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Home Health Care in New Jersey – Choosing the Right Kind of Care

The search for a home health care or live in care professional in New Jersey can be a trying experience. It is not because there are few individuals available, far from it, in fact. The process is difficult, though, because it is often up to family members to determine the type of care necessary for their loved one. If you find yourself in such a situation, it is important to consider whether your loved one is in need of a caregiver or companion that will be able to visit from time to time – or – one that will be available around the clock.

The solution that is correct for one individual may not be correct for another, so it is always important to consider your family member’s needs when choosing a home health care professional. You need to take the time to consider the level of care necessary. A licensed and certified professional that visits from time to time may be helpful for some needs, but other individuals may need a live in care professional to help them around the clock. Determining the level of care necessary for your loved one should be done early, since finding a home health  aide or companion with whom the client feels comfortable may be a process unto itself.

If you have a family member in New Jersey that needs some help, it is important to make sure that they have the right kind of care. Home health care aides and companions that come to the home can be invaluable for those that are unable or unwilling to receive facility care and choosing a qualified, professional caregiver can greatly improve the comfort and health of your loved one. Also remember, the home care agency you choose should always be licensed or certified in New Jersey, which will give you confidence your family member will receive the highest level of care possible.

 

NJ Senior Living & Your Seniors Social Life

New Jersey Senior Living & Lifestyle

Loneliness is one of the most common problems affecting seniors who live alone and away from family.  How can seniors connect with others?  Here are some places and situations that can work well:

  • Local senior centers usually offer lectures, classes, and meals.
  • Libraries offer book discussion groups for seniors, as well as lectures and concerts.
  • A community bulletin may list adult education classes.
  • Colleges and universities may have senior classes, lectures and concerts. Some have special classes or activities for seniors, while others encourage seniors to take regular classes at a discounted rate.
  • The YMCA or JCC may offer movement classes for seniors.
  • Health clubs may offer exercise, tai chi, dancercise or yoga classes for seniors.
  • If your elderly loved one likes to volunteer, you should look into civic, political, medical, educational or arts organizations.
  • Look for local hobby clubs such as guitar players, singers, memoirists, walkers, hikers, environmentalists, amateur theatre actors, etc.
  • Support groups.
  • Religious organizations tend to offer adult education, social action groups, and are always seeking volunteers.
  • Alumni groups.
  • Widowed or divorced seniors looking for companionship should consider online dating.
  • Create your own hobby group on a topic of interest. Seniors can go to Meetup.com and create a group on any topic, such as Lovers of Musical Theatre or Foreign Films. You will have to pay a monthly fee of $25 (the fees go down if you contract for more than one month at a time) to advertise there, but you can then ask the group members to share the cost with you. You can also create your own group and advertise at no cost on Craigslist.com. Or you can consider starting a group at your local church or through your local adult education organization.

There are plenty of opportunities for seniors to connect with their contemporaries.  Staying home and being miserable should not be an option.

Posted by: Frank Esposito, Vice President of Expert Home Care.  New Jersey’s Expert Home Care provides professional and reliable home health care and companion care for NJ seniors, helping them with their daily living activities since 1984. Please call us toll free at 800-848-2336 when you have elder care related questions or need assistance for a loved one.

New Jersey Senior Care

New Jersey’s Expert Home Care for Elders and Seniors provides care for your aging loved ones since 1984. Please call us when your loved one needs help – 800-848-2336.

Is Attitude Everything?

Successful aging in New Jersey is an absence of (or minimum of) disease and disability. A new study of more than 500 persons from age 60 to 98 shows that people who think they are “aging successfully” aren’t necessarily the healthiest individuals. Optimism and effective coping tools, or attitude, were found be essential to successful aging more than traditional measures of health and wellness, according to a study funded by the Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging at the University of California-San Diego.

The study showed that persons who regularly read, write and socialize gave themselves higher scores than those who did not. Surprisingly, volunteer activities, which have long been thought to help persons age successfully, were not found to have the same positive influence. The bottom line is that those things leading to successful aging are well within an individual’s control. The key is adopting personal coping mechanisms and remaining as physically, socially and mentally active as possible.

New Jersey Medicare Fraud

New Jersey’s Expert Home Care for Elders and Seniors provides care for your aging loved ones since 1984. Please call us when your loved one needs help – 800-848-2336.

Medicare Fraud in New Jersey

Medicare Fraud was a growing problem back in the 1990′s. Exposing those who participate in Medicare fraud in New Jersey was essential to helping to control the problem. In 1990, the Florida Legislature passed a law with an amendment that allowed anyone with a medical degree from outside the United States, who was not licensed as a physician, to become certified as a physician assistant in Florida.

There were 960 foreign medical graduates (FMGs) who took advantage of this opportunity before the Florida Academy of Physician Assistants got an injunction and stopped this major mistake.

In 1994 the Legislature passed a law that would require those FMGs to pass an examination administered by the state similar to the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants examination required to become a nationally certified physician assistant.

Of the 900 or so who took that exam, 60 passed. The remaining lost their privilege to practice medicine in Florida. Of those remaining 60, 15 have been convicted of Medicare fraud, and several more have been convicted of other major medical offenses. They have since lost their privileges. The physician’s assistant in the story was one of the foreign medical graduates and never nationally certified.

Medicare Fraud read story

New Jersey Senior Home Care – Tips for Better Sleep

Expert Home Care of New Jersey offers free van service for our caregivers directly to our client’s doors in the counties of Bergen, Morris, Hunterdon, Warren, Sussex, Essex, Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset, Passaic, Union and Hudson.

Call us when your elder loved one, living in New Jersey, needs home care and live-in care at               800-848-2336

Yesterday our post gave you information on how sleep affects senior’s health. Is it better to get many hours of sleep or better to get sound sleep, less hours, but high quality? Remember a senior suffers when sleep is poor – it adversely effects the elder’s immune system, leaving the individual vulnerable to infection and illness.

Are you looking to get a better night’s sleep? Here are some things to consider:

  • Stick to a sleep schedule – go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends
  • Don’t exercise at least five or six hours before going to bed
  • Avoid caffeine and nicotine. This includes coffee, tea, cola and chocolate
  • Stay away from alcohol before bedtime
  • Don’t eat large meals late at night
  • Avoid medicines that delay or interrupt your sleep, if at all possible. This includes some heart, blood pressure, asthma, cough, cold and allergy medications
  • Don’t nap after 3 p.m
  • Relax before going to bed
  • Take a hot bath at night
  • Have a good sleeping environment – keep the room cool and dark, turn off the TV
  • Try to get outside in natural sunlight for at least 30 minutes each day
  • Don’t lie in bed awake. If you can’t fall asleep after 20 minutes, get up and do something relaxing like reading
  • See a sleep specialist if you continue to have difficulty sleeping

 If your aging relative needs senior home care or live-in care please contact Expert Home Care in New Jersey at 800-848-2336.