Caring For Seniors NH

Judy’s Radio Broadcasts

Seniors and Living Wills

Date: June 21, 2017
Author: Erynn
Categories: Caring For Seniors NH, Stories & Tips
Seniors and Living Wills

In this segment, Judy and Rich discuss seniors and living wills. They open with talking about “at risk” people, these are people who aren’t safe in their homes or not safe to be left alone due to injury or cognitive impairment. Judy states that the number one fear that elderly people have is loss of control. This can happen easily if their loved ones are concerned for their safety and everything starts to change. To them, it feels like suddenly they have no control.

But what is surprising is that very few people have started the process to have their wishes honored.

Seniors and Living Wills

Seniors and Living Wills

 

Judy recommends The Conversation Project, centered in Boston, which has developed tools to help get the conversation started. About 90 percent of people say having the conversation is important but only 27 percent actually have that conversation. Neither Judy or Rich were surprised by the numbers.

It’s a tough conversation to have. It can feel like the beginning of loss of control. Even Judy had to take baby steps with her father to find out what his wishes were. A study in 2012 found that only 15 percent of patients with Alzheimer’s had a living will and only 39 percent have a healthcare proxy. Which is concerning because now they have a cognitive impairment so they aren’t able to describe their wishes or they might think they are significantly younger than they are.

Having the papers ready can help stop a lot of discord in the entire family. Courts could get involved and disagreements can hurt family members. If only one person knows the wishes verbally and something happens to them, then the wishes are gone. Papers are cut and dry, and they lay everything out. Please, if you are a parent, the child, a doctor, don’t hesitate to have this conversation.

For more of Judy’s segments, click here.

Should the City Allow the Elderly to Stay in Their Homes?

Date: June 7, 2017
Author: Erynn
Categories: Caring For Seniors NH, Podcast, Stories & Tips
Should the City Allow the Elderly to Stay in Their Homes?

Judy is back and this week on Girard at Large, Judy and Rich talk about should the city allow the elderly to stay in their homes? This discussion is sparked by a clip of Democratic Alderman and State Representative Chris Herbert concerning the removal of the elderly from their homes to make way for those who are able to higher tax rates. Judy points out the consequences of removing the elderly and the benefits of letting them stay.

Should the City Allow the Elderly to Stay in Their Homes?

Should the City Allow the Elderly to Stay in Their Homes?

 

The clip in question was the Alderman talking about removing an 83 year old neighbor from her 350,000 dollar house because she couldn’t afford the taxes. Apparently there is no such extravagant house in Herbert’s neighborhood as discovered by Rich and his loyal listeners.

The clip really upset Judy because she knows that 93 percent of the elderly don’t want to leave their home. Also most of the elderly that Judy helps will tell her they can’t afford a loaf of bread when sitting on a million dollars.That’s because they got to this point by living frugally, so Herbert, if such a woman existed and spoke with him, could have been mislead.

Judy also knows about the trauma that moving can cause for the elderly as she spoke about in a previous segment.

Plus the state would pay for move through hospitalization. The smaller the part the elderly play in the transition, the more trauma they face. If someone truly need to move because they are no longer safe then the transition must be done carefully.

Even if a program that removed elderly from their home existed, there aren’t enough beds in communities. That’s why Seniors Helping Seniors provides care for people on Medicaid through the program called Choices for Independence.

The programs helps people who can’t afford to stay in their home, stay in their home. Seniors Helping Seniors can come in just for 15 hours a week to help with errands, bathing, and meal prep so they can stay.

Plus no matter what, staying home helps improve their quality of life, it’s their home. They have created a life here, they raised their family here, and they are most comfortable here.

Caring for Seniors in Malawi

Date: May 24, 2017
Author: Erynn
Categories: Caring For Seniors NH, Stories & Tips

Judy was away this week, so Ben hung out with Rich on Girard at Large. He brought two guests, Carolyn and Tom Mambo from Malawi. They discussed caring for seniors in Malawi.

Caring for Seniors in Malawi

Caring for Seniors in Malawi

 

Tom and Carolyn also take care of seniors in Malawi. Malawi is a small peaceful country in Southeast Africa. Though where Tom and Carolyn are from they are dealing with extreme poverty and hunger.

Tom created a ministry to help his community, especially the widows. There are lot of widows and it becomes difficult to feed the widow and her children when her husband passes. The ministry tries to help ease that burden. They split the widows into two groups because they are a significant amount of widows under the age of 60.

With the younger women, the ministry tries to teach them skills and empower them to run small businesses so they can sustain themselves. With the older women, they can’t work and really rely on others for help. Tom and his ministry come in, they find a caregiver to help them, love them, and make them feel less alone. By having the caregivers, it helps ease the burden on the community while helping their elderly, that way everyone wins.

They are looking for donations to keep this program running and to build the first church in the area! The church would provide shelter for services, for people in need, and as a general meeting space while they expand their businesses. If you want to learn more and donate check out their GoFundMe Page!

Entering Into Assisted Living

Date: May 10, 2017
Author: Erynn
Categories: Caring For Seniors NH, Podcast, Stories & Tips
Entering Into Assisted Living

This week Judy and Rich discuss the ins and outs of entering into assisted living. As a senior it can be very difficult to go from your own home to someplace new where you have less independence. For family members, it can be difficult to help ease the transition for their parent. For some, they have to enter assisted living because their home can’t be modified enough to keep them safe, for others, it’s location. They might be too far from friends, family, and places they need to go.

Entering Into Assisted Living

Entering Into Assisted Living

 

If the move is too quick, it can cause confusion and anger from the senior being moved. Like Rich said, it’s like a plant getting uprooted. They want to feel like they are part of the decision to move.

Even the process of packing can become very emotional. It’s important to remember they are going through 50 or 60 years of memories and have to decide what stays and what goes. Moving can even cause Relocation Stress Syndrome or Transfer Trauma and even a form of identity theft when they move.

All they have is their name, there aren’t memories of how they lived their life, how many kids they have, and they stop feeling like an individual. They lose their story and to retell it can be exhausting.

There are changes that can happen in the beginning of the move, there can be sleeplessness, increase rate of pain, anger and irritability, anxiety, and weight gain or loss.

Sometimes no matter how much money a community spends on food, there will be complaints about the food. It may be because taste buds change, but other times it’s just because they are unhappy about their situation. Meals are important because it becomes part of their daily routine, and can help them make them feel more at home.

To reduce the anxiety with the move, bring them into the decisions: take them to communities. Check out meals. Ask the communities how they can minimize identity theft, see what works for your parents specifically. Visit on schedule tours and visit by surprise to see what it’s like when they no one knows you are coming.

Story Time with Judy

Date: April 25, 2017
Author: Erynn
Categories: Caring For Seniors NH, Podcast, Stories & Tips
Story Time with Judy: Take My Hand

This week’s segment is story time with Judy. Judy shared a story she wrote and read at the first annual Storytelling Festival at New Hampshire Institute of Art. The story titled “Take My Hand” was about caregiving and the power of helping out.

Story Time with Judy

Story Time with Judy

 

It opens about Danny, Judy’s son, going to college in Montana. Judy had no idea that he had applied to any colleges. Before you think Judy not involved enough, she was there with Danny every step of the way. She cheered for him, cried for him, did the parental threatening.

When Judy and Randy went to visit Danny in Montana. There was a small dusting of snow but that didn’t stop them from bouldering. Judy was the third in line of their group and right when she was near the top, she got stuck.

She couldn’t go up or down. Danny reached down and said, “Mom, take my hand.” Judy realized that her son is all grown up.

In 2013, Judy became her parents primary caregiver. She went with them to the doctors, ran errands, held their hands. Similar to Danny, Judy encouraged and cheered for her parents with every sign of independence.

Her parent’s were thankful for the assistance. Knowing when the right time to extend a helping hand is key. Too early and it’s rejected, too late might result in not getting to the top of that mountain.

When you are ready to accept the responsibility of becoming a caregiver for a senior, remember that timing is everything. And, don’t forget the power of offering a helping hand.

Probiotics, Antioxidants and Abdominal Fat

Date: March 29, 2017
Author: Erynn
Categories: Caring For Seniors NH, Podcast, Stories & Tips
Probiotics, Antioxidants and Abdominal Fat

This week Judy and Rich talked about more about National Nutrition Month, more specifically probiotics, antioxidants and abdominal fat.

Probiotics, Antioxidants and Abdominal Fat

Probiotics, Antioxidants and Abdominal Fat

 

Like what is already been discussed, diet can vastely improve your brain function and reduces risk factors that comes with Alheimzers.

Foods that are good is anything fermented or that is filled with probiotics or prebiotics. Probiotics are the things that create good bacteria in our stomach and foods that are considered as such are bananas, onions, garlic, asparagus, and artichokes.

Prebiotics is what preps the stomach to receive the good bacteria. Probiotics include aged cheese, yogurt, pickled foods, and sauerkraut. They work best together, which is called a symbiotic. You can also add leafy greens, but if you have blood thinning medication, you want to be careful with how the two interact. Leafy greens have vitamin K which interacts with the blood thinners.

Learn more about vitamin K here.

We all need to be more aware of abdominal fat, it can not only cause diabetes and heart problems but it can also contribute to Alzheimer’s disease. There are molecules that contribute to the plaque building up in our brains.

Judy talks more about how a good diet can help you in her video tip 10.

National Nutrition Month

Date: March 15, 2017
Author: Erynn
Categories: Caring For Seniors NH, Podcast, Stories & Tips
National Nutrition Month

This week on “Caring for Seniors,” Rich, Judy discussed the brain and National Nutrition Month. Most people who will develop Alzheimer’s will do so twenty years before symptoms start to show. Plaque and inflammation on the brain is what creates Alzheimer’s and Judy goes over what food you can eat to help lessen the plaque.

National Nutrition Month

National Nutrition Month

 

Lifestyle changes can minimize symptoms or even prevent any cognitive abilities from being lost. Diet wise, there is a lot you can do, even just cutting back and not completely cutting out can help.

Sugars, for example, causes a lot of inflammation, so just cutting that down will improve our diet greatly. An a easy way to remember is that what is good for your gut is good for your brain. Red meat, sadly, is not good for your gut and it has a bacteria that can lead to the plaque.

Darker berries like blueberries and raspberries are filled with antioxidants which will help reduced oxidated stress. Oxidated Stress is the things we take into our bodies that we are not prepared to fight and is the build up of those things.

Antioxidants help remove them and fight them. Antioxidants is good for preventing cancer and helping preserve memory. Dark chocolate, sixty percent and up, is also full of antioxidants, helps with blood pressure as well. So people with a sweet tooth can cheer!

Feed Your Brain

Date: March 8, 2017
Author: Randy
Categories: Caring For Seniors NH, Stories & Tips

Judy just talked about this web site on the radio this morning.  Feed Your Brain!

http://brainwellness.com/nutrition/memory-preservation-nutrition/

 

Medication Management and Medical Reimbursement

Date: February 22, 2017
Author: Erynn
Categories: Caring For Seniors NH, Podcast, Stories & Tips
Medication Management and Medical Reimbursement

This week on Girard at Large, Judy and Rich discuss medication management and medical reimbursement. Whether you are on one medication or twenty-six, you need to take control.

Medication Management and Medical Reimbursement

Medication Management and Medical Reimbursement

 

Some doctors won’t touch any medications prescribed by another doctor. So you have to make your doctors communicate with one another so that you can wean down on unneeded medication.

You also need to become an advocate after a hospital stay. Thirty percent of people will not pick up their medication after a hospital stay. Forty percent of people will have a medication error within the first few days at home.

You can contact doctors about medications, or even call the doctor together and go to the appointment together. Remember, anybody can make a mistake so extra ears and eyes are always helpful.

If for any reason you are not able to be there for your beloved senior, give us a call! We help with medication management and, if allowed, could go to their appointments with them. We can be those extra eyes and ears.

You can hear more of Judy’s shows here.

Impacting Health-Spans and Fighting Functional Decline

Date: February 17, 2017
Author: Randy
Categories: Caring For Seniors NH, Podcast, Stories & Tips
Impacting Health-Spans and Fighting Functional Decline

Judy and Girard discuss about impacting health-spans and fighting functional decline. Top two concerns for people fifty-five and older is their financial health and their physical health. Some people might not realize that both are tied to each other.

Impacting Health-Spans and Fighting Functional Decline

 

Sixty percent of bankruptcies are due to medical bills. Our physical health has a direct impact on our retirement and finical health. Many people sixty-five and up fall below the federal guideline for activity, which is only two and half hours of moderate activity a week! If you or someone else has been inactive you can always break up the activity time.

After age thirty, our strength declines after one and half percent a year. It doesn’t seem like a lot now but by the time you are seventy you have lost sixty percent of your strength. We loose strength faster than we gain it.

But there is hope, a recent study done on a hundred nursing home residents if different ages, and the residents did an eight week resistance training program and saw a strength increase of over a hundred percent in ninety-year-olds!

See more of Judy’s shows here.