The Role of the Geriatric Care Manager – Smilecast 146
The truth is that you may need some professional help on your caregiving journey. Tara will share the role of the Geriatric Care Manager and how they can help your loved one save money and much more.
Read more about our expert – Tara Bradley, MACP
Tara is a at Bradley Consulting, LLC. She has provided Management, Coaching, Consulting there for over 7 years. She served as Director of HomeCare & Support Services for the Peninsula/South Bay office of the Institute on Aging. She co-founded Sesen Elder Care where she served as Partner, and Director of Client Care.
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Strategies for Long Distant caregiving – Smilecast 145
Strategies for Long Distant Caregiving
You’re on the left coast. Mom on the right. Now what? You can’t move. So how do you care manage long distant caregiving? The support systems you need, the technology, the coordination can be overwhelming to handle. Amy will provide strategies to help you travel the caregiving miles in ease.
Read more about our expert – Amy Goyer. Amy Goyer, author of Juggling Life, Work and Caregiving, is a writer, speaker and consultant specializing in caregiving. She serves as AARP’s national Family and Caregiving Expert. A recognized media authority, she has provided interviews for all major print/broadcast media outlets, including appearances on The Doctors, Dr. Phil, the Today Show, Good Morning America and CBS This Morning.
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Senior Activities – Senior and Music – Sharing Live Music Is Therapeutic
Senior Activities: 5 Reasons to Consider Sharing Live Music with the Elderly
Many in the aging services professions who work in senior activities are already aware of the power of music on healing and particularly with dementia patients. Many patients can remember and sing songs even in advanced stages, long after they’ve stopped recognizing names and faces.
Yet, even in this day and age, elders are often plopped in front of televisions in care homes and that is justified as an activity. Yet, there are so many benefits of incorporating music, particularly live music, in the lives of older adults and in senior activities.
Helps Recover Lost Memories
Care homes often use music as recreation since it brings residents pleasure. There’s growing evidence that listening to music can also help stimulate seemingly lost memories and even help maintain some cognitive functioning.
One study demonstrated that while singing, memories are produced that contribute to self-discovery, self-understanding and identity.
Remember how Glen Campbell came to life when he took the stage during his farewell tour, after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s?
Helps People Emerge from Isolation and Loneliness
In an Alzheimer’s Association newsletter, John Carpenter, founder of the world-renowned Rebecca Center for Music Therapy in New York, shared that listening to live music and being involved in live music-making experiences empowers people to emerge from the isolation imposed by dementia or simply from loneliness.
People who are connected this way are less depressed and more likely to engage in other meaningful activities.
One study showed that personalized music therapy may help decrease antipsychotic use and improve dementia symptoms in individuals with dementia.
Leads to a Rise in Mental Acuity
Another study has shown that the mental acuity of Alzheimer’s patients who regularly sang over a four-month period rose sharply. Another reason to incorporate it into your senior activities.
That is why programs such as the Giving Voice Chorus are so important. The Giving Voice Initiative inspires and equips organizations to bring together people with Alzheimer’s and their care partners to sing in choruses that foster joy, well-being, purpose and community understanding.
Giving Voice is leading a worldwide movement that helps people with Alzheimer’s Disease and their care partners live better lives and strengthen connections to their community through singing together.
If you’re interested, Giving Voice Initiative has a complete blueprint on their site for replicating the program in your community.
It Can Be Done Just as Effectively Over the Web
One study revealed that nursing home residents with dementia who often get agitated benefited from internet video chat that enabled them to both see as well as hear others while reducing agitation.
The Aging Experience combines both internet chat and live music to bring live streaming concerts to residents in care homes and as well as to shut-in elders.
It Increases Learning and Retention
Singing has been shown to increase learning and retention of new verbal material in persons with Alzheimer’s disease, and to engage brain regions responsible for motor action, emotions and creativity.
Brain scan images have shown that the dorsal medial pre-frontal cortex – associated with autobiographical memories and emotions – is highly stimulated during music activities. For people with Alzheimer’s, this area of the brain is one of the last to be affected.
One anonymous quote put it nicely: “Playing music is like a mega-vitamin, engaging more areas of the human brain than any other activity.” So, take your daily dose of vitamin M!
If you’re not, consider incorporating live music into your senior activities.
Is your loved one exposed to live music? Do you find a way to bring music into his/her life? Please share the results you notice and how your loved one responds to this kind of engagement.
Depression as You Age-Some Times it Goes Hand in Hand. How to Overcome It
How to Tackle Depression as You Age
Mental health has quickly been edging its way into the forefront of medical concerns in the modern world, and it is being uncovered that people of all ages are starting to suffer from issues such as depression and anxiety. Thisis no different in people from older generations, but that doesn’t mean it is any easier to deal with. In fact, lots of people struggle with how to confront depression in their daily lives, whether it be handling a bad episode, or preparing your mind and body for potential future dips. However, not all hope is lost; with more people speaking out, there are more solutions out there which have helped sufferers get through their darkest days. In this post, we will look at ways to tackle depression as you age.
Address any underlying causes
Much of the time, depression can be caused by an underlying illness, which can cause hormones to fluctuate in your brain. It can mean that if you don’t visit the doctors to see what it is, you might be treating the wrong condition without realizing. For example, you could be in serious discomfort caused by a long-standing issue that causes you pain, and daily discomfort. This could have an impact on your mental health over time, so whatever the issue is, try to get to the root cause of the problem if necessary. If you are in constant discomfort in your legs for example, this could be a more serious issue than you originally think; it could be caused by venous insufficiency, which is essentially an issue with the blood flow from your legs back towards your heart. Medical conditions that are not addressed can be more impacting as time goes on, so seek resolution as soon as possible. You can sort treatment for venous insufficiency easily by heading online, so do your research sooner rather than later. It is worth seeking advice and care from health professionals, to see what in your body can be affecting how you feel. Whether it is a condition such as this, or not, you can follow the right steps to combating it.
Build a strong support network
When you get older, it can be a struggle to maintain the same support network as you may have once had.As familymoves away, loved ones pass away, and you are no longer working, it can be easy to feel more alone than ever. However,this doesn’t mean you can’t have a strong network of people around you that will be there for you if you are feeling low. Sometimes, even a phone call from a loved one can help people through difficult times. In the times where this network may be dealing with outside struggles of their own, or for when they cannot be there in person, it is always a good idea to have a counselor on hand who you click with. Not only can they equip you with handy tips to use in the future, but they can be a comforting face when you need it.
Maintain a good exercise routine
Exercise has always been a tricky part of daily life, as people often find it hard to stay on top of a regular routine. While exercise is by no means a cure for depression, sticking to regular sessions means that more dopamine and serotonin is being releasedinto your brain. After a few days or weeks, you should start to notice your mood leveling out, and that your sleep improves. On bad days where you might not make it out of bed, you should remind yourself that although you’re not feeling good, days off are more than alright. If you can find the energy, having a ten-minute walk every day can be a huge help.This is also ideal for those who are finding it harder to stay mobile as they get older.
Get enough sleep
Depression and sleep can often run in a vicious cycle: if you feel bad, you sleep too little or too much; if you have insomnia, this can exaggerate the symptoms of your depression. While taking long-term steps to improve sleep, such as exercising, can help, there are also lots of other tips you can follow in daily life to ensure you’re getting the right amount. Trying activities to keep stress levels low, to using natural sleep supplements and essential oils have been lifesavers for some people.
Keep doing what you love
It is easy as you get older to assume you can’t do some of the activities you used to adore. While some of them may not be physically possible, others you can still easily immerse yourself in from a different angle. It is also a great time to take up a new hobby or start studying again. There are endless possibilities on what you can do, but if you truly love it, and it’s a healthy hobby, this can be both a welcome distraction from negative emotions and a cathartic way of working through some bad thoughts. If you take the time to do these activities when you feel well, you can come to rely on them whenever you start to feel low.
With some attention to basics, you can overcome depression as you age.
