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Elderly faces nutritional health challenges when living alone. If you are planning to visit your elderly loved one during the holiday season this year, Home Instead Senior Care will help you determine if your loved one is facing a health challenge. When you first arrive to your elderly mom’s house and, once again, the fridge is empty and your mother is eating toast for dinner. “Why cook,” she asks, “when I’m all alone?” Or, perhaps, Dad has quit eating altogether since Mom – the gourmet cook in the family – died last year.

When family caregivers live away from elderly relatives, we know how difficult it can be to ensure older adults are eating properly. After all, seniors often face multiple challenges. Much can stand in the way of good nutrition and maintaining elderly health.

For instance, illnesses and diseases can dampen taste buds. Seniors on multiple medications or recovering from an illness may lose interest in eating. The conditions of aging sometimes make shopping and preparing food difficult. And then there’s loneliness. All of these issues can mean your mom or dad could fail to thrive like they should.

Two of five seniors who live alone (44 percent) have at least four warning signs of poor nutritional health such as eating alone, taking multiple medications and having an illness, according to research conducted for the Home Instead Senior Care.

“Nutrition is certainly a key factor to an individual’s overall health and well-being,” said Sandy Markwood, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a). “If someone is at risk, their health is impacted. When you see the warning signs, it’s indicative of a larger risk. Combine that with loneliness and you’re looking at increased mental and physical health risks.”

Read the warning indicators that a senior could be in trouble: Warning Indicators.

Home Care Boston providing elderly services in Cambridge, Boston, and Somerville. Call us at 617.557.4600.

Activities and social life may begin to wane for older adults who have lost spouses. But staying active is still very important to the health and well-being of seniors no matter what their circumstance.

That’s where family caregivers can help. Loved ones can encourage the seniors in their lives to find new ways to remain active if the old ones no longer work. Whether it’s assisting them in planting a garden, planning a trip or just reconnecting with old friends, it’s never too late to offer that older adult in your life an encouraging word and a helping hand.

Family reunions are great ways for seniors to connect with other generations after loss. Family caregivers can play an important role ensuring that older adults get the kind of reunion they want. The support of a professional Home Instead CAREGiver could help as well.

Planning a family reunion is a big job at any age that requires plenty of advance planning. We researched this topic and most resources we found suggest that you ask yourself the following questions when you’re laying the groundwork for a reunion:

Determine how big of an event you’d like to host. If you have a large family, should all the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren be included, or do you want immediate family only?

Select the city that is most centrally located for all who will be attending and then think about a site within that city.

If the reunion will be a several-day event, lodging will be another important consideration in the planning.

If you’re planning a bigger event, the best way to handle that is by establishing a committee. Put individuals in charge of various aspects of the event. That way, all your bases are covered.

Tip: Home Instead CAREGivers do more than you may know. They can help seniors with all holidays, including decorating for autumn and answering the door for trick-or-treaters.

Home Care Boston providing elderly services in Cambridge, Boston, and Somerville. Call us at 617.557.4600.

One in five seniors say she or he sometimes, if not all the time feels lonely at mealtimes. Because seniors crave companionship during mealtimes; Home Instead Senior Care launched the Craving Companionship program, geared to promoting healthy aging by helping seniors eat nutritiously and stay connected socially. The program also encourages the revival of family mealtimes for the benefit of isolated seniors. that special dish Mom used to make? Chances are she or your dad does too. And what they may miss even more is enjoying that dish with you.

A study that was conducted for the Home Instead Senior Care network revealed that lack of companionship is the biggest mealtime challenge for seniors. In the United States, approximately 40 percent of the population age 75 and older – 6.7 million people – live alone, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Craving Companionship offers family caregivers tips and practical advice to encourage companionship and easy, healthy meals that can make life less stressful for seniors and their loved ones. As part of the program, the Homemade Memories Recipe Contest, which runs from July 15 to September 15, 2011, provides an incentive for family caregivers to retrieve that favorite family recipe, and prepare and share that dish with their senior loved one.

The submission period has ended and it’s now time for everyone to come out and vote for their favorite recipe. While you’re there selecting your favorite recipe, you’ll also be getting tons of new, tasty ideas for your own family.

The Grand Prize winner will receive a $500 Visa Gift Card they can use towards helping them make new “homemade memories” with their senior loved ones. All 50 recipe contest winners will be published both online and in the Homemade Memories Cookbook. Proceeds from sales of the cookbook will go to the non-profit Home Instead Senior Care Foundation, which makes grants that help improve the lives of North American Seniors.

Home Care Boston providing elderly services in Cambridge, Boston, and Somerville. Call us at 617.557.4600.

This 50-50 Rule Guide tells real-life family stories and give ideas and resources for ways to handle elder care conflict and situations before they damage sibling relationships. Each is backed by research conducted for the Home Instead Senior Care in the U.S. and Canada. Responses were developed in cooperation with Ingrid Connidis, Ph.D., sibling relationships expert from the University of Western Ontario.

The guide is based on research conducted with 46% of family caregivers in the U.S. and 40% in Canada who said their relationships with their siblings have deteriorated and blame unwillingness on the part of siblings to help. It gives siblings ways to approach your parents and each other gaining a sense of working together to find a solution rather than telling them what to do. Is the problem that your parents don’t have the money? Or are they just unable to manage the bill-paying anymore?

Speak to your parents about the issues that are relevant to avoid family conflict.

After assessing your parent’s situation, talk with your siblings and suggest what seems like a reasonable course of action to you. Be sure to ask their opinion as well. If you and your siblings disagree, try to find a compromise. Offer the help you deem appropriate to your parents. A united front is the ideal course of action, all concerned feel it would be best if you spoke to Mom and Dad on your own. Both you and your parents will benefit by keeping your siblings engaged in the process in a positive way.

Siblings are sometimes the only family relationships that endure. Friendships from our early lives often don’t last. So there is a depth of empathy we can tap into that goes back to that relationship. That sibling relationship will continue after your parents are gone. Research suggests that siblings don’t want to harm their relationships with each other.

Get Family Tips on Sharing the Care.

Home Care Boston providing elderly services in Cambridge, Boston, and Somerville. Call us at 617.557.4600.

You’ve just walked out of your mother’s latest doctor’s appointment and your head is spinning. The doctor wants to change the dosage on two medications, stop a third, and start a new fourth medication. Some of the medications need to be taken on an empty stomach and some with food. Some medicines your mother should take twice a day and some just in the evening. Keeping it all straight is making your head ache.

Even more importantly, however, is what can happen if your mother’s medications are not tracked properly. On average, seniors ages 85 and older take 34 prescriptions, including refills, per year, according to the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP). And adverse drug reactions (ADRs) or noncompliance are responsible for 28 percent of all hospitalizations of the elderly, the organization reports.

The Home Instead Senior Care^® network recognizes the importance of medication tracking. That’s why we offer medication reminders as one of our foundational services to introduce an information management toolkit and the Caring for Your Parents: Senior Emergency Kit^SM website at www.SeniorEmergencyKit.com.

These resources include checklists and worksheets for medications, conditions, allergies, doctors, health advisors and important documents. They provide you with a single place to store your senior loved one’s important information so you can easily find it when you need it most.

Home Care Boston providing elderly services in Cambridge, Boston, and Somerville. Call us at 617.557.4600.

As a senior-care professional, you’ve witnessed firsthand the many challenges of aging. But those “golden” years likely will look vastly different for the generations that will be joining the ranks of seniors in the years to come.

After all, the generation ready to embark on their senior years has been writing their own story since day one. They are the generation that led the charge to change the way society looked at so many things from civil and women’s rights to space exploration to technology.

Generations before them may have faced their senior years with apprehension, but not so for those trail-blazers waiting to join the senior ranks. They’ve changed everything else about our world.  Now they have the opportunity to change the face of aging. Perhaps you are among them or even younger. Regardless of your age, here’s your chance to tell it like it is, or like it should be. The Home Instead Senior Care^® network wants to help you spread the word.

Based on your experience working with older adults, what do you hope for as you move into those “golden” years?  A cure for Alzheimer’s disease? To work until you die? To vacation until you die? To look great? To remain at home with a good quality of life? We want to know what you think.

The Home Instead Senior Care network produced and just released a video that will provide you and others in your generation the opportunity to share ideas about aging and how you see yourself growing older.

Changing the perception of aging is important to a senior-care leader such as Home Instead Senior Care. That’s because Home Instead values the contributions that older adults have made to our world. The organization also knows that planning for their senior years is an important key to aging independently.

We invite you to participate and share the conversations that will make a difference in how aging is perceived for your generation and those you care about. Go to HowWillYouLive.org and tell us how you will change the way you age!

Home Care Boston providing elderly services in Cambridge, Boston, and Somerville. Call us at 617.557.4600.

Adult Children ask Home Instead Senior Care: Do you think all hospitals are the same or should we shop around? What can we do to help with our aging parent’s recovery?

Family caregivers whose aging relatives are going into the hospital should do their research to ensure a senior loved one is getting the best possible care because not all hospitals are the same. Help at home after an older adult returns from the hospital should be a consideration as well.

Patients have on average a 52 percent lower chance of dying at the nation’s top-rated hospitals compared with the lowest-rated hospitals in the 12^th annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study, issued by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization. The study examined nearly 40 million Medicare hospitalization records for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008. The study looks at trends in mortality and complication rates, and provides the foundation for HealthGrades’ quality ratings of procedures and diagnoses at each individual hospital.

Overall, in-hospital, risk-adjusted mortality at the nation’s hospitals improved, on average, 10.99 percent from 2006 through 2008. However, the largest annual study of patient outcomes at each of the nation’s 5,000 non-federal hospitals found a wide gap in quality between the nation’s best hospitals and all others.

According to the study, while patients at highly rated hospitals have a 52 percent lower chance of dying compared with the U.S. hospital average, a quality chasm has persisted for the last decade even as mortality rates, in general, have declined.

It will be to your loved one’s benefit to do your homework about hospitals.  To learn more go to Hospital Can Make a Difference for Senior Loved One.

For more information about the study and to check the ratings of a hospital near your mom, go to http://www.healthgrades.com/cms/ratings-and-awards/2010-Fall-Ratings-Announcement.aspx.

Home Care Boston providing elderly services in Cambridge, Boston, and Somerville. Call us at 617.557.4600.

Are the youngest siblings the chosen primary caregivers for aging parents?

So who did most mothers pick to care for them when they needed help? She is the one the mother feels closest to and thinks is most similar, Pillmer said. And she is the one who has helped her mom the most in the past.

And that person, according to research conducted for the Home Instead Senior Care^® network, was often the youngest. In fact, 64 percent of youngest siblings are primary caregivers compared with 57 percent of oldest siblings and 49 percent of middle siblings. Furthermore, 43 percent of youngest children say they have the closest relationship with their parents, while 70 percent of oldest children describe themselves as the responsible ones and 40 percent of middle children as the peacemakers of the family.

The truth is, birth order and parental preferences do impact caregiving situations in families with multiple siblings. Research conducted by Cornell University gerontologist Karl Pillemer found that mothers ages 65 to 75 in the Boston area were perfectly willing to name favorites among their children.

Most mothers have very distinct preferences, Dr. Pillemer said, including one to whom they feel most emotionally close and one with whom they have the most conflict. Parental favoritism is a fundamental part of the family landscape throughout life.

Home Care Boston providing elderly services in Cambridge, Boston, and Somerville. Call us at 617.557.4600.

Home Care Boston providing elderly services in Cambridge, Boston, and Somerville. Call us at 617.557.4600.

A common concern for families and siblings are denial and refusal to discuss the fact that aging parents may need more help at home. Caring for aging parents can put siblings at odds.

Denying elder care planning is common within families, nearly half (46 percent) of people surveyed who expect to eventually be caring for an elderly loved one had not taken any action to plan for this care. This survery was produced in a Harris Interactive® poll conducted for the Home Instead Senior Care® network.  In addition, 70 percent had not spoken with the parent or relative they anticipate needing to care for about what their wishes might be, while 76 percent had not discussed the issue of caring for elderly relatives with other family members.

Denial or sweeping elder care concerns under the carpet is a prevailing emotion and action when it comes to the care of senior loved ones. But refusing to address the issue won’t prevent the unexpected from happening. That’s why it’s important to talk with your parents and siblings as soon as possible and plan for the future.

The first step of letting go denial is to ask your relatives what they would want to do if the time comes for them to need special care in their lives. Ask specific questions such as: “If you fell and were injured, where would you want to go to rehabilitate?” If the answer is “home,” which is where most seniors prefer to be, then look into the types of services that can help your loved ones remain where they live. Discuss whether your parents would benefit from these services now. Many home health care companies are available in communities of all sizes to provide medical caregivers at home.

Oftentimes, a Home Instead Senior caregiver also is well-equipped to help seniors at home. For example, Home Instead Senior Care now has more than 900 offices throughout the world. A Home Instead CAREGiverSM is trained to assist elderly individuals by providing companionship and medication reminders, and help with meal preparation, light housekeeping, errands and shopping.

Check out these tips about communicating with family members. And go to www.4070talk.com and www.solvingfamilyconflict.com to learn more.

Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., is one of North America’s foremost visionaries on the age wave, a concept he coined to refer to the aging Baby Boomer population, increasing life expectancy and the declining birth rate. He diligently tracks Baby Boomer demographics and addresses what he calls the “longevity revolution.” He describes this revolution as larger in scope than either the industrial or technological revolutions that preceded it.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 1999, 39.6 million citizens were 65 and older-12.9 percent of the population. By 2030, that number will increase to 19 percent, or approximately 72.1 million people. The surge began in 2011, when Baby Boomers born in 1946 began turning 65, and it will continue until 2030. Experts believe another Baby Boom will not happen, so the U.S. median age will rise.

Dr. Dychtwald spoke to approximately 1,200 Home Instead Senior Care leaders from around the world at our 2011 International Convention in April. And his presentation resonated with us because he supports our work in paid in-home non-medical care, or homecare.

This model focuses on what about 90 percent of seniors want according to an AARP survey-to remain at home as long as possible. Today, challenging seniors’ goal to age in place is the fact that 80 percent of them have one chronic health condition, and 50 percent have at least two.

Seniors with lingering illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s disease, will require more care for longer periods, which poses a critical question. How will public and private U.S. healthcare providers deliver care to millions of Americans?

Paid home care is one sensible solution. Independent research commissioned by Home Instead Senior Care revealed seniors with paid home care received an average of 87.9 hours of care per week, compared with 35 hours for those without it. Presumably, more care means better care.

In fact, findings show, on average, seniors receiving paid homecare required approximately 25 percent fewer yearly doctors’ visits (12.5) compared to older adults without it (16.6). Dementia patients with paid homecare averaged 10.2 physicians’ visits annually compared to 19.2 visits, a 47 percent difference. More research is required, but these statistics indicate a noteworthy role for paid homecare.

The stakes are significant. In fiscal year 2008, Medicare expenditures totaled $386 billion, and projections say it will grow by 2018 to nearly $800 billion. In human terms, paid homecare may remove the pressure on healthcare professionals, as well as easing family caregivers’ stress.

The policy-level decision before us is to recognize that paid homecare augments clinical care. When homecare is introduced in the care continuum early, the need for clinical care may be delayed, or even prevented.

Paid homecare deserves the consideration its benefits merit. It’s a commonsense way to redesign our healthcare system in light of the longevity revolution. I urge you to offer this solution whenever public policy discussions include senior care.

Paul Hogan, Chairman & Founder of Home Instead Senior Care Franchise.

Home Care Boston providing elderly services in Cambridge, Boston, and Somerville. Call us at 617.557.4600.