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

Senior Scams Spike During the Holidays
We are fortunate to have a new contribution from a good friend and colleague, Julie Northcutt of Caregiverlist.com. Julie...
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December 14, 2011
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Four Ways a Caregiver’s Nose Can Help
I have written in past blogs about some of the inevitable decline of physical capabilities associated with aging, and...
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October 14, 2011
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Three Ways to Advocate for Elders
Everyone who is a caregiver to an elder or other person with special needs has to be an advocate...
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September 15, 2011
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Prescription Drug Risks for Elders-part 2
In the first of my present series of postings on recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warnings, I had...
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July 9, 2011
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Prescription Risks for Elders-part 1
Within the past two weeks the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a number of warnings that concern...
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July 6, 2011
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Preventing Unnecessary Hospital Readmissions
According to research reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, approximately one in five Medicare beneficiaries discharged from...
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June 24, 2011
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Summer Visits for a Senior Care Check-up
In this posting, I have invited Julie Northcutt, President of Caregiverlist.com, a company that uses new technology to deliver...
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June 3, 2011
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Tech Support for Caregivers
Caregiving in this century is not just handholding; it combines the latest technologies with caring to allow virtually anyone to...
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February 22, 2011
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If Not Home, Then What?
In my last posting, I talked about how a caregiver can facilitate an older adult’s decision around when it...
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December 20, 2010
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In the Caregiver's Words

Recent Client Praise

The beginning of a new year is certainly a time for resolutions, but it also can be a time to take stock of the "big picture" if you are a caregiver to an older loved one. Your older loved one may be "doing well." But the following are brief descriptions with links to postings of their own on some of the dimensions you should track along with resources you may find helpful if you are family member or caregiver to an older adult.

8 Tips to Prevent Senior Home Fires. The question of how an older parent is doing physically is as much about their residence as it is about their personal health and well-being. Last year I devoted some time to talking about how to make an older adult's home safe from fires.

3 Tips to Avoid Scams Targeting Seniors. In the past I also have devoted some time to talking about the inevitable predators who may look to scam older adults and how to be financially vigilant on behalf of your loved one.

Making the Most of Medical Face Time. Caregivers are not expected to diagnose or prescribe unless they are a health care professional. But as caregivers, I have talked about ways to make productive use of medical face time to get answers to important questions about your loved one's health.

3 Elder Care Suggestions for Depression. And of course, health and well-being are not simply how well a person's body is functioning. It also is about their mental health. Rates of depression escalate as individuals age and they face losses and physical decline, and a caregiver should take note of how mom or dad may be doing psychologically.

Independent Living for Your Parents. While for some, being active is about physically getting out and about, being socially active can be every bit as important for aging parents or other loved ones. Caregivers may benefit from a two-part series I had posted last year about considerations in independent living.

Watch For Signs of Elder Abuse. Caregivers along with all the family members also need to be advocates on behalf of older adults who can be victims of physical, psychological or financial abuse. Here are some tips.

What is a Geriatric Care Manager? Finally, I had started this blog about two and a half years ago talking about what a geriatric care manager (GCM) is. Please check out that first post as it talks about GCMs as elder advocates and care coordinators, or as I like to describe the profession: "GCMs are the Option-Makers for the Decision-Makers."

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.
…and when to not say anything…read further. It seems like such a waste of talent…the energy and brains that scammers invest in finding new ways to bilk people of their money, and older adults are more susceptible than others. Let me start with that part first. Older adults more often get scammed, because they answer their phones, they tend to be more trusting and they have more liquid assets. Let me share the short version of a number of relatively new scams targeting seniors. For more details, please also go to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission web site (https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/scam-alerts ). 1. A Government program that will pay bills. The scammers have been selling this “government program” at places of worship. The scammers at first appear legitimate as they take enrollment information from enrollees. The first bills appear paid, but the scammers cancel the transactions and keep the funds. When the bill comes the next month, it will have late fees, and the scammers will have the credit card and personal identification and financial information of the enrollees. 2. The “good-looking” bad check. This one actually seems to go back to the faxes that used to come across from a Nigerian prince, but it is still being used. The scammer asks you to deposit a check for a substantial amount of money because they do not have access to their own local bank. But could you please write a check for a much smaller amount in the meantime? Well, by the time the check bounces, so does the scammer. 3. More taxing issues. With the tax filing deadlines approaching, some people will be approached by email or even conventional snail mail with notices that the government demands more. If the email has a link, do not click it; it may have malware or worse. If the written letter asks for a wire transfer, prepaid debit card, gift card or other form of payment than a check, it also likely is a scam. If the request is to make payment to I.R.S., that also is a scam, because Uncle Sam asks for checks to be made payable to the U.S. Department of Treasury. 4. I cannot hear you now. Sprint used to famously ask, “Can you hear me now?” Well, there are robocalls going out with the same question…do not say yes! Scammers will be recording your answer to be used later as confirmation in what may sound to be a legitimate solicitation that has your “yes” answer as the reply and that now will have a price tag associated with it. Don’t say anything! How do you help protect your older loved one? Well, for phone callers, you can still request that their numbers be placed on the “no call” registry: 888/382-1222. To report suspicious activity, the Federal Trade Commission can be reached at the site I listed at the top of this post or called at 877/382-4857. 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.
No, it is not a typo. There are some new changes to insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act that will have a big impact on one of America's often overlooked health care needs: hearing. Did you know that one in five adult Americans have some form of hearing loss according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Yet, only about one in five of the one in five with a hearing loss actually have used a hearing aid in the past. That translates into about 40 million adult Americans go without a device that could re-engage them with the world, and it mostly is because hearing aids are expensive - about $1,000 to $5,000 - and last only about three to five years before a replacement is needed. The implications for the older population are staggering. Among adults between 65 and 75 years of age, the percent with some hearing lost, but this jumps to fifty percent of those 75 and older who have a hearing deficit. In past blog postings, I have talked about two of the major challenges of aging: loss and isolation. Picture those two amplified by the inability to hear the words of comfort from another person or to engage in social activities simply because one cannot hear well. But there are changes afoot. The Affordable Care Act stipulated a requirement for coverage for the ten "essential health benefits" (EHBs). Advocates for hearing health see number 7 of these ten as applying to hearing: "rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices." While this is not a done deal, there are increasing numbers of states and/or insurers who are getting on board with hearing health just as they had in the past with vision or dental health. UnitedHealth Group has introduced a hearing health option in 2011 that can be either a benefit or at least a discount. Closer to home, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois is now offering a discount benefit to their members through TruHearing. With these giant insurers in the lead, you have to believe that others will follow now that the playing field for health insurance has become more competitive. You should also check your AAA insurance or AARP membership for discounts. And Veterans Benefits and the Federal Employee Benefit Health Program have always included a hearing health benefit for their members. If you are a caregiver to an older loved one who is having hearing difficulties, give one of these entities a call. You may be very pleased at what you - and your loved one - hear. 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.
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 written a lot about caregiving, who the caregivers are, how to cope with caregiving and how to take care of the caregiver. Now, consider an important fact about older caregivers, besides the simple fact that 25% of older caregivers are attending to the needs of their older spouses. The fact is that the older spouse who is receiving the care ultimately will die, leaving the caregiver to cope with the grief and the guilt.

As a geriatric care manager I often find that while I am part of the care team for the older adult with health needs, I also am part of the support group for the family caregiver. This is particularly true when the care recipient finally does die. As a society we do a pretty good job of rallying around the surviving spouse when there is a death in the family. When the caregiver loses their spouse, the extended family and friends gather round to offer their support. Eventually, however, everyone goes back to their homes, their families and their jobs. The surviving caregiver is then left to cope with a now very quiet home and the sudden absence of familial support.

It is typical to see the grieving caregiver manifest any of a number of symptoms including head and muscular aches, weight loss or gain, depression, episodes of crying, difficulty sleeping, memory lapses, lack of focus, or loss of interest in social activities or friends. Research has shown that these symptoms - particularly depression - can last as much as two years with some caregivers. But it does not need to be this bleak in the aftermath of the funeral and the departure of family and friends.

In fact, we as GCMs find that we are often engaged to just "look in" on mom or dad by a member of the family who now may be a distance caregiver to the survivor. But there are some preventive measures families can also employ to help in the coping and then the healing for the survivor:
- When the illness has a longer trajectory, it is important to make efforts to prepare the caregiver for their loss ahead of time, in part by helping with the "goodbye" while the care recipient is still alive.
- During these conversations also help the caregiver to attend to any "unfinished business" with their spouse; it helps to limit the regrets and self-recrimination.
- Support a grieving process that begins while the care recipient is still alive; this includes helping to create a support network of people who will also be there after the death.
- Prepare the surviving spouse for what life will be like without their partner, particularly the financial responsibilities of living alone; this is something of a rehearsal of what the role will be, a rehearsal that allows for trial and error before they must go it alone.
- Appreciate that grieving is a gradual process and it can take at least a full year to get through all the "firsts;" this includes the first trip to their place of worship alone, their first wedding anniversary and other calendar events.
- Help the surviving spouse to appreciate that withdrawal of emotional attachment to their deceased spouse dose not dishonor their spouse; it is expected that they will go on and have a socially-rewarding life after such a loss.
If you know an older caregiver who lost the person they’ve cared for, contact us for a free consultation. We offer three 1-hour sessions to help the older caregiver transition through their time of grieving.

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.