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

Negative Thinking Causes What?
What could be worse than a COVID pandemic? How about the uptick in depression and anxiety that mental health...
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July 7, 2020
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Dementia: We’re Not Post-COVID Yet
If you have a family member or loved one with dementia, this pandemic and its restrictions have been exponentially...
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May 26, 2020
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Distance Caregiving Through a Wall
I’ve written numerous times about distance caregiving, and one of the observations I have offered is that distance is...
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May 19, 2020
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Caregiving During COVID: Four Tips for Reengagement
You may recall that I have recommended limiting your news consumption, because it really does add to our stressed...
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May 12, 2020
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In the Caregiver's Words

Recent Client Praise

Stan Lee, the 95 year old co-creator of The Guardians of the Galaxy and the rest of the Marvel Comic Book series was in the headlines of the Hollywood Reporter this past week. But the story was not about Spiderman, Hulk, Captain America or the Guardians of the Galaxy. It was alleged this past Tuesday that he was the victim of elder abuse! A radio station in Orlando, Florida, amplified this by calling it a “captive situation” and that unnamed people were keeping him under lock and key to control his assets. Mr. Lee, who is a co-creator of one of the most successful comic book franchises, a franchise that has also spawned a hugely successful box office sensation, lives in an LA neighborhood where houses go for tens of millions of dollars. He has a net worth of about $50 million and has Miros, Picassos and more hanging on his walls…amid some empty hooks with faded shadows where something used to be. That’s not all that a recent visit from a New York Time reporter found to be missing. There are reports of more than a million dollars in wire transfers and a designer bag of cash and other valuable items seem to have “walked away” from the house. Some of this is under investigation. If you are thinking that because your older loved one is not worth millions that you have less to worry about, think again. Kerry Peck, a Chicago-based elder law attorney, famously states that we should all have someone looking out for us who loves us more than they love our money. I have five suggestions for those of you with older loved ones as well:
1. No matter where your older loved lives, you or someone you know should drop in frequently...and sometimes unannounced…and at different times to see how mom or dad is doing and who is visiting;
2. If your loved one requires home care or home health be sure that it is with a bonded and insured agency…and check references;
3. Know your loved one’s friends and be wary of “new friends” in their lives…especially friends for whom mom or dad may be doing financial favors;
4. Either personally or through a bonded professional monitor your loved one’s financial transactions, credit card and bank statements…look for changes;
5. And this is really #1, start the conversation early with your loved one…the conversation about how they want to live and where they want to live and whom they trust to help them.
It’s never too early to be a guardian of your loved one’s galaxy. 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.
We all have at least one thing in common in this time of COVID Quarantine – we are making more of our own meals at home. The list probably goes on, but I think of this as an opportunity for hitting our dietary reset buttons. In fact, it is an opportunity each day to have a more thoughtful menu…think of it as New Year’s Resolution meets Ground Hog Day. At the gym where I worked out (they are closed now) there always was a first of the year surge in the volume of people crowding the workout spaces and locker rooms. But inevitably there also was a later drop off around February one where people got back to all the other life distractions, or comfort foots or just bad habits. I came across a number of research pieces this past week that show that good food choices can statistically reduce our risk of cognitive decline. Why not use the present time to shop and prepare the foods that will give us a truly different quality of life now and as we emerge from the quarantine. The “recipe” is really pretty simple; it’s the basic Mediterranean Diet. In two trials that actually were focused on preserving eye function called Age-Related Eye Disease Study (there were two: AREDS and AREDS2), researchers found that diet was related to cognitive decline. They measured the intake of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, red meat, fish, fatty acids and alcohol. AREDS tested cognitive function at five years, and AREDS2 tested at 2, 5, and 10 years later. Overall, the higher the adherence to a Mediterranean diet, the lower the risk of cognitive decline. The statistical significance was impressive with this difference being attributed to chance alone being about one in ten thousand. When the researchers looked into the details the strongest predictor of healthy cognition was fish intake. Check them out here. It is important to note that we are talking about the risk of cognitive decline, not the rate of decline. The rates of cognitive decline were fairly similar across all dietary groups. As with all studies, the scientists are looking more closely into the results and also into further tests to see that the results can be replicated. While they are doing that, however, we still have some quarantine time left to change our habits a bit. Bon Apetit. We at CCM want you all to remain safe and follow the rules so that you all will get through this health crisis. And if you follow as many of these guidelines as you can fit into your day, you will be better coming out of this pandemic than you were going into it. Be safe and be healthier. 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.
Physical exercise, mental gymnastics or medication: which one has the most beneficial impact on improving or delaying the onset of what medical professionals call “mild cognitive impairment?” First, to clarify, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a middle ground between the normal decline of our brain function and the dementias that I have talked about in previous posts. You might even refer to it as “pre-dementia,” except that MCI does not always or inevitably lead to dementia. The rate of cognitive decline increases with age with just fewer than seven percent of adults age 60 to 64 showing signs of mild cognitive impairment. By age 80 – 84 the rate of MCI exceeds 25%. And MCI progresses to dementia in about 15% of patients 65 or older. It is true that the FDA has approved a few medications for their ability to slow the progression of cognitive decline, and you have seen some of them advertised on television. And there are “brain games” available for people who want to keep their faculties sharp…even doing crossword puzzles or just reading have been shown to be of some help in slowing the inevitable mental decline associated with birthdays. Yet, neither of these can measurably improve cognitive function. The American Academy of Neurology has released new guidelines that encourage regular, physical exercise as a way to not just improve overall health, but to also improve memory and slow decline of cognitive processing. They see little value in pharmacologic treatments, and they admit that cognitive training can improve a patient’s score on cognitive measures. Engaging in physical exercise like walking or biking or swimming as little as twice a week actually can improve cognitive function. The new guidelines, as endorsed by the Alzheimer’s Association, are based on research over a six month period that demonstrated that physical exercise just twice a week can significantly improve memory. There are no long term studies yet, but researchers are extending their work, to date, to see if they can actually hold on to that improvement longer. It looks as if we can add one more condition to the list of ailments that can be reversed by diet or exercise. (Do a search in the toolbar for “exercise” and see all the good that can come from working up a little sweat.) 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.
Perhaps you have heard stories about people who are checked into a hospital and develop an infection while there. Or perhaps you have heard of the person with a minor infection that develops quickly into a systemic infection. All too often in these kinds of cases, the infection can move quickly to sepsis and ultimately even to death. Each year more than a million people develop sepsis, a multiple organ or systemic infection that causes the body to start shutting down altogether. In as many as half the cases of sepsis that develop, the patient actually dies because this runaway infection simply is not detected early enough. It is most common among adults over age 65, people with compromised immune systems and hospitalized patients.

            If you are a caregiver to an older person or someone with a compromised immune system, you may be the best person to see the warning signs. That is because the warning signs can be so subtle that a health care provider not familiar with how a patient is normally may not detect the small changes that can be the hallmark of sepsis. If your loved one develops an infection, be on the lookout for two of more of the following symptoms which may be the warning signs of sepsis:

·          Infection accompanied by a high fever or a very low fever, often accompanied by a chill or trembling.

·          Hypotension or very low blood pressure in a patient who has no history of low blood pressure.

·          Elevated heart rate - typically anything above 90 beats per minute.

·          General disorientation which may appear almost like a mild dementia or confusion about their surroundings or why they may be in the hospital.

·          Shortness of breath, rapid breathing or even hyperventilation which may be caused by fluid building up on the lungs.

·          Skin that is warm to the touch or what may appear as a heat rash.

·          A white blood count reported by the provider, but one that is unusually high or low.

       Most of these warning signs are what you as a caregiver can observe, but some may require you asking the nurse or physician charged with your loved one's care. And as in any case, you as a caregiver should be actively asking questions about anything you do not understand. Rarely will a patient identify their condition as sepsis, especially if the condition causes confusion.

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.
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Negative Thinking Causes What?

Dementia: We’re Not Post-COVID Yet

Distance Caregiving Through a Wall

Caregiving During COVID: Four Tips for Reengagement

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