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The Community in Senior Residential Living
I was just reminded of a very important aspect of senior residential options that can get overlooked in conversations...
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February 26, 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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In the Caregiver's Words

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You’re fortunate that you haven’t contracted COVID, and you may even have received your first dose of a vaccine, but you likely have been laid low by the other scourge: the quarantine. I’ve talked about the ill effects – particularly among older adults – of the enforced isolation to tamp down the spread of COVID-19. Yet, there are active steps all of us can embrace to not just survive this pandemic, but to thrive. Here are Six Simple Steps you can take daily to help body, mind and soul get from lethargy to energy:
1. Sunshine – It’s particularly challenging this week to get outside, but sunshine boosts the mood; try a SAD (seasonal affective disorder) lamp, if you can’t get to the real thing.
2. Steps – I know that 10,000 steps a day is the often recommended dose of walking, but even 5 or 6,000 can boost your mood and burn carbohydrates.
3. Speaking – It doesn’t have to be a ZOOM call, but reach out regularly to people in your orbit; a number of Clubs who are not meeting these days are working phone trees, because human connection is important.
4. Social – But not social media and news is what you need; limit the time you take in the news or scroll on your FB page – they have made it addictive, so don’t get hooked.
5. Share – We get through crises, because we know how to give and also to receive. If you have an older neighbor or loved one, recognize they may not ask for help…so don’t wait for the request…offer.
6. Slack – Cut yourself some. We all set goals and we all have high expectations of ourselves, but you need to show grace to yourself just as you would with others.
As you can probably tell, this list could go on and on. Most of these revolve around having a heightened sense of what is good for you and also a sense of what would be beneficial for others, especially older loved ones with cognitive issues like dementia. We are social creatures who benefit from the good will of others and from giving to others. Please pass it on; you’ll be better for having done so. Charlotte Bishop is a Caregiver Coach, an Aging Life Care Advisor, 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. She also is the co-author of How Do I Know You? A Caregiver’s Lifesaver for Dealing with Dementia.
Today's Blog is a guest posting from Cindy Levitt, founder of peace by piece professional organizing and design. Moving can be one of life’s most stressful events, or it can be one of the most liberating. Studies rank moving right up there with death and divorce. However, with proper planning you can minimize much of the stress. Are you helping someone to move? Or are you the one organizing your own move? It can be very emotional and often stirs up a lifetime of memories, both good and bad. Think about your move as a fresh start. Tip #1 Start early. Don’t wait until the last minute to start making decisions about what to bring with you. It will seem less rushed if the hard decisions are made when you have time to think and contemplate. Know where you are moving? Great! Get the floor plan and think about how much space you will have and what will fit. Especially when it comes to memorabilia, start well in advance of the move, if possible. Sort, edit and archive the photos, important family documents and other meaningful items. You can find some nice archival boxes and products to use. Here is one type I like: http://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-archival-storage-boxes/ Tip #2 Evaluate what you have. Be ruthless. Whether it’s clothes, knick knacks or furniture, this is the time to decide what you can live without and what you truly value. Ask: Do I love this enough to bring it with me? Does this make me feel good when I see this or use this? Does this item remind me of joyful times? Tip #3 Organize! I usually suggest creating a notebook with various pages or sections that you can add to as you go along. Headings could be: Donate, Sell, Give to Family, Bring to New Space, etc. Go room by room and list each large item. If you are using your furniture right now but know that you will not be moving the green couch and the maple table, add those to the “Donate” list or the “Give to Family” list. Ask family and friends what they may like before you decide about donations. Maybe someone close to you can really use that couch or table. Tip #4 Enlist help. You can’t do it alone so don’t even try. Find good friends, family members or professionals to work with you. Host a coffee and dessert party or a wine and appetizer night to divide up the photos or knick knacks you would like to share with friends and family members before you start packing up. Tip #5 Simplify your daily life. Remember your mantra is “I can live more fully with less stuff weighing me down!” Too much stuff around you causes stress and creates more anxiety. Less stuff equals fewer items to keep clean and organized. .Your move can be the road to finding peace of mind. Cindy Levitt (click here) holds a Master of Education from DePaul University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Washington University. Peace by piece professional organizing and design offers on-site residential and business organizing, speaking and teaching, coaching, consultation, relocation and moving services, staging and redesign services. Cindy also works with seniors to organize and archive photographs and a lifetime of memorabilia. After moving from her home of 29 years to a smaller space, Cindy understands how difficult it is to make those tough decisions on what to keep and what to let go. Visit her web site.
Caregiving in this century is not just handholding; it combines the latest technologies with caring to allow virtually anyone to be virtually anywhere they are needed. As a geriatric care manager I often am in the role of the “person who knows resources” that caregivers and their loved ones can rely upon.

A new study produced by a partnership between the National Alliance for Caregiving and United Healthcare offers results of a nation-wide online survey of caregivers who are leveraging their caregiving with web-based and mobile technologies. The survey was based on the responses of 1000 Caregivers at least 18 years of age, who provided at least five hours of unpaid care to an adult relative or friend and had already used some form of technology to assist them in their caregiving. To see the full report, please go to The e-Connected Family Caregiver: Bringing Caregiving into the 12st Century. Here are just a few of what I think are their insights for modern caregiving.

The survey asked these people to rate how helpful they found each of twelve different technologies to be. You may get some ideas for your own needs from their answers. The three “most helpful technologies" included:
- Health record tracking that would help the caregiver to follow their loved one’s history, current status and other metrics even if they cannot be at all appointments;
- Shared electronic calendars to allow everyone to track a loved one’s doctor appointments and other needs;
- Electronic reminder systems to help the loved one stay on schedule with medications as well as actually dispense the pills.
Although the most common challenge to using these and other technologies was their real or perceived cost, the greatest benefits caregivers see for themselves and their loved ones are, in order:
- Saving time,
- Managing logistics more easily,
- Enhancing safety for their loved ones,
- Increasing the effectiveness of the caregiver, and
- Reducing the stress that a lot of caregivers feel.
So, what beyond cost stands in the way of caregivers embracing these new technologies and others? Most caregivers want to be told about technologies from a trusted source like their physician before they will buy it. Or they want to actually have someone walk them through how the technology works.

One of the clear themes to emerge beyond the value of technology is the basic fact that almost all caregivers already use technology in the form of Internet access. So, check out the National Alliance for Caregiving website as well as two other medical sites that survey respondents endorsed as trustworthy:

WebMD and The Mayo Clinic. Participants in the survey also gave high marks to the Medicare web site and the Administration on Aging web site.

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 throughout metropolitan Chicago. Please email your questions to Charlotte Bishop.

Copyright ©2011
It was an editorial in Time Magazine back in 2010 that brought up the concept of the "coping conundrum." They said: "There is guilt and mystery and anger and fear embedded in a process driven by love". They were talking about the notion we as a society seem to have it that as our parents grow older and more dependent that it is almost a reverse child-rearing syndrome that the sandwich generation experiences. We "raise our parents?" Not so, they warned. So, let's look at ourselves just a bit. With teens, we can (try to) tell them what they can and cannot wear, what they can and cannot do. We can dictate their hours, and when they do not get the keys to the car until they get the hours of driving logged. So how does that work when you talk to the parent who gave you the keys...maybe grudgingly... and you are proposing to take the keys away from their 60-70 years of driving experience. It is not access to a car; it is a habit, it is independence; it defines life in the suburbs; it is part of the "American dream." And there was Maria Shriver's report that came out in 2010 that essentially said that 10 million women would either care for an Alzheimer's parent or have the condition themselves. Caregiving is a big deal, because it is as much about our parents as it is about ourselves. This is the part where we all go look up conundrum in the dictionary. The number of Alzheimer's patients is going to triple over the next four decades. How would we want to be treated? So, it gets interesting. We all are living longer which means that those of us who are predisposed to conditions like Alzheimer's are more likely to manifest the symptoms. Back to the analogy of "raising" kids. We do not raise our parents, and we ourselves do not want to be viewed as children of our own children. Yet, the end game is about diminishing capacities of our older family members. Are we "lowering" our parents...hopefully very gently? ...versus raising children? So, now comes the coping advice. Rule number one for all of you who are caregivers is that you need to take care of the caregiver. Here is the subordinate rule. Find help in caring for the caregiver. And please know that what geriatric care managers (GCMs) do is support rule number two as well as rule number one. Yes, we assess, plan and execute to help the older loved one or other person with special needs. But every bit as important, GCMs help to care for caregivers. Remember that with every conundrum, there also is either an answer or perhaps even a cure. 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.
The rest of the oft-quoted phrase is a pejorative about how “Nobody’s Home.” And we know it’s supposed to connote low wattage of an intellectual sort. Well, burglars who may be watching for when your mom and dad go on the vacations with which retired folks are supposed to be frequently indulging themselves are also watching to see if the lights are on. According to law enforcement they take the lights on as a sign that, in fact, nobody’s home. So what can one do to safeguard home? Well, the same bad guys also look to see if the lights go on at the same time a couple nights in a row, so timers are about as effective as letting the house stand all lit up all the time. Technology has a better answer…actually a couple of them that involve “smart lighting” that can be a safeguard both indoors and outside. Smart lighting outside can use motion detectors that sense anyone approaching the house and flood them in conspicuous lighting that burglars like to avoid. And these particular smart lights can be “trained” to respond to only larger disturbances, so that pesky moths do not have your porch flashing all night like a pinball machine. The sensor outside could also be set up to turn on a light or two inside the house to make it appear as if someone inside is alert to anyone approaching the house. You will want a sensor that also is “outdoor rated” to be sealed against moisture. Smart lighting inside can be a real safeguard against night time falls for an older loved one who may make the middle of the night run to the powder room. A small light can be a big assist for someone just starting to awaken, but already in motion down the hall. And both indoor and outdoor sensors can be set to turn themselves off after a desired lapse of time, again looking more real life. And there is a whole line of smart devices that connect home indoor and outdoor lighting to an app on a smart phone. And you don’t have to ask Siri to attend to the lighting for you. It is all literally in your hands. Of course, if you’re trying to be helpful to an older loved one you will want to confirm specifically when they are and are not home so that you don’t unsettle them with an unannounced light show. 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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