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Elder CareTips:
Mastering The Eldercare Maze™
April 15, 2006
F is for "Fall
Prevention"
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More than a third of
Americans over the age of 65 fall every year, and falls
are contributors to 70% of the accidental deaths of
people over the age of 75.
A senior's fall doesn't just impact the senior.
Caregivers and family members are also impacted by the
consequences of a senior's fall.
Astronomical medical costs impact the quality of life of
spouses and
family members. Assisted living and nursing home
admissions are
often a consequence. An increased need for care at home
is most often filled by family members, who find
themselves stretched physically as well as financially.
"He took a tumble" hardly begins to describe the
devastating consequences a fall can have for an older
person.
As you visit with older family members over the next few
months, make a
safety assessment and review some of the safety
measures you can help them take to reduce the risk of
falls.
This is a good outline of the basics you can discreetly
check out during a visit. Many of the things on this
list are simple to fix, and you could easily take care
of them in a matter of minutes and get some "good guy"
points. Others may take more time and effort. You might
have to either schedule a return visit or encourage your
parents to
hire someone to make installations or repairs.
A gift certificate for a handyman to come for several
hours for all kinds of minor repairs would take care
of, "it's too expensive." If you don't know a handyman
in your elder's locale, call their local senior center.
They generally maintain a list of people who do this
kind of work for their members. Check with your elders'
church, or the church down the block if they don't have
a regular church. The pastor may know of a member who
does this kind of work.
If you're successful in preventing a fall you'll never
know how much you've saved in time, expense and misery
for your elder and yourself. As a certain well-known
lady said, "That's a good thing."
CareTip:
T is for "Telephone"
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Louise found herself on
the floor in her kitchen. She's not sure how she fell,
but she couldn't get up. Her back and leg hurt so much
she could barely move. And there the telephone was,
hanging on the wall...just out of reach.
Inch by inch Louise managed to crawl across the length
of her home into her bedroom. There she was finally able
to reach the phone cord and pull the phone to the floor.
Help arrived about 6 hours (we think) after the original
fall. Louise was chilled and in great pain. She tore her
skin on the carpet and is now battling an infection as
well as the crushed discs in her spine.
Read The Rest...
| The road to success is always
under construction.
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Newspapers for
the Visually Impaired
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Newsline is a free newspaper reading program that
sight-impaired people can use to get audio versions of a
variety of newspapers, daily and Sunday. A free 888
number gives users access to their choice of paper,
choice of section, and choice of individual article.
Listeners can choose to hear an individual article, skip
over it to the next, and save the location where they
stopped listening and pick up where they left off at a
later time. The menu also lets the listener change speed
and the voice quality of the speech they hear, and can
also spell out words.
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the
affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and
endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a little better; whether by a
healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because
you have lived;
This is the meaning of success.
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