Chicago's Geriatric Care Manager Center of Excellence – Since 1991 • caregiver coachChicago's Geriatric Care Manager Center of Excellence - Since 1991 | Page 8

Three Steps to the Now Normal
Yes, it has been a long year, maybe in part because it has been more than a year of...
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April 6, 2021
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As If COVID Were Not Enough
We’ve all heard about COVID’s symptoms…the GI upset, the shortness of breath, the fever, the added symptoms of the...
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March 30, 2021
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Diseases that Mimic Dementia…But Are Treatable-part 3
As you can tell from now a third installment about other medical conditions that can mimic dementia, it’s not...
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March 22, 2021
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Diseases that Mimic Dementia…But Are Treatable – part 1
Dementia is the condition that adult Americans fear the most, and tragically there are conditions that can give a...
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March 9, 2021
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Can I Have A Hug?
I doubt there is anyone who does not have something that they have not been able to do during...
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March 4, 2021
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A Game Where Everyone Wins
Pick your metaphor. If you want your knife to slice easier, you sharpen it. If you want to improve...
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March 2, 2021
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No Vaccine for the Other Plague
You’re fortunate that you haven’t contracted COVID, and you may even have received your first dose of a vaccine,...
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February 16, 2021
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What Tony Bennett Can Teach Us
Tony Bennet has arguably been one of those “one in a million” kind of musical talents, but sadly he...
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February 9, 2021
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Scamming as a Superspreader
We have all seen the advertisements for the on-line services that will help you find your ancestry by taking...
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February 2, 2021
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Until the Vaccine?
We have all been following the news on vaccine rollouts, and frankly you may have been as disappointed as...
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January 26, 2021
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In the Caregiver's Words

Recent Client Praise

For how many years have women been told they need to take some sort of calcium supplement even before they advance in years to avoid osteoporosis? Okay, it’s a big number, but that’s not the point if you have an older loved one in your life. It’s more than calcium that is needed in a person’s diet to get the benefit of bone density that the calcium is credited with preserving. Calcium intake throughout a person’s life is needed to grow or maintain bone mass. It was the early sailors that understood that a person also needed fruits containing citric acid in order for the body to actually put the calcium to use maintaining serum calcium levels. They didn’t worry about osteoporosis’ they worried about scurvy. So this is another part of the more complicated calcium story and what the body really needs. First of all, food is the preferred way to access calcium, because foods containing calcium also contain other nutrients. Getting your calcium through food also avoids the mega doses of the mineral that can be associated with cardiac risks. In addition to calcium, vitamin D is needed to help the body absorb calcium. Vitamin D has the added benefit of improving muscle performance and balance. It keeps your bones strong and your muscles nimble. And vitamin D is activated by sunshine, so it is not just eating food with sufficient vitamin D and calcium, it is getting out in the sunshine…although there are nutrients that can help the body utilize the vitamin D in the absence of sunshine. Researchers also have shown some benefit of phytoestrogens, some of which are found in soy products, with women. Omega-3 fatty acids that you have heard about in conjunction with Alzheimer’s prevention also confer benefit to the skeleton especially in conjunction with calcium because they contain phytoestrogens. Antioxidants like flavonoids found in some vegetables, wines and fruits offer beneficial bone effects as well. Vitamin B12 and magnesium also are being actively investigated for their bone health benefit. On the flip side, researchers advise against fish products like cod liver oil as they can work against bone health. What is the big takeaway? First, calcium is important, but it works best in conjunction with some of these other vitamins and minerals. And all of this works better in association with diet in general, not as pills or supplements. The best dietary supplements are a range of fruits and vegetables, many of them found in your salads or even dinner wine. And what is the best thing about a balanced meal? The good company that can come with dinner can also improve life for your older loved one who may be more at risk for social isolation than malnutrition. It is rarely just one thing! So invite mom or dad to dinner. 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.
Yes, you read it right. I am posting this one about what caregivers should know about their Medicare. But you may ask, aren't home caregivers the ones supporting an older loved one...typically a family member? Well, yes, it is true that caregivers typically are caring for an older person; even older caregivers are caring for an older partner. But the average age of caregivers also is rapidly growing, with the average age of a caregiver who looks after a 65+ year old loved one at 63 years old. In fact, the average age of a caregiver today is about three years older than the typical caregiver of just eight years ago. Welcome to the mature boomers' generation. So, caregivers who approach or move beyond age 65 should be concerned with all the issues that have confronted aging Americans all along, like Medicare, for instance. And aging caregivers may not be paying attention if they are still in the workforce as growing numbers of people are. And that seem fine as long as they are employed and their employer keeps them on the group health plan, right? Wrong! If you are age-qualified for Medicare, you need to enroll as soon as you can. So, as soon as you turn 65, you should sign up for Medicare Part B which will cover your outpatient services. Or, if you stay with the employer, you still need to sign-up for Medicare within eight months of your retirement. If you do not enroll in Medicare during the predetermined time frames, you will face waiting periods just to enroll. And then you will face a waiting period for the coverage to kick-in. And here is the kicker. If you maintain your employer's coverage thinking that is all you need, you will be in for a surprise once you submit your first claim if you had been eligible for Medicare - but had not enrolled. Your commercial insurer will consider their coverage now to be your supplemental coverage, honoring only what Medicare would not cover. So, you would be one of those who have paid for the commercial insurance, but it will cover only a very small part of your bill. So, pay attention to your Medicare enrollment period regardless of your employment status. You are eligible to enroll in Medicare three months ahead of the month of your 65th birthday through three months after. And by the by, you will pay a penalty for every 12 months you delay enrollment beyond your 65th birthday month., That amounts to a 10% per 12 month period over the normal Part B premium permanently. So family or home caregivers, enjoy working as long as you wish or must, but pay attention to your calendar, because Medicare certainly will be watching for your birthday! Charlotte Bishop is a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends senior health services to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. Please email your questions to info@creativecaremanagement.com
Nearly two in three adults report they use some sort of social media, up nearly tenfold just over the past 10 years. While younger adult consumers are a large part of this boom, adults 65 years and older have been skyrocketing in their usage going from only 2% on social media a decade ago to more than 35% today. So, the odds that your mother or grandmother may be tagging you on Facebook are getting higher every week. So also the odds that your mom or dad and grandmother or grandfather may be scammed on-line are growing just as rapidly. If you are a caregiver to an older loved one, help them to avoid these “phive” phishing scams that disproportionately target older adults:
1. Click to the Stars: It used to be the checkout line at the grocery stores that gave everyone a titillating tale of Hollywood stars’ “real stories.” Now the stories pop up on a whole host of places that your older loved one may visit through social media. Encourage them to only click on links they know…and appreciate that many of the scams that are trying to gain access to an unsuspecting visitor’s computer may look like a brand name people trust.
2. A Quick Survey: It may be just a few questions as part of a “national survey,” maybe even with the promise of an honorarium or entering the respondent into a drawing, but it also could be an effort to gain important information about income or financial resources as the sponsors mine your older loved one to see what they are worth in order to target them later.
3. Streaming Cheap: It is only a free trial that you can discontinue any time in order to get access to a movie still in the theaters or a vintage film that your older loved one enjoyed in their early years. But your loved one is stuck with a charge that may kick-in after the free trial period is over and they have forgotten to put a stop on their “purchase.”
4. Coupons and Promos: Here again is a chance for cyber crooks to get the credit card information of an older social media surfer as they get what seems to be a really good deal on consumer goods. But if the hosts of the offer keep the credit card information for their own use later, mom or dad has been scammed.
5. Deceiving Looks: It may seem like the brand name site, but maybe an extra letter is in the name or the logo only looks real. Or in the case of a Twitter offer, maybe it is not the name of the company at all, because it is easy to not read correctly when all the letters of a corporate name are jammed together without spaces in a hashtag address.
And the list can go on … because the Phishers continue to be very creative folks. Charlotte Bishop is an Aging Life Care Professional and 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.
It seems you can’t talk with anyone about aging these days without the subject of cognitive health or dementia coming up at some point. People fear dementia more than dying itself, and yet most individuals who are “of an age” are probably not doing the one thing they should really be doing and doing it correctly for their brain’s sake. Bring up cognitive decline or dementia and medical professionals may talk about what’s in the biopharma pipeline. The government web site that tracks all of the clinical research on cognition shows more than 60 studies presently in progress and studies on Alzheimer’s Disease number nearly 2,700. While no one has yet tapped into what can truly become the pill or infusion that will change the course of cognitive decline as we age, I’m confident that we will find not just one way, but likely multiple ways to positively influence the memory of the aging brain. In fact, there’s one thing we all can do – and it doesn’t require any work – to improve our cognitive function at almost any age. In fact, it’s almost the opposite of the definition of work; it’s simply sleep. But it’s also the right kind of sleep that will delay cognitive decline and keep our faculties sharper. How much? Any of you who have raised kids know that in their pre-teens kids sleep inordinately long…and seemingly easily. For this age group, 9 to 12 hours is the requisite recharging time required to both function well the next day and to grow their rapidly changing bodies. The teen years reduce this demand a bit to about 8 to 10 hours of solid sleep for healthy functioning. Adults require less overall…usually about 7 hours or so does the trick, and substantially longer can even be a negative indicator of some health or breathing issues. But it’s not just the number of hours one sleeps as an aging adult; it’s how one sleeps. What quality? Waking too often or for too long throughout the sleep cycle interferes with the quality of sleep. Steps to mitigate either sleep apnea or trips to the bathroom need to be taken in order to have a truly restful night. And there are four stages of sleep that are necessary for a night of slumber to be restorative, and each of these stages total about ninety minutes from start to finish. The body relaxes and slows in stages one and two with both breathing and heart rate diminishing their rhythms to prepare for the next two stages. In stage three, referred to as the delta or “slow-wave sleep,” the brain does its after-hours repair work on the toll that a day’s living has taken on the body. The next stage is most important for cognition and brain health as we dream and sort through the day’s information and organize it in the brain. We all have heard about this stage, the rapid eye movement or REM stage, and we all will go through about four cycles of REM before our night is done in order to have an optimal night’s sleep. So, how do you go about getting the best out of your sleep? Everyone will find their own preparation for sleep - maybe a warm bath, meditation, or a relaxing bedtime routine. Laptops and smartphones – blue lights! - are hyper-stimulating, so absolutely no! And spicy or fatty or hot food is also a distraction from quality sleep – no! And what used to be called a night cap (alcoholic beverage) is the farthest thing from what you should consume before sleep – no!. Read a book, yes, but don’t scare yourself with a thriller. Speaking of reading, remember that fairy tale about Goldilocks and the three bears? You should also be looking for a good rest that comes from a happy medium in your sleep habits…one that is “just right.” 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.
The past couple of entries have been about facing difficult decisions about transition with an older parent, perhaps toward independent living and out of the family home. The initial conversation of moving is very difficult and challenging for a number of reasons. Memories of watching children grow up, birthdays, anniversaries, and more still live within the space. It’s hard to give up the home you’ve worked for, lived in, and raised a family in. Therefore, if you do believe that moving out is an option that your parents should consider, approaching them compassionately and openly will help make the conversation easier.

The most important thing you can do in a conversation like this is to schedule time away from other personal distractions. Make sure you have time to really listen to your loved one as this conversation may not be resolved in one sitting or even two. However long it takes, it is important to really understand your loved one’s concerns and try not to be or seem dismissive. As stated in a previous entry, this decision should ultimately be theirs to make. You might find yourself focusing on convincing or persuading rather than investigating how they feel about their options. By listening, you may discover that there are other options for them you wouldn’t have otherwise considered.

Another important tip is to come to the conversation prepared. Learn about independent living communities that they might be interested in. Once you’ve heard their concerns and worries, you might be able to address them in a more informed manner. It is also important to avoid pushing the issue if you feel they’re getting angry or upset – try to come back to it at another time.

Most of all, it is best to be understanding without trying to rush the decision. This is why it is never too soon to have this very important talk.

Charlotte Bishop is a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Case 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 ccbishop@creativecasemanagement.com.
One of the most common health issues that seniors deal with is depression. According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, the prevalence of depression among the elderly is 1 to 5 percent overall. Yet, it is not a “normal” part of aging; the incidence of depression increases to 11.5% of the hospitalized elderly and 13.5% of older individuals receiving home care. As a caregiver, I get calls from caregivers and clients who are dealing with not just sadness, but real depression. While some of these older adults will respond to anti-depressants, it is perhaps even more important to address what may really be just situational depression. As a geriatric care manager, I am not a diagnostician and I cannot prescribe medications, but I can prescribe some changes in activities that can help the situational sadness that a lot of seniors may experience.

Seniors – along with the rest of us - have bad days and good days, and some of the bad day part can begin to accumulate like mud on our shoes. All of us can get caught up in the bad days and what has happened that was bad, and we subsequently miss also seeing the good that typically is part of every day. There is a new movement in psychology that some people are calling “gratitude journaling” or “three good things,” and it can work as well for elders as it does for the rest of us. It goes like this. Have your elder keep a journal. Every night before going to bed, they should be instructed to write down at least three good things that happened that day. It may have been as easy as someone said something special when they said goodbye, or it was nice walking the dog, or anything that was just uplifting…a thank you or a courtesy. You might try this yourself first, and see how you feel after a week of writing down the “three good things.” It makes it easier to convince someone else to try something if you already have seen it work, but even if it leaves you neutral, it can still work for the elder in your care.

The experts on this “happiness psychology” tell us that it also can be as simple as exercising regularly, or it may be the experience of gratitude from someone. Because the sources of happiness probably are different for everyone, the experts suggest trying a number of different things to see what clicks. One expert suggests that as much as 40% of our personal happiness is under our personal control. Another 50% is genetic, and only about 10%, they suggest, is about our life circumstances. It is not about good looks or loads of money, and there are a lot of philosophical sayings about that.

A lot of good science speaks to the fact that if we do something, it begins to reform our attitudes. So encourage the elder in your care to write down the three good things each day. It may not only be soothing, but it may excite them to get up tomorrow to see what good is in store. So, it becomes not about what has happened that has been good; it is about setting the stage for what will be even better tomorrow.

Charlotte Bishop is a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Case Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families throughout metropolitan Chicago. Please email your questions to Charlotte Bishop., geriatric care manager Chicago, geriatric care Chicago