Chicago's Geriatric Care Manager Center of Excellence – Since 1991 • care managementChicago's Geriatric Care Manager Center of Excellence - Since 1991 | Page 7

Insta-Gram Part 2: The Internet and Aging Adults
Associate Care Manager Gregory Peebles returns with a series on the Internet and aging. Gregory is both a Certified...
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September 4, 2017
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What to Look for When Your Loved One Needs You But Can’t Ask
Associate Care Manager Gregory Peebles returns with a talk about hidden signals of aging that need our attention. Gregory...
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July 31, 2017
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A House is Not a Home (Part 3)
At CCM, home and safety are as important to us as to you, so it’s no surprise that it’s...
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June 18, 2017
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A House is Not a Home (Part 2)
At CCM, home and safety are as important to us as to you, so it’s no surprise that it’s...
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June 12, 2017
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A House is not a Home (Unless You’re There)
At CCM, home and safety are as important to us as to you, so it’s no surprise that it’s...
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June 5, 2017
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Respite Care – The Holiday Gift to Yourself
Be honest if you’re a caregiver and you can answer YES to more than one of these questions. Sit...
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November 23, 2015
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In the Caregiver's Words

Recent Client Praise

It may not be hard for you to remember when you had your last physical with your primary care physician. And you may even remember when you had your last tetanus shot, but I am willing to wager that you are not nearly as on top of when you older mom, dad or other loved one was last vaccinated, had their last mammogram or even vision exam. Yet you should have all of this and more at your fingertips, because knowing the stats could very well save your loved one's life. because they may not have all of that information readily available either. If your loved one is part of a health system that has all hospital as well as lab and doctors' records digitized and stored on a name and password-protected server, you may already have access to the vital statistics you will one day need. If not, here is how to get started. The categories of information you will want organized (consider an accordion file folder if you are more comfortable with paper or a file folder on your personal computer if you can digitize all information):
- Basic contact information, in case of emergency( ICE) and medical releases (If you need a form for this, please write to our info@creativecaremanagement.com -we will share one we use, powers of attorney (for medical), advanced directives, etc.
- Personal medical history of your loved one as well as relevant family medical history given that many medical conditions are genetically linked - "in the family."
- Current primary care provider information and predecessor providers if there has been any switch of providers.
- Other medical specialists whom your loved one has seen or continues to see, such as OB/GYN, cardiologist, endocrinologist, etc.
- Dentist contact information and a history of dental visits and any conditions of ongoing concern
- Alternative providers which may range widely from chiropractors to podiatrists, from acupuncturists to massage therapists and more.
- A record of all recent lab or other diagnostic tests and screenings.
- A history of all immunizations including the seasonal flu vaccines as well as less frequent TB tests, tetanus immunizations and beyond.
- A list of all medications (dose amount and frequency), over the counter medications (e.g., analgesics, sleep aids, etc.) and nutritional supplements.
- Insurance contact information as well as any forms or recent billing advice forms in order to track who has been reimbursed and who has not or even who has billed inappropriately.
- Allergies to foods or medications or other environmental risks (e.g., bee stings) of note.
- And, of course the "miscellaneous" category for everything else that may be relevant (e.g., pets and their food preferences, passwords, etc.).
At the end of the day, consider this to be one of your emergency kits should you get a call from medical or emergency personnel. If you have the answers to their questions, you also will be a life saver to your older loved one. Charlotte Bishop is a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. Please email your questions to info@creativecaremanagement.com.
I doubt there is anyone who does not have something that they have not been able to do during the quarantine, and that they are just dying to do once again. As for me, I have a whole list, and high on that list is the ability to hug my kids again, and have a family dinner, and … But I have had my second vaccination, and so has my husband, so I put all the kids on notice that we are having a family gathering this summer, and the only condition is that they will have been vaccinated. I am following the personal advice of our nation’s top Doc, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who said recently, “My professional judgment is that when my daughter wants to come in here and she’s doubly vaccinated, I’m going to have her over to the house and I’m going to give her a big hug that I haven’t been able to do for a year.” He noted that this is not backed by hard data, but he says his common sense says it’s okay. FDA has already given approval or “emergency authorization” to a number of vaccines that are deemed “safe and effective.” They all have efficacy percentages that range from pretty good to exceptional, from one dose to two doses, etc. But back to efficacy, the likelihood of contracting COVID once you are vaccinated is as low as small single digits, and the likelihood of hospitalization is even lower, and the likelihood of death is virtually zero. Multiply any of those small numbers (in percentages) times any other very small number and it gets down to fractions of a percent. This is where Dr. Fauci is okay with hugs. It never gets to zero, so someone will eventually get COVID from a presumably asymptomatic person who also had been vaccinated. It will just take a while. This is what Dr. Fauci is calculating while admitting that they have not done clinical trials of vaccinated people mixing with vaccinated people. Public health officials continue to iron the details of the “new normal” we will be entering like can pregnant women be safely vaccinated, or how about those who wish to become pregnant? The World Health Organization has shifted its position on this issue just this past January; check it out. So, if you are looking for zero risk before you hug anyone again, you will not find it. Make your own decision, but look to science to be an important guide for your decision. Charlotte Bishop is a Caregiver Coach, an Aging Life Care Advisor, a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. She also is the co-author of How Do I Know You? A Caregiver’s Lifesaver for Dealing with Dementia.
I have really lost track of how many conversations and/or blog postings I have had about Caregiver Stress. As a certified geriatric care manager, we work with families, and a substantial part of my focus is upon the stress of a caregiver trying to both deal with a loved one's eroding health, but also the demands on them from the others who depend on them. I would like to devote a bit of space here to addressing the stress of the aging loved one and how a caregiver can help them to cope with what life throws their way. Retirement is a break from the stressors of a workaday world, to be sure. But as one lives to do what one wishes as a reward from a long career, there comes a time when new stressors emerge. There can be increasing physical challenges from a medical condition that is not going to get better. Many of these conditions like arthritis, cardiovascular or pulmonary issues just get worse with time. As a person becomes less and less able to do the things they used to do to take care of themselves, the stress mounts. Other very common stressors are those that come with needing an elder caregiver, a spouse or partner to help with every day tasks; it takes an increasing toll. With general changes in health status can come a profoundly diminished sense of well-being and just plain depression. So much for the Golden Years. As a caregiver, look for these warning signs of excessive stress in one or both of your older loved ones:
- signs of anxiety, undue worry or outright panic attacks
- irritability or angry outbursts
- sadness, melancholy or lethargy
- indecisiveness or difficulty focusing
- difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep
- an array of aches, pains or other issues of nonspecific origin
- rashes, breathing problems or other "new" allergies
- drinking or eating too much or too little; or
- an increasing number of prescription or OTC medications on hand.
As a caregiver, you can help by helping your loved one to find a remedy for the stress. There is no absolute way to rid ourselves of all stress at any age, but the key is finding help to cope more effectively with the stress in our lives. For your older loved one, consider:
1. Gently and persistently encouraging your loved one to be more socially engaged with friends, clubs or outings in order to get a break from the stress cycle;
2. Help your loved one to find seek out talk therapy; it is not about getting another prescription nearly as much as "unloading" to a trained therapist;
3. Seeking a physical aid in the form of gentle massage therapy, exercise classes like yoga, relaxation therapy or just getting out for longer walks.
Charlotte Bishop is a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. Please email your questions to info@creativecasemanagement.com.
This is the first in a series of posts on dementia in advance of the release of my new book, "How Do I Know You? A Caregiver’s Lifesaver for Dealing with Dementia." It will be released in July through Family Solutions Press of Los Angeles and available from Amazon. We will keep you up to date on details. Count slowly from one to sixty-seven…one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three…by the time you reach one thousand sixty-seven, one more person in the United States will have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, one in three Americans ultimately will die with Alzheimer’s disease. And when we interviewed nearly three dozen Professional Care Managers in 2016 and 2017 dementia was the most common issue they dealt with among their clients– more than 66% of their cases. There have been new diagnostic breakthroughs and some pharmacological, nutritional and other ways that have proposed to help slow the progression of this disease, but the fact is that they have no substantial or durable effect. Alzheimer’s remains the only disease in the top ten causes of death in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured or slowed. Dementia is a category that includes about 100 specific cognitive conditions. Generally speaking, most dementias are diagnoses of exclusion. That is medical talk for the fact that one narrows down what a person is manifesting by successive steps of eliminating other possible explanations for a behavior. For instance, a medical work-up when dementia is suspected will include a review of all the medications a patient may be taking. Some medications have a pronounced effect on a person’s memory, noteworthy among them most of the sleep aids such as diphenhydramine, or Benadryl. Yet, this typically results in memory lapses that will recede if the medication is stopped. Doctors now also talk about “risk factors” for dementia that they place into three major categories. The first they tie to “body composition.” Simply put, what physicians have noted is that people with more fatty tissue, or a higher Body Mass Index (BMI), is associated with more amyloid deposits on the brain, a precursor of Alzheimer’s. The second set of risk factors center on “inflammatory processes.” Increased blood levels of sugar and cholesterol are associated with higher risk of dementia as well as heart disease…something of a double hit. Finally physicians also look at how well a person scores on “cognitive tests.” Dementia often is thought of as forgetfulness, but it really is the inability to process information and make a retrievable memory. They have cognitive tests that can measure that, one of which they call the Mini-Mental Test. A person’s cognitive health also is enhanced by creative pass times like playing a musical instrument, taking adult education or actively engaging in stress reduction. In my book, we cover what we know about dementia, what can be done to stave off the effects of dementia and most importantly what caregivers can do for their loved ones with dementia and for themselves. Charlotte Bishop is a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago.
You’ve heard the statistic. Every day 10,000 more Americans turn 65 years old. We all know someone who has celebrated their 65th birthday…no crisis. The crisis will be the magnitude of need that’s represented 10, 15 or 20 years down the road as health issues add up. But even that is not the real crisis. The real crisis comes from too few younger caregivers to meet the needs for their aging care receivers who will outnumber them…we might call that the storm surge that follows the Silver Tsunami. Picture a hurricane that just parks in America and stays…for a generation! So if you know there is a storm called the Silver Tsunami in the forecast, do you stock up on bottled water, gasoline and dry goods? Let’s use the Florida panhandle residents as a case in point:
- The large percentage of them had a plan…they left the area for safety
- But most of those who stayed behind also had a plan…they stocked up
- A very small percentage just hunkered down…because they had no plan
Aging America is upside down on this. Seven out of eight of the potential caregivers to older loved ones in America have no plan. That is about 95 million Americans who will just hunker down. They have no water, no gas and no dry goods…and no plan. Well, here is the fall back to an actual plan, and it is a lot like just stocking up. Ask your older loved one to make copies of their important documents and to keep one copy with someone they would designate as a caregiver and keep another one in a safe. The documents to copy should include:
- A life insurance policy, if they have one, with contacts
- Their written will or trust and the lawyer to contact
- Contact people such as their primary physician, close friend, family, etc.
- A complete and current list of all their prescriptions
- Their written health records or the logon information for their records
Some of you may be saying there is little or no chance to get my loved one to have this conversation. It’s simpler than you think. It is actually all about starting a conversation that can more naturally lead to some concrete action steps like these. Use an occasion like a holiday gathering, perhaps a friend’s unexpected hospitalization or the diagnosis of a celebrity that has created a buzz to start the conversation. This conversation and the list could also be the beginning of a “what if” conversation that results in a plan. Make the Silver Tsunami just another “Tempest in a Teapot.” Charlotte Bishop is an Aging Life Care Advisor, Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. She also is the co-author of How Do I Know You? A Caregiver’s Lifesaver for Dealing with Dementia.
Only about one in seven adults over age 65 do any kind of routine strength training, according to the experts. Those six in seven who are neglecting their exercise regimens are the people who are hastening nature's unfortunate digression to greater bone and muscle loss as well as decompensation owing to other common chronic diseases. And people with conditions like heart disease, diabetes or arthritis can help delay the worsening of these conditions by regular exercise. Exercise also is a great way to be sure that an older adult can "take care of themselves" longer and along the way, it reduces stress and improves their mood. Engaging in regular physical exercise is one of the healthiest things older adults can do to maintain their health and well-being. If you are a caregiver to an older loved one, encouraging them to be more physically active is good for their bodies as well as their mental outlooks. But some older adults may fear that it will be too hard to exercise or that it may even harm them. The first thing to do is talk to their provider to see if exercise is safe; be sure to note if the provider personally is in reasonable shape before asking their opionions. If you will receive a valid answer, then begin to ask about what kinds of exercise. And remember to encourage your older loved one not to try to get back into great shape the very first day at the gym. If it has taken a few decades to get out of shape, and it clearly will take more than a few sessions to get back into shape; only on the "Biggest Loser" television program will it all happen within one viewing hour. So how to start?
1. Balance - one-third of adults over age 65 and one half of those over 80 will fall each year. Exercises that help to restore the coordination of the muscles that help one walk, stand and stoop will go far in creating a safer self.
2. Stretching - flexibility is as important as balance, so gentle stretches help to make muscles more pliable and nimble. Stretching alone will not improve strength, but they will be a counterpoint to strengthening to avoid injury while the body gets stronger.
3. Strengthening - we see too many ads about low testosterone levels being responsible for men's bodies losing mass (beware of the cardiovascular risk of these hormone replacement therapies). Yet, working on building muscle mass also helps manage weight and blood glucose levels.
4. Endurance - your older loved one should not run a marathon the first day out. Endurance is probably the last of the four goals that one reaches as an older loved one increases their workout time or mileage over a period of months or even years. Taken together these four aspects to exercise will not only make everyone's body stronger, but it also will boost the immune system. Along the way, getting into better shape will also be the best preparation for any bout with any medical condition and recovery from that condition. There is no time like the present to get into shape for getting older, and that goes for your older loved ones as well as you, the caregivers. Charlotte Bishop is a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. Please email your questions to info@creativecaremanagement.com.