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 Checklist: Emergency Planning for Frail Elders

In addition to the standard supplies of food, water and first aid kits, if you have an elderly or disabled relative living with you or nearby, there some additional precautions to consider when preparing for natural disasters and emergency situations.

• Wheelchairs: If your parent is in a wheelchair or has mobility problems, plan for how he or she will evacuate. If you use a motorized wheelchair, have a manual wheelchair as a backup.
• Durable medical equipment: Most emergency shelters do not have durable medical available on site. You must bring your own.
• Blind or visually impaired: Keep an extra cane by the bed and attach a whistle to it. Remind your parent to exercise caution when moving, as paths may have become obstructed.
• Hearing impaired: Keep extra batteries for hearing aids with emergency supplies. Store hearing aids in a container attached to the senior’s nightstand or bedpost, so they can be located quickly after a disaster.
• Have ID information on hand for the elderly person as well as copies of relevant emergency documents, evacuation plans and emergency health information card.
• Talk to your doctor about stocking up on a week’s supply of all prescription medication.
• Make sure elders know where the first aid kit and emergency supplies are located.
• Establish a communication plan. Your family may not be together when disaster strikes, so plan how you will contact one another.
• If your relative has Alzheimer’s or dementia, know that even cognitively impaired people oftentimes have an innate understanding that something is wrong. Remain calm during an emergency. Explain what is happening clearly and simply, but don’t expect them to remember specific details. Validate their concerns, but provide clear direction without condescending or losing patience.
• If your elderly parent lives at home alone and receives assistance from a home healthcare agency, find out how they respond to an emergency. Designate backup or alternative providers that you can contact in an emergency.
• If your relative lives in a nursing home or assisted living, check the facility’s website for updates and 800-number that are typically established for communication with families.

Source: Agingcare.com

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Trimmer Waistline May Mean a Sharper Mind

Evidence continues to mount that keeping fit may help protect your brain. Scottish and French researchers, in two separate studies published in the journal Neurology, recently concluded that people with a greater degree of lifelong fitness are more likely to have better cognitive function into old age.

In the Scottish study, 460 surviving participants of the 1932 Scottish Mental Survey were given the same general cognitive test at ages 11 and 79. Subjects also were tested on their grip strength, six-meter walk time and lung function. Results showed a positive correlation between physical fitness and improved cognitive aging.

In the French study, researchers at Toulouse University Hospital also looked at the fitness-cognition connection and found that the higher the subjects’ Body Mass Index (BMI), the lower their scores on cognitive performance tests, both at the beginning of the study and at a five-year follow-up. The study compared cognitive function data on 2,223 subjects, ages 32 to 62 at the beginning of the study. Participants were tested on their ability to learn and retain lists of words, substitute symbols and maintain attention.

After adjusting for physical, psychosocial and other covariables, researchers found that participants with a higherBMIhad lower cognitive scores. In fact, a higherBMIat the beginning of the study was associated with even higher cognitive decline at follow-up, suggesting that the earlier in life people get fit, the better for their long-term cognitive health.

American scientists concur. Research suggests that “middle-aged spread” may be linked to a greater risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Though researchers stopped short of saying a leaner waistline can prevent cognitive decline, the results add yet another reason to trade your rocking chair for walking shoes.

Source:  Tufts Health and Nutrition Letter

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Researchers have long known that many drugs can make us feel down or even depressed and that, as we age, our changing body chemistries put us at a greater risk for this side effect. But few doctors think to review the medications list when their patients have the telltale symptoms of depression: lack of energy, listlessness, feeling rundown, excessive fatigue, changes in appetite and sleeping patterns, sadness, despair. As a result, they often layer on top of the drugs causing those symptoms a new drug, such as an antidepressant, for treating them, which may in turn trigger additional side effects.

Take a guess:

Which of the following people is likely to suffer a heart attack?

• Chris Conway, 54, is thin, eats a healthy diet, takes a baby aspirin every day, and exercises regularly.

• Howard Wainer, 66, has diabetes. Until recently, his blood pressure and blood sugar were too high.

• Naomi Atrubin, 79, has already had two heart attacks.

So who’s at risk? Surprise—it’s all three of them.

Wainer and Atrubin have obvious risk factors, but Conway has to contend with family history—his father had a heart attack in his mid-40s, and died of one at 66. All these people, however, share a common concern about their health: about 1.1 million Americans will suffer a heart attack this year, and some 500,000 will not survive it.

Despite the risks, most people don’t understand what causes a heart attack. The common view is that it’s simply a plumbing problem—cholesterol builds up, clogging arteries like sludge in a pipe. When an artery supplying blood to the heart becomes completely obstructed, portions of the heart, deprived of oxygen, die. The result is a heart attack, right?

Not quite, say heart experts. Heart disease involves the gradual buildup of plaque. And plaque is like a pus-filled pimple that grows within the walls of arteries. If one of those lesions pops open, a blood clot forms over the spot to seal it and the clot blocks the artery. Other things can stop your heart, but that’s what causes a heart attack.

The bigger issue is how to stop it from happening. There’s no way to predict where an artery-blocking clot will originate, so prying open a section of an artery with a stent will not necessarily prevent a heart attack. Stents relieve chest pain, but people who have no symptoms—such as Howard Wainer—are better off adhering to tried-and-true measures to slow plaque growth and prevent the lesions from bursting. Those measures, says Peter Libby, M.D., chief of cardiovascular medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, “are things no one wants to hear: keep your weight down, make physical activity a part of your life, stop smoking if you smoke.” And, of course, keep your blood pressure and cholesterol under control, taking medications if necessary.

Few people are following that advice. Twenty-five percent of Americans over age 50 have at least two risk factors, such as high blood-pressure or cholesterol levels, or an elevated blood-sugar level. Only 10 percent of Americans have every risk factor under control.

“In the majority of cases when someone has a heart attack, at least two or three risk factors might have been avoided,” says Valentin Fuster, M.D., a cardiologist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

In fact, a 50-year-old man with none of the risk factors has only a 5 percent chance over the next 45 years of ever having a heart attack, according to Daniel Levy, M.D., director of the Framingham Heart Study, a federal study of heart disease in Framingham, Massachusetts. But if that man has even one risk factor, such as high cholesterol, his chance of having a heart attack soars to 50 percent. For a woman with no risk factors, the chance of having a heart attack is 8 percent; with just one risk factor, it goes to 38 percent.

By focusing on a few key risk factors, most people can significantly reduce their odds of ever having a heart attack. “There’s a lot we can do,” says Libby. The top six steps:

Keep your cholesterol in check
Excess cholesterol gets stuck in artery walls. The walls become inflamed with white blood cells of the immune system, and those cells release chemicals that cause plaque. The normal level of so-called bad cholesterol, or LDL cholesterol, is 60 to 130. But if you are at high risk of a heart attack—because you have diabetes, for example—your level should be below 100 and, ideally, no higher than 70. Diet and weight loss are the preferred way to control your cholesterol, say heart-disease experts. If that doesn’t work, statins—a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs—can reduce your LDL enough to help prevent heart attacks. Two decades of large and rigorous studies have shown that statins are safe for almost everyone.

Lower your blood pressure
High blood pressure can damage artery walls, causing them to become stiff and narrow. Ideally your blood pressure should be below 120/80. If you can get it that low with diet and exercise, great; if not, medications may do the job. Studies have shown that blood-pressure medications can reduce heart attack risk by 27 percent.

Stop smoking
Smokers are two to three times more likely to die from coronary heart disease than nonsmokers, notes the American Heart Association. In addition to raising blood pressure and lowering the level of HDL (good ) cholesterol, smoking injures blood vessels, boosting your risk of having a heart attack. Even if you’ve been smoking for years, kicking the habit will help your heart. Studies have found that within one year after you quit, your heart attack risk is cut almost in half; within 15 years, it’s similar to that of a nonsmoker.

Control your blood sugar
High blood sugar can promote the growth of plaque. To be safe, your blood sugar level, tested after fasting, should be from 70 to 130 milligrams per deciliter of blood. Your doctor can order this test.

Control your weight
Obesity increases the likelihood that your cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar will be too high; losing weight can often bring these numbers down. Being even slightly overweight also boosts your risk of heart attack, particularly if you tend to gain weight around your middle.

Exercise regularly
For optimal heart health, heart researchers recommend 30 minutes of moderate exercise—such as brisk walking—most days of the week. Exercise can help you control your weight, and it can also help you avoid diabetes if your blood sugar is inching up.

If you’ve already had a heart attack, the challenge is to control the risk factors even more stringently, heart researchers say. Yet few heart attack survivors do this.

“I witness the cholesterol story time and time again,” says Elliott Antman, M.D., director of the cardiac-care unit at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “People come to me for a second opinion after having a heart attack and I ask them, ‘Have you ever been told what your cholesterol levels were?’ The person will say, ‘ Yes, I was told they were normal.’ That’s not good enough anymore,” if you’ve already had a heart attack. If you can get your LDL cholesterol level below 70, Antman says, it is unlikely you will have another heart attack.

An LDL of less than 70 is also a good goal for people who have never had a heart attack, says Daniel Rader, M.D., head of preventive cardiovascular medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Rader offers extra tests for his high-risk patients, including one for the blood protein CRP; if this protein is elevated, it indicates an increased heart-disease risk. Rader also offers heart scans to assess the extent of plaque in a person’s arteries. If the tests reveal additional risk, he will suggest drugs to drive an LDL level down to 70. With an LDL level that low, Rader says, “your lifetime risk of heart disease will be reduced dramatically.” It may not reach zero, he says, but it will be a lot lower.

Naomi Atrubin is counting on it. Her LDL cholesterol level, with medication, is currently 69; she’s taking another drug to control her blood pressure, and she exercises religiously. “I feel good,” she says, though she knows what’s at stake: that only an aggressive approach on all fronts will help her avoid a third—and potentially fatal—heart attack.

Source: AARP.org

Contact Pure Home Care Services at (586) 293-2457 today!  If you live in Farmington Hills or the surrounding area, we can help you care for your loved ones.

The millions of Americans taking powerful cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins are reducing their risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, but a couple of recent developments have served as a reminder that these medications have rare but potentially serious side effects.

Last week an international team of researchers reported that people on high doses of statins — 80 mg — have a slightly higher risk of developing diabetes than those on low or moderate doses of 10 mg, 20 mg or 40 mg. The research was based on the results of five major studies. And earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration warned that doctors should not prescribe new patients the highest (80 mg) dose of simvastatin — a type of statin marketed under the brand name Zocor. But it said those who have been taking that dosage for a year or more without problems may continue to do so.

People taking the 80 mg-a-day dose of simvastatin face a higher risk of myopathy — muscle pain, tenderness or weakness — the FDA says. In extreme cases, patients may develop rhabdomyolysis, in which muscle tissue breaks down, sometimes leading to kidney failure and death.

As for the increased risk of diabetes, doctors warn that it’s probably not enough to warrant going off statins in most cases.

“For every one case of extra diabetes, you’re probably preventing three people from having a major cardiovascular event, so … the message is not that these people shouldn’t be taking intensive statins,” says David Preiss, M.D., a research fellow at the University of Glasgow and lead author of the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

“We should be telling people that for whatever reason, the diabetes risk is going to go up a little bit,” Preiss adds. “But my argument would be, that’s a reasonable trade-off.”

Higher dose, higher risks

Simvastatin drugs, like other statins, are widely prescribed because they have been shown to cut the risk of heart attacks and stroke by as much as half in some studies. Marketed by Merck as Zocor since the early 1990s, simvastatin is available in generic form and accounts for about half of all statin prescriptions (it is also an ingredient in Vytorin and Simcor). An estimated 2.1 million patients received prescriptions for medications containing 80 mg of simvastatin last year, the FDA says.

“The FDA has continuously updated the simvastatin drug label with new safety information regarding the risk of myopathy and rhabdomyolysis,” says Amy Egan, M.D., a deputy director in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Because of ongoing research, there have been seven such changes to the simvastatin label since 2001, she adds.

“They didn’t act boldly enough in my opinion,” says Steven Nissen, M.D., chairman of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. A persistent FDA and drug company critic, Nissen wrote a September 2004 JAMA editorial warning of the problem.

“The people who are knowledgeable in the lipid field have known that the 80 mg dose of simvastatin was unsafe, and we’ve known it for a long time,” Nissen says. “The incidence of muscle injury is anywhere from seven to 15 times more prevalent with the 80 mg dose than any of the other marketed statins.”

Simvastatin is riskier in part because it interacts with a variety of other medications, and the risk increases with higher doses, he says. An urgent care visit could easily result in being given an antibiotic like erythromycin, which reacts badly with simvastatin, he says. “My advice to patients is don’t take the 80 mg dose. It’s just not worth it.”

Michael Rosenblatt, M.D., Merck’s executive vice president and chief medical officer, defends the FDA recommendation. “You have to do the trade-off here,” he says. “In general, if somebody is on this drug for a year or more and they are tolerating it well — that is, without muscle problems — then the benefits of staying on it outweigh the risks.” Those most at risk for muscle problems include women, people over 65 and those with kidney problems or uncontrolled hypothyroidism.

Both the FDA and Merck caution patients using the 80 mg dose of simvastatin not to discontinue taking it without consulting their doctors.

Source: AARP.org

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Glucosamine: No Real Relief for Chronic Lower Back Pain

The popular supplement glucosamine doesn’t appear to relieve lower back pain, according to new research.

Eight out of 10 Americans will experience lower back pain during their lifetimes. For some it’s a fleeting inconvenience, but for others it’s a chronic condition affecting health, work and quality of life. In search of relief, more than a quarter of the millions of Americans with chronic back pain take glucosamine, but a new study reports that this widely available dietary supplement provides little real benefit.

A team of researchers at the Oslo University Hospital looked at 250 people over the age of 25 with chronic lower back pain who also showed signs of osteoarthritis in the lower back. Half were given 1,500 milligrams of glucosamine; the rest were given a placebo.

Patients were asked to describe their back pain using a standard rating scale. At the start, all the patients scored between 9 and 10 on a scale of 24. After six months, the placebo and the glucosamine groups showed the same improvement, both rating their back pain at about 5 on the scale.

“We found no difference in pain level or quality of life between those taking glucosamine and those taking the placebo,” says Philip Wilkens, lead author and a research fellow in the orthopedic department at the University of Oslo in Norway. While the study found no adverse effects from taking glucosamine, patients suffering from chronic low back pain will most likely not benefit from taking the supplement, Wilkens says.

“This was a well-done study to test a widely used therapy,” says Andrew L. Avins, M.D., research scientist in the Division of Research at Northern California Kaiser-Permanente in Oakland, and author of an editorial on glucosamine and lower back pain.

“And while I would not encourage clinicians to recommend glucosamine as a treatment for chronic lower back pain, if a patient is taking it and believes it’s helping, that merits a discussion between physician and patient,” he says.

Source: AARP.org

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Out And About: The Home Care Perspective

Sadly, for many older adults, giving up driving means that their world becomes smaller, with a loss of independence and connection to the community. The term that was once used for homebound seniors—”shut-in”—isn’t far off the mark. Staying inside every day can lead to social isolation, lack of stimulation, lessened physical activity, poor sleep and depression. For Americans, the automobile has traditionally equaled independence. But the changes of aging, such as vision problems, hearing loss or reduced manual dexterity, make it unsafe for many seniors to drive. And once older adults give up the car keys, they may find that whether they live in a city, the suburbs or a rural area, getting around can be difficult. In a recent Caring Right at Home poll, almost a quarter of respondents named transportation as the greatest challenge to senior independence.

Life space and cognitive health

A recent study in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry demonstrated that a senior’s “life space” can affect brain health. Researchers at Chicago’s Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center define life space as “the extent to which we move through our environments as we carry out our daily lives—from home to garden to workplace and beyond.”

The study examined the life space of a group of seniors during a span of eight years, interviewing them to find out how far from home they typically ventured—outside their neighborhood, outside their city, or no farther than their home, yard, patio or porch. The subjects also were tested for cognitive health over the course of the study. According to study author Bryan James, the seniors who had “constricted life space” were almost twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

Experts in healthy aging advise seniors to participate as fully as possible in community life. Whether it is lunching with friends, going to the senior center, walking in a garden or participating in one’s faith community, visiting places we enjoy brings a health-promoting mood boost. A trip out need not be elaborate or planned in advance. Indeed, The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health recently reported that for seniors, shopping offers physical and emotional benefits—scientific evidence for the value of “retail therapy”! This makes sense when you consider that since the beginning of civilization, people have congregated in the marketplace. According to the study, there is more good news: You don’t even have to buy anything to benefit from a shopping outing.

Expand your life space!

Most seniors prefer to “age in place”—that is, to remain in the comfort and familiar surroundings of their own home. Home-dwelling seniors who don’t drive might rely on family, relatives or volunteers for transportation, but often express concern about “being an imposition.” When it is safe and possible for them to do so, some older adults take the city bus or rapid transit. Some communities offer special transportation for seniors. Taxi cabs are another option, though the cost can add up quickly.

For seniors who are living at home and need assistance with the activities of daily living, in-home care can be the perfect resource to support independence in the community. Though many people envision home care services taking place only at home, professional in-home caregivers can actually be a great support to keep senior clients active in the community.
In-home care supports wellness and well-being, both at home and out on the town. A professional in-home caregiver can:

• Transport senior clients by car to events and activities, or accompany them on public transportation;
• Provide an extra measure of safety and security for seniors who are at risk of falling or becoming lost;
• Help clients manage walkers, wheelchairs and other mobility aids;
• Supervise and support clients who are dealing with memory loss and cognitive impairment;
• Enable senior clients to continue favorite activities, and locate new activities as health needs and abilities change;
• Ensure that clients fill prescriptions and arrive on time for healthcare appointments;
• Help clients feel at their best and prepared for outings with hygiene care, such as assistance with bathing, dressing and using the toilet; and,
• Take over “chauffeur duty” for family caregivers, who can go about their daily work and family routine with confidence, knowing their loved one is well cared for.

Most of us know the feeling of lethargy that results when we are stuck at home too long—“the blahs” that can disappear with a change of scenery. Seniors benefit by getting out of the house now and then. Professional in-home care helps them enjoy successful, safe outings.

Source: Caringnews.com

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Holiday Gifts for People With Alzheimer’s Disease

Gifts for people living with Alzheimer’s

In the early stages

• Items to help remember things: Magnetic reminder notepads; Post-it notes; baskets or trays that can be labeled within cabinets or drawers; a pocket-sized diary or notebook; erasable white boards for important rooms in the house; a calendar featuring family photos and marked with special family occasions, such as birthdays and anniversaries
  
• Items that may help with daily activities: Memory phone that can store pictures with the names and contact information of family and friends; an automatic medication dispenser that can help the person living with Alzheimer’s remember to take their medicine; night lights that come on automatically when it gets dark; a clock with the date and time in large type
  
• Entertainment: Give DVDs of the person’s favorite movies, and musical CDs or CD compilations of the person’s favorite tunes. Plan an outing to a movie, play, concert, sporting event or museum, or organize a holiday outing with the person’s friends and family. Arrange for activities such as scrapbooking or other craft projects that are social in nature.

Note: Giving electronics may seem like a good idea to make life easier for someone with Alzheimer’s or dementia, but that isn’t always the case. If you decide to give someone with the disease a new piece of electronic equipment, remember to review the operating instructions with them slowly and more than once. Make a copy of the instructions for the person and for yourself, so you can talk them through the process on the phone if needed.

In the middle to late stages

• Items that provide sensory stimulation: In the later stages of the disease, sensory stimulation may bring back pleasant memories, so gift ideas include scented lotions, a soft blanket or afghan to keep the person warm, or a fluffy bathrobe in the person’s favorite color.
  
• Clothes: Clothing should be comfortable, easy to remove and easily washable, which might include sweatsuits, knits, large-banded socks, shoes with Velcro ties, and wrinkle-free nightgowns, nightshirts and robes.
  
• Music: Research shows that music has a positive impact on individuals with Alzheimer’s, bringing back memories of good times, increasing stimulation and providing an opportunity for interacting with family members. Buy favorite CDs or create a CD full of musical favorites.
  
• Framed photographs or a photo collage: Copy photos of family members and friends, insert the names of the people in the photo, and put in frames or a photo album.

Source: Caringnews.com

Contact Pure Home Care Services at (586) 293-2457 today!  If you live in Bloomfield Hills or the surrounding area, we can help you care for your loved ones.

Homecare providers, caregivers, personal assistants – the millions of workers who provide in-home care in this country go by many names, but they all share a commitment to serving others. Unfortunately, many of these workers share something else in common: low wages. Although they provide a valuable service to many Americans, assisting their clients with daily tasks and enabling them to maintain their independence, many homecare providers do not receive minimum wage or overtime protections guaranteed by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Many of these workers have medical training. Many regularly work more than 40 hours every week. Many are the sole breadwinners for their families. But, because the FLSA includes an exemption for “companions” – an exemption originally intended to cover “elderly sitting” similar to casual babysitting – these employees are not always fairly compensated for their work.

President Obama recently announced his support for a rule proposed by the Department of Labor that would bring these hardworking service providers under the FLSA. After the announcement, some of our department colleagues had the opportunity to speak with homecare providers about their jobs and the importance of minimum wage and overtime. They shared their dedication to their clients, their satisfaction with their work, and the importance of being fairly compensated for their services.

Michelle Wise is an in-home supportive service provider who cares for a 74-year-old client with multiple health concerns. She loves that her work enables this person to remain independent, but acknowledges that getting paid for overtime would be extremely helpful. “I’m a single mother putting a child through college, so being paid a fair wage for work that has been done would mean a lot to our household,” she said. “San Diego County has a very high cost of living and it doesn’t go down for those of us who don’t get overtime and who are not paid for all the hours we work.”

Elva Munoz has been a homecare provider for about 10 years, and relies on her income to support her husband, who is disabled and diabetic. She frequently works more than 40 hours a week, but does not receive overtime compensation. “I do it because the clients, for me, are family,” she says. But receiving overtime “would really help me economically.”

Receiving minimum wage and overtime pay isn’t simply a matter of fair compensation, says homecare provider Elma Phillips, but one of respect. “Overtime money would go a very long way,” she says. “Just to know that you’re getting paid for overtime, and it’s not taken for granted, the hours you work – to know that it’s being recognized.”

Tracy Dudzinski works in Wisconsin, which does provide minimum wage and overtime protection for direct care workers like her, but even with the wage protections provided by the state, she sometimes struggles to make ends meet, she said. She recognizes the challenges her colleagues in other states face and believes they deserve fair compensation too. The services provided by in-home care workers extend far beyond babysitting, she said. “I’m a dietician, I’m a doctor, I’m a nurse, I’m a psychiatrist, a pharmacist, a personal chef. You name it, I do it.”

The department’s proposal would revise the Fair Labor Standards Act regulations to ensure fair pay for these women and nearly 2 million of their colleagues who provide in-home care services, ensuring that in return for their hard work they would receive the protections of minimum wage and overtime pay that nearly every employee in the United States already receives under the FLSA.

Source: UDWA.org

Contact Pure Home Care Services at (586) 293-2457 today!  If you live in Franklin or the surrounding area, we can help you care for your loved ones.

Loved ones who suffer from mild to moderate dementia and their family caregivers often have different perceptions regarding the amount and quality of care given and received. A study by researchers at Penn State University and the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging recently examined a major source of those differences: Caregivers may not understand the things that are important to their relatives with dementia.

“Family caregivers often become the surrogate decisionmakers of relatives who have dementia, so the two groups need to communicate well and understand each other,” said study leader Steven Zarit, head of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State. “Unfortunately, in our study we found that family caregivers and their relatives often do not understand each other well when it comes to the values they hold about giving and receiving care.”

The team interviewed 266 pairs of people, each composed of an individual with mild to moderate dementia and his or her family caregiver. To participate in the study, caregivers had to be the primary family caregiver of the dementia patient and the dementia patient had to be living in his or her own home.

The researchers interviewed members of the pairs separately, asking questions related to how much worth they placed on five core values: autonomy, burden, control, family and safety. For example, one question focused on the level of importance the dementia patients placed on the ability to spend their own money in the way they wanted.

“Our results demonstrate that adult children underestimate the importance that their relatives with dementia place on all five core values,” said Zarit. “For example, the person with dementia might think it is very important to continue to be part of family celebrations, but his or her caregiver might not.”

According to Zarit, a major reason for differences in these perceptions is that caregivers come to view people with dementia as unable to make their own decisions about daily life. “That is something that does happen as the disease progresses, but the people in our study remained capable of making decisions for themselves and could express their values in a clear and direct way,” said Zarit. “Caregivers who still saw the person with dementia as able to direct his or her daily life were also more in tune with that person’s values and beliefs.”

Source: Caringnews.com

Contact Pure Home Care Services at (586) 293-2457 today!  If you live in West Bloomfield Township or the surrounding area, we can help you care for your loved ones.