Changing Perspectives of Home Care

Remember the 1960’s TV show Ironside. From his wheelchair, and with the assistance of his team, the impeccably groomed Robert T. Ironside solved the most interesting and complex criminal cases. Of course although we understood this was Hollywood it did alter our perspective of what was ability and disability.

Fifty years later advances in assistive technology enable people to participate in society regardless of physical or mental health. The Parapan Games and Special Olympics have transformed perceptions about what it is to be an Olympian. Professionals like Alex Taylor in his Aug 15 2015 article My Battle to Remain Stylish as a Disabled Man are addressing the importance of strategy building in relation to fashion, dressing and accommodation.

We see this changing perspective in relationship to home care. Today’s clients are interested in services that support lifestyles fostering independence while creating a sense of familiarity.

We believe our “core team philosophy”, unique to Reliable Home Care, positions the Agency to deliver a blend of contemporary and traditional care services.  One example is our approach to managing services for WRHA approved Self-Managed Care clients.

For information on this and other service plans phone Gisele 204-415-3471.

 

Physician-Assisted Suicide: Hospice-Palliative Volunteers' Opinions (Video 2:58)

Hospice-palliative volunteers bring a unique perspective to the ongoing debate about physician-assisted suicide. Already legal in several states (Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, and New Mexico), the law requires that the terminally ill must be of sound mind when requesting assisted suicide, as confirmed by a doctor and other witnesses. The main difference between euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide is that the latter requires the patient, not a doctor or someone else, to self-administer the medication and decide when to do that. Despite fears that the assisted suicide law would be used inappropriately by many people not showing good care or judgment, that has not been the case.

Research on physician-assisted suicide included two groups consisting of Canadian in-home hospice-palliative volunteers and members of the community. Participants responded to 15 items about physician-assisted suicide. Differences of opinion were revealed in both groups. Additional questions confirmed the following about the majority of volunteers and community members:

They support legalizing physician-assisted suicide.
They would choose hospice-palliative care over physician-assisted suicide for themselves if they were terminally ill.
They think Canadians should place more priority on developing hospice-palliative care rather than on legalizing physician-assisted suicide. 

Watch the video.....

Life After Retirement - What Do I Do Now?

Retirement wasn’t working for Dwayne. A deliberate, thoughtful man, Dwayne spent 25 years with a Fortune 500 company rising through the ranks to Company Vice President of Logistics. When he retired, Dwayne expected to fall easily into a life of leisure – rising late, doing what he wanted when he wanted, and traveling frequently with his wife Mary. Now, three months post-retirement, he finds his days endlessly boring, spent mostly sleeping or watching television. He doesn’t like golf, gardening is too hot, and Mary has her own activities which don’t include him.

As many retirees discover, leaving one life to begin another is difficult. A May 2013 study by the UK’s Institute of Economic Affairs reports 40% of retirees suffer from clinical depression, while 6 out of 10 report a decline in health. The truth is, even though most professionals look forward to retirement, the loss of a job can be unexpectedly traumatic. According to psychologists, jobs provide mental health benefits including:

• Feelings of contribution and being appreciated
• The satisfaction of solving problems and learning new things
• Relationships with fellow workers
• Daily routines eliminating mental decisions about “what to do next”

The key to a positive retirement is to ensure these benefits don’t get lost, but are simply experienced in a different way.

Remember, Reflect, Reconcile, and Report

Experience brings knowledge and, hopefully, wisdom. Without the burden of a daily job, you have time to collect and consider the memories of past people, events, and places. Retirement allows you to recognize your accomplishments, understand and forgive your perceived failures, and set a new course for the rest of your life.

Read more.....

GREAT-GRANDPARENTS RAISING CHILDREN: A TRIBUTE (VIDEO 2:42)

Imagine being parents again after 65 years of marriage. While it is common now to read about the millions of grandparents raising children, very little is mentioned about great-grandparents in similar circumstances during their golden years. Great-grandparents accepting a responsibility of this magnitude are presented with many challenges legally, financially, physically, and mentally. They need support from the larger community in the form of education regarding available resources, respite care, and assistance with general problem solving. The AARP Grandparents Information Center is one resource.

The Cooks are great-grandparents who accepted the commitment and sacrifices of raising their great-grandson who is now an adult. They have reached that amazing stage where they can look back on their wonderful accomplishment with great pride, knowing they saved his life “like a seatbelt.”

See the video ....

A REMARKABLE CONVERSATION ABOUT AGING

We talk a lot about the impact that society’s devaluing of age has on us as older people, but how does it affect young women in their 20s and 30s? If you haven’t been spending time with Gen Y lately, you might be surprised – not just by how significantly the subject of aging factors into the way the women in this video think about themselves, but also by how thoughtfully they – as well as the video’s older participants – approach the topic.

“I don’t have a fear of aging. But there is this fear of becoming invisible,” one young women says, “and I think these are becoming one and the same in our society. That terrifies me.” The video is one of several in a series of conversations created by the site SoulPancake in partnership with Darling Magazine.

See the video….

THE SANDWICH GENERATION: WHO IS CARING FOR YOU?

Social worker Dorothy Miller, originally coined the term "sandwich generation" back in 1981, to describe women in their 30s to 40s who were "sandwiched" between young children and aging parents as their primary caregiver. A lot has changed since then. Women are delaying child-bearing and seniors are living longer. Because of these added variables, the "sandwich generation" definition has morphed along the way and tends to target both genders and the predominant age is 40-65 years old.

According to a 2013 Pew research report, "Nearly half (47 percent) of adults in their 40s and 50s have a parent age 65 or older and are either raising a young child or financially supporting a grown child (age 18 or older). And about one-in-seven middle-aged adults (15 percent) is providing financial support to both an aging parent and a child" (Parker & Patten). In 2005, the sandwich generation was largely made up of baby boomers.

Self-care is typically neglected by the sandwich generation. Learning to integrate simple self-care tips into your daily routine will help caregivers to stay healthy. The heathy caregiver provides a higher level of physical and emotional care to their loved one and this is a gift that keeps on giving.

Caregiving tips:

Be kind to yourself
Often we are kind to others while we push ourselves beyond our own limits. The first step in dealing with caregiver stress, anger, or frustration, is to care for yourself. Well-meaning friends and relatives often tell you to take care. But no one will actually tell you how to take care of yourself while supporting a loved one or sitting at his or her side at the hospital.

Take spontaneous and unplanned breaks
If your loved one is in the hospital and needs to have a test, give the nurse your cell number and go sit outside for ten minutes. If caring for someone at home, consider the use of a wireless doorbell system to enable your loved one to call when needed. This allows the caregiver on duty the freedom to be in another room or go outside.
For more tips ......

NURSES, OPEN YOUR EYES !!

On October 1, the Government of Canada proudly celebrates National Seniors Day, recognizing the contributions of Canadian seniors. By staying active, informed and engaged seniors across Canada are demonstrating to all Canadians what it means to age well. Reliable Home Care Agency is committed to care for seniors and people with disability.

“The following poem was found among the personal possessions of an elderly woman who had died in a nursing home in Scotland. Her words remind us of our obligations to understand, comfort and maximize quality of life in elderly patients.” — from the introduction to Dr. Michael A. Jenike’s book entitled Geriatric Psychiatry and reported by David M. Weinberger, Ph.D., licensed psychologist in his remarks at the Mid-Winter Psychology convention, February 21–24, 1991.

“Not A Crabbit Old Woman Wrote This”

What do you see, nurses, what do you see?
Are you thinking when you look at me—
A crabbit old woman, not very wise,
Uncertain of health, with far-away eyes,
who dribbles her food and makes no reply
When you say in a loud voice,
“I do wish youd try.”

Who seems not to notice the things that you do,
And forever is losing a stocking or shoe.
Who unresisting or not, lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding, the long days to fill.
Is that what you’re thinking,
is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurses,
you’re not looking at me.

I’ll tell you who I am as I sit here so still,
As I rise at your bidding, as I eat at your will.
I’m a small child of ten with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters, who love one another,
A young girl of sixteen with wings on her feet,
Dreaming that soon now a lover I’ll meet;
A bride soon at twenty—my heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows that I promised to keep;
At twenty-five now I have young of my own.
Who need me to build a secure happy home:
A woman of thirty, my young now grow fast,
Bound to each other with ties that should last;
At forty, my young sons have grown and are gone,
But my man’s beside me to see I don’t mourn;
At fifty once more babies play round my knee,
Again we know children, my loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me, my husband is dead,
I look at the future, I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing young of their own.
And I think of the years and
the love that I’ve known.

I’m an old woman now and nature is cruel—
’Tis her jest to make old age look like a fool.

The body is crumbled, grace and vigor depart,
There now is a stone where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass a young girl still dwells,
And now and again my battered heart swells.
I remember the years, I remember the pain,

And I’m loving and living life over again.
I think of the years all too few—gone too fast,
And accept the stark fact that nothing can last.

So open your eyes, nurses, open and see
Not a crabbit old woman, look close—see ME!