Chicago's Geriatric Care Manager Center of Excellence – Since 1991 • crisis managementChicago's Geriatric Care Manager Center of Excellence

Why AND Is the Most Important Word
Do you recall the 1991 movie called City Slickers? It was another great role for Billy Crystal, but it...
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July 19, 2022
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If It’s Not Happy or Merry?
I explained in an earlier post about why we refer to Holidays in the plural, and how we are...
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December 14, 2021
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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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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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How the COVID Vaccines Work
If you’re like me, you have been following too much news on the pandemic, but hopefully you also have...
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December 15, 2020
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Too Good to Be True
With over 300 clinical trials on vaccines for COVID19, it perhaps is not a surprise that at least two...
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December 1, 2020
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Heard or Herd?
I am really, truly, seriously, absolutely in need of good news – heard news and herd news. Today, I...
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August 18, 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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In the Caregiver's Words

Recent Client Praise

It's June, and school is out for a lot of kids and everyone is thinking of taking time off. In fact, by a certain time of the year most people who are going to take a summer vacation will have made their plans. We all know how to make plans and make reservations to get to where we want to go. If we look beyond what month it is and think about seasons of our lives, we may also be thinking about retirement. By a certain time of life most people will have made retirement plans. We all know where to turn to get advice on how to make plans and maybe even a picture of where we would like to be once we become financially independent. As a geriatric care manager, let me suggest also that by a certain time of life most people will not have made plans for getting older. In fact, the plans that need to be made for getting older typically will not be made by an older adult, but rather by their caregivers. And the typical caregiver will not always know where to turn to make those plans for their older loved one. So, please allow me to share with you what is usually 60% of my first conversations with someone who e-mails us or makes a call as a way of explaining what a geriatric care manager does. Looking at that first example of summer vacations, it would be really great if there were a geriatric care equivalent to Travelocity. Or talking of retirement, it would be really easy if having a plan for getting older would be like following that arrow line in the television commercial. But there is hope. Making plans for getting older can be easier than a lot of caregivers think. The majority of the first conversations I have with clients are a lot about what they are looking for like: • home medical care for an older parent, or • a senior community where mom or dad can move or • where to go for what they see as the onset of dementia in a loved one. As the conversation unfolds, it usually becomes clear that what is needed first is an overall assessment and then a plan for the options available to support a loved one in maintaining their maximum quality of life. One of my associates calls us the "wedding planners" for getting older. To just get home care may be a bit like that wedding planner who just tells you where they have a great stock of wedding dresses when you were really looking to plan that "special day." To just get a list of senior communities in the area may ignore the other options for aging in place that could come from a full assessment leading to a plan. And it may be dementia or it may be interactions among any of the multiple medications that your loved one has been prescribed by multiple providers. What may be more helpful is someone to look at the big picture and help make a plan. If you are a caregiver, think about your concerns for your older loved one, but also consider looking into geriatric care managers. They are essential in providing an overall informed assessment and even more important for discovering all your options. The person who can best do that likely is the person who sees the big picture and knows all the resources available. Charlotte Bishop is founder of Creative Care Management, a team of geriatric care managers, certified professionals, advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. Please email your questions to info@creativecasemanagement.com.
It is not just hearing that is lost when a person loses their auditory ability; other cognitive capabilities are at risk as well. Yes, losing hearing can lead to memory loss or dementia. There are about 48 million Americans who have some degree of hearing loss in America, and the proportion with hearing loss is about two of every three adults in their seventies or older. These same people are appreciably more likely to also develop memory deficits and even dementia. But this works the other direction as well. Some recent research shows that treating hearing loss can help to prevent the cognitive decline. In a recent study among 65 to 85 year old individuals with severe hearing loss – deafness - in at least one of their ears, all patients received a cochlear implant and subsequent auditory rehab. More than four in five of those who started with the lowest cognitive scores showed statistically significant improvement in their cognition a year later. This improvement was about double what has been seen with the cognitive improvement associated with some of the FDA-approved drugs for treating Alzheimer’s disease. It looks promising. There is much speculation on precisely why there can be improved cognitive function with improved hearing, but at the very least it may have to do with social engagement. People who cannot hear tend to be less socially active and more isolated. And all of that has long been recognized as a contributor to mental decline. If you are a caregiver to an older loved one, you may not be able to clearly quantify their cognitive ability. But the odds are that you can appreciate when a mom or dad is just having trouble hearing you and others around them. So, let that be a double warning sign to protect them from both further hearing loss and also memory loss. Get a hearing test scheduled as soon as you detect any of the early signs of hearing compromise. 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.
I think it is safe to say that most of us are really ready for this pandemic and quarantine to come to an end, and with two vaccines already approved we can see a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. But can you see the silver lining in the quarantine that has isolated so many of us and our loved ones? Research published this past week tells us that it is this loneliness of 2020 that actually helps stimulate the brain to build greater creativity and imagination. All of us have read at least parts of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, and a few may be aware of Admiral Richard Byrd’s chronicle of his isolation at then the farthest south pole habitation in a book called Alone. Thoreau spent over two years on his own outside Concord, and Byrd spent five months alone in the dark polar winter of Antarctica. Both spent a lot of inward time reflecting. The silver lining actually is gray…gray matter that is. The article based on this research was published in a journal called Nature Communications. The researchers had suspected that a network in the brain that is tied to memory and social cognition likely was changed among people who were isolated or lonely. Lonely people, they hypothesized were understandably more likely to reminisce and maybe even imagine or plan their futures. Through neural imaging, the scientists found that this creative part of the brain actually physically increased in size, significantly larger than study subjects who were not lonely. Maybe just a quirk among some small number of people studied you may say? Well, the scientists had a database of 500,000 people between ages 40 and 69 in UK on which to base their analysis. The data were collected because UK took loneliness seriously, even appointing a Minister for Loneliness. This building up of gray matter may be an outcome of our brain’s default to avoid the “use it or lose it” syndrome. It may seem at odds with what we have reported in the past about isolation giving rise to depression and possibly also fueling the onset of Alzheimer’s. The scientists are on those trails as well. Knowing that Alzheimer’s also is linked to the APOE-4 gene, they are following up with patients by genotype to see what they can discover. Their research has significance coming out of this pandemic year, and I am optimistic when scientists can report some good coming out of this long downtime we all have had. I will keep your apprised. In the meantime, please continue to do all that we are asked to do by the public health officials. Social distance and quarantine continue to be your friends, and they may even prove to be your inspiration. 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.
“I really appreciate everything [CCM is] doing/can do to serve.”
A satisfied client
If you ask most medical providers what is the number one health issue affecting older adults, you might get a list that looks like this:
Arthritis…

Hypertension...

Asthma...

Blindness...

Cancer...

Chronic Bronchitis. ...

Coronary Heart Disease. ...

Dementia.

I think that misses the point. I think the health issue that affects most older adults is lack of HUGS!

Yes, everyone who gets older also is at risk for becoming more isolated, having less contact with others, having fewer intimate friends and family around and yes, fewer hugs. And hugs are a big deal.

A psychotherapist named Virginia Satir suggests that we need four real hugs a day just to survive, eight hugs a day to maintain our health and twelve or more hugs to grow. We are not talking about a little Hollywood hug with an air kiss; a real hug that delivers health benefits is about 20 seconds in duration. This kind of hug is a trigger that tells your brain to release a hormone called oxytocin, and that is good for you in many ways. And the list of “hug benefits” goes on:
1. Hugs lower your cortisol levels which improves your heart health by lowering your blood pressure and more.
2. Hugs reduce pain and the inflammatory response of some immune disorders and even improves the immune system for people who have cancer.
3. Hugs stimulate the thymus gland which regulates the white blood cells that defend your body against infection.
4. Hugs tell your brain to release dopamine which is another hormone that also positively reinforces good feelings and even motivation.
5. Hugs elevate the serotonin levels which help to counter pain while elevating happiness and decreasing sadness.
We are not talking about a one and done thing here. I am not suggesting we drop by to visit and older loved one for a hug. Think about hugs as part of a nonverbal communication that can become a habit. And with the holidays upon us where families will be getting together, think about how to give your reunions a health benefit. Remember…for every hug you give, you also get one back! 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.