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Elder CareTips:
Mastering The Eldercare Maze™
November 1, 2006
The annual Medicare
Election Period is almost here. Between November 15
and December 31 you can make changes to your Medicare
medical health plan or your drug plan. New coverage
will start in January, 2007.
Something to keep in mind is whether you or your elder
spend more than a few days in various locations during
the year. Many seniors live with relatives in
different parts of the country, staying for an
extended period with each family. Traditional Medicare
is accepted throughout the United States. However,
Medicare HMO and PPO plans are often specific to a
particular region. Make sure that the plan you choose
is accepted wherever you or your elder might be
living. You cannot change plans mid-year because a
loved one is living temporarily with another family
member.
You can compare all the Medicare plans by location on
Medicare's website.
If you are researching Part D
(prescription) providers, the 17 companies approved to
operate nationally are Aetna Inc., Caremark Inc.,
CIGNA, Coventry Health Care Inc., EnvisionRX Plus
Inc., Express Scripts Inc., Health Net Inc., Humana
Inc., Long Drug Stores Corp., Medco Health Solutions
Inc., Member Health Inc., NewQuest Health Solutions
LLC, NMHC Systems Inc., Torchmark Corp.,
UnitedHealthCare-Pacificare, WellCare Health Plans
Inc., and Wellpoint Inc.
There are worse things in life than death.
Have you ever spent an evening with an insurance
salesman?
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Elder
CareTip:
Decorating The Bedroom
For A Senior
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For furniture and bedding use bright contrasting colors that
stand out from the walls and floors. This makes it easy to see where the furniture
stops and starts against the flooring and walls,
especially when the lighting may be dim.
Osteopenia refers to a condition where
the density and strength of our bones (the bone
mineral density, or BMD) is lower than normal, but not
low enough to be classified as full blown
osteoporosis. Having osteopenia means there is a
greater risk that, as time passes, the patient may
develop osteoporosis, which is a very low bone mineral
density.
Osteopenia is the precursor to osteoporosis. Although
many don't know it, millions more Americans have
osteopenia than have osteoporosis. A diagnosis of osteopenia means that bone loss has started, but it
has not progressed to the point of osteoporosis.
There are no symptoms of osteopenia that you can check
yourself. There is no pain or change as the bone
becomes thinner, although the risk of breaking a bone,
especially a hip, a wrist or a bone in your spine,
increases as the bone becomes less dense.
Even later in life it is possible to take steps to
slow bone deterioration. The source of much
frustration is that many doctors don't include a bone
mineral density test as part of their routine health
screening of older patients. The test is simple,
similar to an x-ray, and not painful in any way. The
results can be life-saving, because fractures from
osteoporosis put many an older person into wheelchairs
or beds in nursing homes.
Ask your elder if he or she has ever had a BMD test.
If not, the best time to have one is now. If the test
is normal, then there's nothing to worry about. If the
results show that bone deterioration is occurring,
there are medications and life style changes that may
help prevent progression to full blown osteoporosis.
Seems like just yesterday we were all worrying about
finding a flu shot. There were shortages and lines
were long. I stood in line over an hour to get mine
last October.
Well, it's that time again. As a caregiver it's just
as important for you to get your flu shot as it is for our
seniors. If you're ill, who's going to care for either
of you?
Find a flue shot location and hustle over there.
It takes several weeks for the vaccine to "kick in"
and who knows how bad the flu season will be this
year? Much better safe than sorry. Medicare pays for
the shot. If you don't have Medicare, it's certainly
worth a few dollars to protect yourself.
Louis Pasteur’s theory of germs
is ridiculous fiction!
| ~
Pierre Pachet, Professor of
Physiology at Toulouse, 1872 |
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Do your elder ever have blowups at bath time?
Seriously not wanting to bathe is a common problem for
many people with dementia. There's something about
having to tackle the multiple steps of undressing,
climbing into the shower, washing, drying off, and
then dressing again that sends many into a tizzy. I
haven't had a chance to try this yet, but I heard from
a very reliable source that chewing gum may provide an
answer for some.
Prepare everything for the bath before you say a word
to your elder. Lay out towels, fresh clothes, and
anything else you may need. Warm the room up if it's
chilly. Provide a towel to protect shoulders and
private parts.
Then offer a piece of chewing gum to your elder when
you get to the point in your routine where objections
usually are greatest. It seems that many people with
dementia can't manage two emotions at once, and the
pleasant distraction of working on a fresh piece of
gum often prevents the usual arguments and escalating
resistance.
Give it a try and let me know if it works for you.
If resistance at your house has progressed past the
point where even the juiciest piece of gum won't do
it, there's more than one way to skin a cat. A
no-rinse skin cleanser or
shampoo may be the way to go if you can't get your
elder to bathe. These are also a good way to keep
someone who's under the weather and not up to a bath
feeling fresh and clean. It's a good idea to keep some
on hand. When you need them it will inevitably be a
bad time to go shopping.
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