Redefining Retirement

Alzheimer’s Care, Senior Care for Seniors & Elders living in the South Bay Area, Long Beach, Seal Beach, Orange County, CA. Better Living Home Care. Call 714-827-7855.

Americans are reversing what had been a nearly century-long decline in the participation of older people in the workforce.

For both workers and employers, the rising number of older workers is the result of choice and circumstance.

Workers, faced with shrinking medical and dental benefits and less generous retirement plans, find they don’t have the financial resources to support themselves in retirement, so a lot more of them are returning to work.

Companies, faced with a labor gap that will rise to 4.8 million workers within 10 years and 20 million within 20 years, are seeing older workers in a new light. Older workers represent a pool of talent companies need.

Conventional wisdom used to be that employees over 50 cost companies more in terms of medical problems and missed workdays. But that may not be the case, as studies show that costs associated with older workers are about the same as those of younger workers.

Workers over 50 make up for additional health costs by being more reliable and often more productive than younger workers. An AARP survey of human resource professionals showed that 77% said that older workers have a higher level of commitment than younger workers, and 68% said it cost less or the same to train older workers compared to younger workers.

Older workers also tend to have fewer or no dependent-related health- or child-care costs, and they require lower training and recruitment costs, according to Gail Jern, human resources manager for Westaff.

Caregiving in an Emergency

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At times of emergency, there are so many things to process, one has trouble prioritizing and putting things in perspective. If you are caring for a loved one with dementia, you might find your attention distracted and your emotions conflicted. Sometimes it is hard to concentrate on the daily things in life, sometimes it is reassuring to do mundane tasks. Often people feel out of control and insecure at times of crisis.

People with dementia might not understand what is going on around them. However, they do pick up emotions, might have a partial understanding which has led to greater confusion, and their needs might be overlooked. Although this is understandable, it can increase the problems of the caregiver. Your loved one might be more anxious, less willing to do things, more difficult to distract and have sleep disturbance. Depending on the severity of the dementia, he/she might make irrelevant comments or laugh inappropriately. Since long term memory is generally more intact, he/she might fixate on an earlier time with some similar aspects to the current situation.

There are a number of ways you might be successful in reducing agitation. First of all, do not watch TV incessantly. If at all possible and depending on the level of the dementia, it would be good to avoid having the person with dementia see the TV coverage of the event all together, including radio and newspaper coverage. Everyone should, in fact, limit the number of hours spent watching a disaster. It has been shown that endless watching can in and of itself lead to post traumatic stress disorder. You can talk about the incident with the person in general terms. One caregiver I talked with this week was asked by her husband, “How are things going with the accident?” Although she wanted to scream, “It wasn’t an accident,” she could say to him that the government was doing everything possible to help the situation. This form of reassurance is important. Second, it is helpful to maintain routines as much as possible. Routines are reassuring to people with dementia, and they will be calmer if their daily schedule is kept. You might also find that keeping a routine is also reassuring for yourself as well, allowing you to focus on tasks without too much thinking.

Finally, it is important to take care of yourself. Do not watch too much TV. Gather whatever friends and family you have around you, allow yourself to feel nurtured and connected with others as much as possible. Reach out to someone, attend religious services or log on to a chat room.  When feeling stressed, our nerves often feel raw and we might find ourselves being snappy or cranky. Forgive yourself for not being perfect; it is understandable under the circumstances.

Orange County & Long Beach Aging Parents

Senior Home Care and elder care in Long Beach, Seal Beach, and Orange County – Better Living Home Care  - 714-827-7855.

As we discussed in our last post, most adult children with aging parents in Orange County & Long Beach CA avoid having the critical conversation with their parents. What is even more alarming is the fact that seniors say that critical topics such as nursing homes, long-term care, the ability to drive, wills and funeral planning are rarely discussed.

Surprisingly enough, it’s not seniors who are uncomfortable talking about these subjects. More than three-quarters of those surveyed said they would like to discuss driving, insurance and health care issues with their kids but only about 17 to 18 percent actually do so.

The problem seems to be that both generations want to deal with these issues but each is waiting for the other to bring them up. According to the study, one-third of seniors and their children agreed they would like to have more conversations about these topics. The barrier seems to be that a slightly larger number (46 percent) said they would participate if the others spoke first.

One area of communication that really needs help is Medicare and the many new options available to seniors. Baby Boomers think it is important to understand insurance coverage and issues so they can help their parents (76 percent). However, more than half of those surveyed admitted they were relatively clueless about how Medicare works.

Long Beach Checklist for Choosing the Right Hospice in Orange County

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Checklist for Choosing the Right Hospice – Better Senior Care in Long Beach & Orange County

If you or someone you love is terminally ill and diagnosed with six months or less to live, you may be contemplating hospice care. If you are, you are not alone. Since the hospice concept was introduced in the United States in the 1970s, more and more Americans are choosing to end their lives in hospice care.

Statistics gathered by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) show that the number of terminally and chronically-ill patients electing to receive hospice care has grown dramatically over the past 10 years. In 2006, the organization reported that 1.3 million patients obtained services from hospice, a 162 percent increase in 10 years.

That same year, NHPCO estimated that slightly more than a third of all deaths in the United States took place under the care of a hospice program.

Hospice is a concept of care that focuses on helping the dying to end their days with dignity, without pain, in peace and in the comfort of their loved ones’ company. The emphasis is on quality of life rather than quantity. For that reason, physicians may also recommend hospice care for patients with chronic illnesses who are not terminally ill.

Care is provided by a team of health professionals and volunteers at home or in a hospice center, hospital or skilled nursing facility. Personalized plans tailored to individual needs are developed with input from the patient and family.

24 Hour Care in Long Beach – Seal Beach for Seniors & Elders

Keeping elders and seniors healthy at home.. are your sniffles a cold or an allergy?

Though the symptoms are almost identical, the biggest difference between a cold and an allergy is the duration. Most colds last seven to ten days, while allergies can stick around for several weeks. Colds usually include a scratchy sore throat, thick mucus, muscle aches and a low grade fever. Allergies, however, mostly center on just sniffles and sneezes.

If you or your family seem to be involved in an endless struggle with allergy symptoms, one place you might want to look for relief is the ducts of your forced hot air heating and/or central air conditioning system.

Many home ventilation systems circulate the same air over and over again. Over time, dirt cakes against the interior walls of the ducts, providing a fertile home for a variety of indoor air contaminants including pollen, lint, dust, mold, mildew, dust mites, mold spores, animal hair and dander, fungi and potentially harmful bacteria. The American College of Allergists estimates that 50 percent of all illnesses are either caused or aggravated by polluted indoor air.

Better Living Home Care provides Elder Care throughout Los Angeles County and South Bay Area with loving care and assistance and help make their lives easier.  Better Living Home Care at 714-827-7855.

Home Health Care Long Beach – Building Strong Immune Systems in Seniors

A healthy immune system is capable of eliminating dangerous infections and diseases before you’re even aware of them. Our body’s immune system is a thriving swarm of billions and billions of white blood cells, T-cells and other antibodies that have one goal: to recognize foreign invaders within our body and destroy them!

Helping Seniors Build Healthier Lifestyles in the South Bay Area, Long Beach, Seal Beach, Orange County, CA. Better Living Home Care.    Call 714-827-7855.

When bacteria enters your body through a cut, specialized cells called macrophages rush to the scene to devour the invaders. Other helper T-cells, killer T-cells and B-cells which create antibodies also rush to the site to clean up any bacterial fragments left behind.

Viruses are more insidious than bacterial infections because they sneak into our cells and have the ability to alter them for their own purposes. Against a viral infection, the immune system dispatches swarms of antibodies to attack the viral invaders. In addition, your immune system has memory cells that analyze each viral infection, remembers the formula that successfully defeated it, and creates an immunity to that exact virus in the future.

Senior Care for Seniors & Elders living in the South Bay Area, Long Beach, Seal Beach, Orange County, CA. Better Living Home Care. Call 714-827-7855.