hadn’t felt ready to go home, especially without the information and support she needed to properly heal.

This is a common scenario and one that too often leads to extended nursing home care, re-admittance to the hospital or even premature death in some cases. It just doesn’t seem right.

Hospitalization can be a turning point for older people and their caregivers, and all too often, they are the recipients of fragmented care. Problems moving patients from the hospital back home or into skilled nursing facilities have received increasing attention from senior and health care advocates in the past couple of years.

Strained budgets, weak state statutes, overwhelmed hospital discharge planners and Medicare’s failure to pay for better coordination of post hospital care have stifled efforts to fully address the problems.

That’s because people 65 and older are the fastest growing portion of the U.S. population. By 2050, the number of seniors is expected to more than double to 87 million.

It’s apparent that transitional care is rarely coordinated, leaving patients to fend for themselves as they move from hospital to nursing home or back home. Although state law requires hospitals to give patients telephone numbers of local senior agencies, they are not required to assess a patient’s home to see if it’s safe or to line up in home services for care.

Time and time again, we hear that people have been told it’s time to go home and they don’t feel ready. They are still recuperating, or the care instructions are too complicated. We know dozens who wind up back in the hospital because they were sent home too soon.

Another issue is that hospital discharge planners are overwhelmed and that hospitals do not invest enough in making sure they can adequately do their jobs for their patients. In part, because hospitals can’t bill Medicare for preparing a patient for discharge, so that process often gets cut short. Instead, because of the way hospitals are reimbursed for Medicare patient care, they are financially motivated to send patients home as soon as possible, even if it means the patient is likely to return with the same diagnosis for another costly hospital stay.

One of the best steps one can take is to partner with a strong home care provider in your time of transition and need. It can mean the difference between recovering well or not.

Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

PRESS RELEASE – Shakopee, Minnesota, February 11, 2008 – Aspirience Home Care to sponsor The Alzheimer’s Association and Mayo Clinic’s A Meeting of the Minds, The Dementia Conference.

A Meeting of the Minds: The Dementia Conference 2008 is the most comprehensive and prestigious dementia conference in the upper Midwest. The Alzheimer’s Association Minnesota-North Dakota Chapter and Mayo Clinic are excited to hold this day of inspiration and information.

This annual conference, being held March 29^th, 2008 at the St. Paul RiverCentre, St. Paul, Minnesota brings together national and local experts for a full day of education, information and support.

The event is designed to equip families, professionals and people with early Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias with the skills to understand and address issues throughout the continuum of the disease.

The conference includes an exhibit area, where sponsors, such as Aspirience Home Care, and exhibitors can have face-to-face conversations with event attendees and volunteers.

Other conference features:

Three keynote addresses by national experts.
Three breakout sessions led by dementia professionals.
Exhibitors on hand to provide information on services available.
Continuing education for health care professionals.

In 2007, the conference attracted nearly 750 attendees, approximately 50% of whom were people with dementia or their family members. This year the expected turnout will be even higher. A copy of the conference brochure can be found at www.alzmndak.org.

Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

Over the past year, I’ve been writing a lot about the explosion of baby boomers retiring and this year, the oldest of America’s 75 million baby boomers, are beginning their retirement years.

Now the adult children of these baby boomers are becoming parents for their parents, doing the research to find the best healthcare options to care for them.

To help the adult children of aging parents The National Association for Home Care and Hospice has come up with the following tips: “Signs it is Time to Consider Home Care or Hospice” and “Questions to Ask When Choosing a Home Care Provider.” I thought it was worth sharing.

Signs it is Time to Consider Home Care or Hospice:

1. The patient is consistently short of breath, unable to eat, sleeping excessively and experiencing increasing pain.

2. The patient has started to withdraw from life and/or family and friends.

3. The doctor has stated that the patient’s condition is not curable and that there are no more medical options.

4. The patient has expressed they are ready to die but the family is not ready to let go.

5. The treatment the patient is receiving seems no longer to be helping or working but prolonging the inevitable.

6. Financial issues are becoming more challenging.

7. The patient is unable to do everyday chores such as dressing themselves, going to the toilet or bathing without assistance.

8. It is becoming harder for the caregiver to take care of the patient.

Questions to Ask When Choosing a Home Care Provider:

1. Can you please share your company’s performance standards for their employees?

2. How long has your company been in business? How did you get in the business?

3. What qualifications, certifications, experience and training do you require of your workers?

4. Are your employees insured and bonded?

5. How do you supervise your workers to make sure the proper care is given?

6. Will the same caregiver oversee my case consistently?

7. Do you conduct a home visit before starting the home care service?

8. Do you work with my doctor in developing a plan of care?

9. Can you provide me some references from doctors, hospital personnel and social workers?

10. Has your company been involved in any lawsuits involving customer satisfaction?

The National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) is the world’s largest trade association advocating for homecare and hospice. The association, founded in 1982 and headquartered in Washington, DC, encourages development and delivery of the highest quality medical, social and supportive services to the nation’s frail, disabled and aged.

Again, these questions are just recommendations; there are literally dozens of further questions that would lead one to consider home care of some kind for someone you care about.