Chicago's Geriatric Care Manager Center of Excellence – Since 1991 | Chicago's Geriatric Care Manager Center of Excellence

There is an ‘I’ in Caregiver: 5 Tips to Avoid Burnout
We all have heard of coaches exhorting their players to work together by saying “there is no ‘I’ in...
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September 25, 2018
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Singing is a Breath of Fresh Air for Caregivers
Associate Care Manager Gregory is a Certified Senior Advisor (CSA) and Certified Dementia Practitioner (CDP) whose work focuses on...
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February 12, 2018
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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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Plug In and Light Up the Holidays
Who doesn’t love indulging during the holiday season? Rich food, delicious drinks, and decadent desserts make every gathering something...
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December 16, 2015
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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

If you are a caregiver to an older loved one, I'll bet that one thing you probably watch closely is their behavior or demeanor. Do they remember important facts from yesterday or are they tracking what is said in a conversation? In an age when most people worry about dementia more than mortality itself, everyone is rightfully vigilant for signs of an slip in cognitive function. But what about when the caregiver cannot be there to watch? Our caregiver clients often refer to our geriatric care managers as their eyes and ears. Let me share with you two real life examples of memory issues, but when things were really not what they may have appeared to be after all. And a geriatric care manager's eyes and ears could make the difference.
1. The Dementia that was an Infection. It started like this. The distance caregiver gets the phone call that the mother was found on the floor of her apartment in an independent living facility. She seems confused and has difficulty with word formation, all signs of classic post-stroke confusion or even dementia. The patient is rushed to the nearest hospital and initial tests rule out stroke. So, perhaps it is dementia? What would you do? A care manager on the scene likely would start with dementia as a consideration, but dementia typically is not a sudden onset predicament. It progresses over time...often a long time. A care manager would ask the medical providers if they have run blood and urine tests? Have the providers done a full body check. Why? to rule out any toxic exposure or an elevated white cell count. In this case, the tests found the woman had an infection that went systemic and dramatically and quickly affected the woman' mental abilities. So, this turns out to be delirium. The principal difference between dementia and delirium is that the latter is more sudden and often transient. Antibiotics within a matter of days brought her back to normal..
2. The Renal Failure that Wasn't. This one starts with the caregivers in an independent living center noticing that the man seems very tired and does not track what is going on very well. Delirium? A care manager suggests a trip to the physician's office for a blood test. The test shows renal function that is at virtually zero. No urine is being produced. None. The physician pronounces renal failure and ships the gentleman to the hospital for dialysis, but what does the nephrologist do? The patient is put on an IV drip and quickly given a large quantity of normal saline solution, and kidney function begins to return. Within three days of the start of this rehydration kidney function is returned to near normal. In this case, the patient was a sparse water drinker, and when the condition worsened, the body's response was to turn off the thirst sensation resulting in real dehydration and renal failure. With the renal issue resolved, the care manager enlists a caregiver who will help the gentleman keep to his medication schedule AND drink four cups of water in the presence of the caregiver each day. Both of these examples came from distance caregivers, siblings whose older parent lived in another state. Both of these cases also represent one reason that a care manager can be engaged before a crisis. In both cases, had there been a trained professional routinely just "dropping by" to be the eyes and ears for the adult children of the older parent, the infection might have been caught earlier and the renal issues may have been avoided. Geriatric care managers often get the call in an emergency, and they can make a difference in how well the older adult recovers from the emergency. But if you are a distance caregiver to an older adult, you should also consider having a GCM be the eyes and ears present when you cannot be. You might just find that having a sister in Chicago is a great addition to the family. 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@cr eativecaremanagement.com.
Alzheimer’s Disease affects nearly 6 million Americans and despite having some clinical therapies that modestly impact the disease onset or progression, there is not yet a cure. Yet, there is accumulating evidence that the best “cure” for Alzheimer’s may be a lot like the cure for other chronic, degenerative diseases. That is, the best cure is in prevention, according to research reported in JAMA, Psychiatry. What I have to share today is not truly new, but the findings reported by some researchers in China suggest that certain “intellectual activities” can protect aging adults from the onset of Alzheimer’s. Other studies have shown that engaging in games and social contact is associated with lower rates of Alzheimer’s. This study, however, is noteworthy because it follows a very large number of subjects – more than 15,000 – and the researchers followed them for nearly seven years. The scientists further controlled for other factors that have muddied the research waters in the past, factors such as physical activities, other psychiatric issues and some social and demographic traits. The intellectual activities that had the effect of reducing the number of people who succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease were as simple as reading or playing card or board games….even betting on horse races. Active participation in intellectual activities, such as reading and playing board games or card games, may delay or prevent dementia in older adults, even if these activities take place in late life, this new research suggests. All subjects in the study were at least 65 years old, and the researchers found that by year three they could identify individuals who had some measurable cognitive decline. This decline continued with those who measured lower on the equivalent of the mini-mental health scale. Those who declined were involved in about half as many of the intellectual activities. They also tended to more often be women than men, they were less educated and they had poorer diets and physical activity than those who scored higher on cognition. An interesting side note is that there were comparable rates of smoking and other psychological diagnoses across the dementia and non-dementia groups. As with most research into dementia’s onset, there are still questions. For instance, how much did a better diet affect the outcomes. Or did people who engaged in more intellectually healthy activities also more often engage in other healthy activities. Clearly, there is more to come. I would conclude that engagement in more intellectual activities is good for your brain, but I would add that you may not wish to bet too much on the horses! 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.
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Statistically, more and more people will become caregivers to an older adult in their lifetime. Becoming a caregiver can be sudden and overwhelming as it is. Adding on the fluctuation of social/economic climates can make bringing the pieces together even more difficult. We offer senior care options for preparing and reacting to different obstacles you may encounter.

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Proudly serving the greater Chicago Metropolitan area SINCE 1991! Learn More >>
No surprise to anyone with a medical condition that drug prices continue to soar even during this past decade of near zero inflation. If you have a loved one 65 years of age and older, you need to know about coverage of these increasingly pricey drugs. The four things you should know:
- According to a recent Senate minority report, the twenty most commonly-prescribed brand name drugs for Medicare recipients have gone up in price ten times more than inflation over the recent five years.
- The brand names are: Diskus, Crestor, Januvia, Lantus/Lantus Solostar, Lyrica, Nexium, Nitrostat, Novolog, Premarin, Proair HFA, Restasis, Spiriva Handihaler, Symbicort, Synthroid, Tamiflu, Ventolin HFA, Voltaren Gel, Xarelto, Zetia and Zostavax.
- Half of these medications have a generic equivalent that can be substituted at substantially-reduced prices: Crestor, Januvia, Lantus, Nexium, Nitrostat, Premarin, Symbicort, Tamiflu, Voltaren Gel, and Zetia. (Synthroid has generic competition, but as a Narrow Therapeutic Index (NTI) agent, switches across manufacturers are a bit challenging; Restasis and Lyrica will have a generic competitor yet this year.)
- A Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America industry group spokesperson said the report was misleading, because companies “negotiate robustly” with Medicare Part D. Really?
If you are a caregiver to a Medicare-qualified loved one, it may be time to review their medications with their primary care physician. Physicians have the option of specifying that a generic alternative may be substituted. Aside from Synthroid, ask them if they would check the box to allow substitution. Diabetes treatments, for instance, may be bit more nuanced. Ask them to explain their reasons. And do your homework ahead of time so that you know the price differentials of brand versus generic. 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.