Chicago's Geriatric Care Manager Center of Excellence – Since 1991 • home care servicesChicago's Geriatric Care Manager Center of Excellence

Not Just Spring…
We’ve heard of Spring Training for those who follow baseball teams like the CUBS or the SOX, and we...
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April 13, 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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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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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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COVID’s Other Deadly Toll
During this pandemic, over 13,000 more Alzheimer’s and other dementia patients have died than expected from these cognitive disorders,...
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September 22, 2020
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Hold Your Friends Close and Stangers Closer
Miss your friends, your older loved ones and those summer get togethers in the backyard? We can get together...
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August 11, 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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In the Caregiver's Words

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Okay, "Grain Brain" is not something that immediately tells you what it is all about. Grain Brain is the phrase that neurologists and other brain scientists are using to describe a link between blood glucose levels from high carbohydrate consumption and dementia. A book by the same name is going into its 15th straight week on the New York Times bestseller list, so the concept is getting a lot of attention. But what does it mean for you or an older loved one in your orbit? In a scientific study recently published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, researchers followed a large group of men and one of women for an average of almost seven years. During this nearly seven years they regularly measured the individuals fasting blood glucose levels. At the end of the study they found that people with higher blood glucose levels were more at risk for developing dementia that those whose levels were not as high. They found this to be true even with people who did not have diabetes. It is true, that this kind of study cannot say that increased blood sugar levels actually cause dementia, but the link is sufficiently clear that the New England Journal would publish the findings. Scientists also find that not all grains have the same negative effect on cognitive ability. Those with the highest gluten content seem to be the worst offenders. This is not the first research to show negative health outcomes associated with elevated blood sugar. Researchers have well-established proof that a high carbohydrate diet and the associated elevation of blood sugar poses a risk to one's heart and to the immune system. And there are other studies. in a 2012 study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, researchers reported that risk for cognitive decline was 89% greater among those on a high carb diet; those on a high fat intake diet saw a 44% decrease in their risk for cognitive compromise. And researchers in another British journal, Lancet Neurology, estimated based on their findings that as many as 54% of the cases of Alzheimer's Disease in the United States could be avoided with exercise, weight reduction and steps to reducing blood pressure. This last study really drives home a great point. If you are a caregiver to an older loved one, you both will see great returns on a few basic investments of time and effort. Increase the daily amount of exercise, reduce the carb intake and the rewards will be weight loss, reduced blood pressure, a healthier heart, a more vigorous immune system and more acute cognition. Sounds like a really great return on investment to me. So, will you and your older loved ones be among those who avoid the "grain brain?" 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.
A small percentage of us may be coping with symptoms of COVID-19 or we know someone who is, but all of us are coping with “sheltering in place.” While we all at some points in our live may have wanted “some time to ourselves,” this is not what we had in mind. It is a bit ironic that a professional who spent nearly a year without gravity has some very concrete tips for the very weighty notion of surviving isolation. Retired Astronaut Scott Kelly spent nearly a year in the International Space Station, and his experience in a job that you truly cannot just walk away from offers some great advice.
1. Schedule Yourself - Mr. Kelly talks about how his day was entirely time-blocked by his employer, NASA. You may not have a boss telling you what to do, but you need to keep regular bedtime and waking hours, have meals on schedule and set aside time for leisure and time for work and working out.
2. Keep Pace – You are not going to clean your entire home top to bottom the first day in isolation. You are not going to become a top flight runner the very first week, and you are not going to catch up on all those movies you have wanted to see. Build a calendar that includes explicit work and reward times.
3. Get Out – You will be surprised that even on some of our cold days the birds feel and singing Spring. What has amazed me is what I call COVID Cordiality; 95% of the people I see who are walking their dogs or just themselves make eye contact and greet you…maybe even ask about your well-being and you reciprocate.
4. Hobby Time – Do something just for you. Maybe it is reading a designated number of minutes each day or learning a new language or starting seedlings in your well-lit kitchen window. This is “you time,” and you will find something that is special to you to fill it.
5. Journal It – Astronauts are required to keep track of all manner of things so that their environment continues to sustain them. You may start a daily diary of thoughts and experiences that are part of your story. And given that this is a truly momentous event unfolding, you will be writing history.
6. Connect Time – My husband and I had “dinner” with friends earlier this last week, and we had Happy Hour Sunday afternoon with all of our adult children and their partners who wished to attend…and they all said they would like to do it again next Sunday-go figure. All thanks to ZOOM-the picture here is a screen shot.
7. Experts Count – People who understand this disease are worth hearing. They will tell us how long to wait before surfaces can be touched after someone else has been there. They will tell us what the arc of this epidemic is shaping up to be, and we should and should not do to get through this.
8. Self Care – The bottom line for all that we do with families caring for an older loved one also apply to our current pandemic. Take good care of yourself if you are a caregiver to someone. It is the only way that your care receiver will be safe and the only way that you will be safe.
Take care of yourselves...be kind to yourselves. We will all look back on this someday soon, and I believe we will be impressed with how much real humanity emerged in a time of potential crisis. 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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I’ve posted a lot over the years on the factors that affect aging…and aging well so that when you are caregiving you know about what else may be going on with your older loved one. I have talked about diet and lifestyle, hereditary factors and even how to make home better support an older loved who ages in place. And I have shared what works against men to shorten their life span and add to what can affect their health in general as they age. Race is also one of those factors that in and of itself impacts how long and how well a person will live. The American Psychological Association has recently released some invaluable insights into how to address racial disparities in health and well-being … particularly among older people of color, and it could not be more timely. There are more than four million African Americans, and one of them could be your mom, dad or older loved one, friend or neighbor. And some of what negatively impacts their health is simply being African American. The American Psychological Association suggests some steps we all can take as we support or interact with our older African American loved ones:
- Show empathy – this is different from sympathy; empathy requires a lot more listening and being prepared to not “get” where someone is coming from, but to listen just the same;
- Support their spirit – find out what centers the older loved one … nourishes their spirit and you may be amazed at the strength spirituality provides them; again, listen;
- Steer Clear of Triggers – as much as we may all have been disturbed by the present news cycle, this past week’s news coverage will be profoundly distressing for anyone who has “grown up with racism;” again, listen;
- Get informed – appreciate that your own cultural tapestry comes from growing up differently; find forums and information that can help enlighten you about the culture as well as unique health needs or older people of color; again, listen;
- Celebrate and advocate – the more you learn, the more impressed you will be of the African American heroes and leaders who truly embody the concept of “self-made”; again, listen.
Okay, I have used the word listen a great deal here. I would be very interested in what you hear and what you learn. Please send me an email (click here) or call our toll free number (855.455.5118 ext 511) to share your story. And if you want more insight, please click through to the American Psychological Association’s advice as well as additional resources (click here). 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.
With all the talk of risk mitigation amid this COVID pandemic, home improvement may seem low on your list of things to do. But after we all have self-quarantined, maintained our “physical distance” (I don’t call it “social” distancing.) and stocked up on comfort food, please allow me to give you five insights into getting through this and coming out of this a better, more balanced and healthy person.
1. Start with You – It is not time to slink into the recliner chair with the remote in one hand and a bag of chips in the other. Take stock of what you eat, what you drink, how you exercise and how you are sleeping. Then choose one area for self-improvement, set a goal and work on it. Then another…all of these steps that make a better you will also protect you from a virus.
2. Reduce Stress – I know, easy to say, hard to do. Stress may have made our ancestors effective in defending themselves against predators, but they burn up our systems if we get stuck on “high alert.” There actually is a special web site designed around how to calm ourselves about COVID-19.
3. Socially Close while Physically Distant – I talked in an earlier post about ZOOM meetings with people who are important like family, friends and folks who just are isolated themselves. This last is important, because it can help us receive the calming benefit of extending our own empathy. (Key is to ask a lot of questions instead of “dumping” about ourselves.)
4. Use the Timer – This is not for the perfect three-minute egg, but for setting what I used to call with my kids “loving limits.” You may have your favorite newscaster or channel, but there is too much bad news if you let yourself get sucked into the endless news cycles. Use your Egg Timer or your app: 30 minutes is a good limit…and stick with it.
5. Attitude of Gratitude – I know it seems rather cliché, but you cannot tell the important people in your lives too many times just how important they are. You cannot stop to smell too many roses (I know I am rushing that season). You would be amazed at how cordial strangers can be if you extend the first courtesy.
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.
I have talked in a lot of my postings about advanced directives and how we all need to prepare for the end of life crisis that will face us ... and our family members. If you are a caregiver, you should have had the talk with your senior loved ones about what care they want under a variety of life's end game scenarios. And hopefully your older loved one has placed in their physician's file or medical chart at the hospital what they would want to happen were they were attached to a respirator or worse. These are those quality of life decisions. That said, you may still face all the questions we all will when we are addressing the mortality of a mother or father. What would mom or dad want? And that is the right question. We all should know with some certainty before the time comes what mom or dad have expressed as their desires should help to avoid the tough decision of life support or end of life. And the one person we really cannot ask is the physician. As a geriatric care manager, I am involved in decisions like this with some frequency, but I always make it clear that my counsel is not based on what I would do in someone else's place as much as it is about honoring the wishes of an older loved one. So, the children of the older loved one can always ask about health care options. What are the likely outcomes of whatever course of treatment and what alternatives does the family have are important conversations to have with your loved one's provider. I recently read of a doctor who was asked by the children of an older patient consigned to the ventilator what he would do if in their situation. Realistically we cannot ask the provider what he or she would do when facing and end of life decision for his or her parent. That is their decision, and it should have been based upon conversations the doctor will have had along the way with the doctor's parents. It is not a medical decision; it is a personal decision. So, the simple point is that if you are a caregiver to an older loved one, you should already have a good idea what the answer is to that kind of ultimate question is. And if you do not have a clear answer, then it is time to restart the conversation. Yes, it will seem awkward at first, but you may be surprised to find that your older loved one already has given this a lot of thought and likely has an answer to help prepare you and them. 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.